1901 



THE AMERICAN BEE-KEEPER 



In ordor to have good and effective 

 local and state organizations bee-keep- 

 ers slu)nkl give tliein their hearty 

 and substantial support. Thus the 

 ol'iicers, who do all the work gratis, are 

 stimulated to do their best. It is very 

 des-irablc that every bee-keeper attends 

 tiie convention held in his vicinity. If 

 for any reason you cannot be present, 

 it would be some encouragement to 

 those in charge of the affair to receive 

 at least. your membership fee. Will not 

 those who have been or wish to be mem- 

 bers of their local association and can- 

 not be present bear this in mind. Let 

 them write to the secretary or president 

 at once and send in their dues. It does 

 not require very much money to meet 

 our expenses, but we must have some- 

 thing to do it with. 



Now a word about reading: You may 

 be a bee-keeper of many years' experi- 

 ence and may own a nuniber of the 

 standard works on bees and their man- 

 agement. You may not wish to pur- 

 chase another book this winter and you 

 may have read and re-read those you 

 have. Well, then read them again. 

 Some of them bear reading a number of 

 times. It is of course a good practice 

 to procure a new book from time to 

 time, as new things are constantly be- 

 ing added. 



Through the courtesy of Mr. W. F. 

 Marks, president of our state organiza- 

 tion, I have been enabled to read one of 

 the later books on bee culture. It is 

 entitled. The Honey-Makers, written 

 by Margaret Warner Morley. It is a 

 most original book. No other bee-book 

 has ever pleased me more than this one. 

 It is written in a unique and pleasing 

 style, very much different from any- 

 thing known heretofore. One can 

 hardly stop reading long enough to eat 

 his meals, so very fascinating is the 

 book. This book should be in the 

 library of every bee-keeper; yes It would 

 form a valuable adjunct to any library, 

 as it would be interesting reading for 

 any intelligent person. It may be read 



with profit by the minister, the doctor, 

 the lawyer, the merchant, the mechanic, 

 the farmer. The best informed bee- 

 keeper can learn valuable lessons from 

 it. 



The same author has gotten up an- 

 other bee-book, The Bee People, in- 

 tended for the young people. I am 

 anxious to read it and will do so this 

 winter, when I will report. 



Many of us honey producers have had 

 very meager returns from our bees this 

 year. Let us study; let us look over the 

 situation and perhaps we may do better 

 next season. Now is the time to think 

 the matter over. In my own locality, 

 it is my opinion, bee-keeping has ceased 

 to be profitable for some time to come. 

 Why? We are in a great measure de- 

 pendent upon basswood bloom for sur- 

 plus honey. The little drips from fruit 

 bloom, raspberry bloom, and clover 

 amount to but little. Now the forest 

 tent caterpillars have taken an undis- 

 puted possession of onr forest. Dur- 

 ing June and July the foliage is being 

 stripped off from most species of trees, 

 in particular of the basswood and 

 maple; by the time the basswood trees 

 should be in bloom their foliage is all 

 gone. These caterpillars are here in 

 such numbers, one may hear a distinct 

 noise when nearing the woods originat- 

 ing from the insects as they are eat- 

 ing. The constantly dropping excre- 

 ments remind one of a rain. As long as 

 this pest is here with us I expect noth- 

 from basswood in the shape of honey 

 secretion. I can see no other way out 

 of this dilemma than to seek new pas- 

 ture fields; move to Cuba, California or 

 Colorado, or some other place where 

 honey flows. That is what I'll do. 



October 30, 1900. 



Will you have time to address a few 

 postal cards this winter? If you will, 

 please address one now to the publish- 

 ers of The American Bee-keeper and 

 ask for particulars in regard to their 

 plan for giving away thirty-five dollars 

 worth of supplies. 



