TEE AMERICAN BEE-KEEPER. 



February 



work, during which he damaged honey to 

 the amount of about J^S.oo loss to me. 

 But there is now and then a person who 

 can handle honey to fully as good advant- 

 age as the apiarist himself can, and for 

 this reason I consider my decision of 25 

 years ago as rather too sweeping. But it 

 is well to know your help before }'ou 

 hire them, otherwise you will wish you 

 had done the handling of the seiSlion 

 honey yourself 



"GETTING THERE" 



J. F. Heath, ist col., page 2, in telling 

 how much which he finds in the bee 

 papers is beyond his comprehension, asks, 

 "Will we ever 'get there?' " That was the 

 enquiry I often made when reading the 

 writings of Dr. Gallup. A. Grimm, Moses 

 Quinby and many others of the noted 

 writers of a quarter of a century ago. 

 And to the "persevering" ones there can 

 be but one answer, and that is, yes, if 

 you "strive for the mastery" intelligently, 

 as well as "perseveringly." And the 

 "intelligent" part of this matter lies in 

 not trying to begin at the iop of the 

 ladder and climb down. Begin with the 

 A B C of bee-keeping first. In other 

 words, procure some one or more of the 

 many good bee books, and through them 

 thoroughl)' master the elementary part of 

 bee-keeping, and then what you read in 

 the bee papers will not appear as "up in 

 a balloon." but will be ri<rlit within easy 

 grasp. When little, all of us first learned 

 to creep before we could walk, and so 

 those little of stature in the bee pursuit, 

 should not try to escape the foot of the 

 ladder in climbing, for no one became 

 really great in any one profession by one 

 mighty leap. 



QUIET MOVEMENTS. 



The same writer says, in speaking of 

 the "warm attachment the bees often had 

 for him in their business associations," "I 

 learned that quiet movements and care- 

 ful handling very much changed their 

 attitude toward me." Well, that don't 

 sound "up in a balloon" at all, for in this 



matter Bro. H. has learned something 

 practical, that many who are keeping 

 bees have yet to learn. More than one- 

 half of those who come to my apiary for 

 knowledge about the busy bee, will strike 

 at the first bee that comes "enquirinszly" 

 about them, and I know of several would- 

 be bee keepers who have given up in dis. 

 gust, simply because they were unwilling 

 to learn what Bro. H. hasdone. Indeed, 

 while visiting an apiary, as a body of bee 

 men, at the adjournment of a national 

 bee convention some few years ago, I saw 1 

 nearly one-third of those bee men (?) take 

 off their hats and go to striking the air 

 in a most desperate fashion, because some 

 bees seemed to want a "business associa- 

 tion" with them. It was very ludicrous 

 indeed to see ten or more "old .stagers' 

 acting in that way. One was more wise 

 than all of the rest and laid prone on the 

 ground, with his face downward, and 

 allow me to say, he came from the 'field 

 of strife" without the real "business 

 meeting" some of those "hat whirlers" 

 enjoyed(?). Let every reader "paste in 

 his hat" those words of Bro. H., ''■ quiet 

 movements and careless handling," ^ 

 if they would receive the mini- 

 mum amount of stings, and have an apiary 

 noted for the quiet disposition of its bees. 



' SWARTHMORE. ' ' 



The article from "Swarthmore" will 

 bear reading twice, and then after you 

 have read it twice, read it again carefully, 

 reading in between the lines all you can 

 for any enthusiastic bee-keeper on the 

 non-swarming question, can read two or 

 three good articles iright out from be- 

 tween the lines. Then read the first 

 paragraph four times, and if you are of 

 the kind that sees onlyyK;/ in the apiary, 

 an article or two will just stand right out 

 between the lines in that paragraph. 

 Bee-keeping a 'luxury? Yes, more so 

 than all the luxuries we have in eatables, 

 "drinkables, clothables, and sleepables," 

 combined, to the person who has the bee 

 "fever" on. And show me a successful 

 bee-keeper whose bee fever is not at the 



