133 



THE AMERICAN BEE-KEEPER 



July 



THE JUNE BEE-KEEPER. 



Emphasizing the Good Things in the 

 Last Number. 



BY fi. M. IJOOI.ITTLE. 



THE June number of The Bke- 

 KEEPER starts out with a new man 

 at the head — Rev. C. M. Herring — 

 at least he seems new to me, and doubt- 

 less will to most of the readers of The 

 Bee-kp:eper ; although he says he is a 

 twenty-seven-year-old bee-keeper. He 

 may have written for our bee-literature 

 before, but not frequent enough so that 

 his name is as familiar as those of many 

 of the writers on apiculture of the pres- 

 ent time. 



"THE MAN." 



From his putting the Man first in im- 

 portance when speaking of the factors 

 which go toward making a success in 

 bee-keeping, it shows that his 27 years 

 of experience in our pursuit has not 

 been for nought. The importance of 

 the Man in relation to the success at- 

 tained, is one of the good things which, 

 more frequently than otherwise, has no 

 place in our bee-literature. We have 

 much to say about the "best bee," 

 the "best hive," the "best location," 

 the "best plan for wintering bees," 

 the "best way to market honey" 

 etc.. but more often than other- 

 wise fail to realize that back and behind 

 it all stands the Man or the Woman ; 

 and the success of the undertaking lies 

 in the Person more nearly than any- 

 where else. The right kind of a man or 

 woman will make a success anywhere, 

 and in any calling, whether it be bee- 

 keeping or preaching the gospel ; and if 

 this is a fact, which I think all will 

 admit, how necessary it is that we study 

 hard to become the right kind of men 

 and women in this world. With all men 

 and women successful, this world would 

 become a successful world, and one in 

 which all would find comfort and hap- 

 piness. And, lest some might think of 

 success as being a successful selfishness. 



I wish to say that th(> highest success 

 can only come by lifting others up to the 

 high table-land near or at the mountain 

 top, best told in the words, "Love thy 

 neighbor as thyself," and "Do unto 

 others as you would have others do unto 

 you." The present unsuccessfulness in 

 the world comes through a lack in car- 

 rying out these principles, not only with 

 tiie people but with the pastor as well. 



SURVIVAL OF THE FITTEST. 



But I cannot help thinking that 

 among the many excellencies found in 

 Bro. Herring's article a little error has 

 crept in. He says, under the head of 

 The Bee, "As is true among all animals, 

 vegetables and insects, so also of the 

 bees; old varieties will finally run out." 

 And, in speaking of the mistakes of the 

 novice in buying bees in box hives, he 

 says, "The bees are cheap and worth- 

 less." In this he runs right counter to 

 the doctrine of the survival of the fittest, 

 which doctrine is often put forth to 

 show why our bees are not as prosper- 

 ous and hardy as they used to be In our 

 fathers' day, when none but "worth- 

 less" (?) blacks were kept. If Mr. Her- 

 ring, or the reader, will take pains to 

 turn to page 103 they will there see near 

 the top of the first column, where our 

 tried and true Greiner has "tried and 

 tried again" to supplant the run-out va- 

 riety with a "well-tried race" — as Mr. 

 Herring calls the Italians — only to find, 

 after all of his endeavors, that his api- 

 ary still has more of the "character" of 

 the "run-out" variety than of the "well- 

 tried" race. And in Mr. (ireincr's next 

 paragraph he says: "Many bee-keepers 

 are well satisfied that the old run-out, 

 worthless variety are superior to the 

 tried and true as comb-honey produ- 

 cers," or words to that effect. But I 

 shall notice this part a little farther on. 



HIVES. 



Speaking of hives, Mr. Herring thinks 

 that well-seasoned pine, 1}4 inches thick, 

 gives better results than chaff hives. 

 This may be so for his part of the State 

 of Maine. But this part of the matter 



