1901 



THE AMERICAN BEE-KEEPER 



77 



before: The American Bee-keeper 

 is a sort of co-operative institution, 

 the objects of which are pleasure 

 and profit; and every subscriber is 

 invited to become an active member. 

 The general dissemination of bee- 

 keeping knowledge can be accom- 

 plished only through the free 

 exchange of ideas between those 

 interested in the subject; and The 

 Bee-keeper acts as the medium 

 in the accomplishment of this pur- 

 pose. We should be pleased to 

 hear from as many of our new 

 readers as may find it convenient to 

 write us. If you are an amateur 

 or beginner, perhaps you will feel 

 more at h )me around our "Amateur 

 Table," which appears in each num- 

 ber. Please state when writing, 

 whether you desire to have your 

 letter appear in this department or 

 not. But write something which 

 you think will be of interest to 

 others. All are invited. 



Most commission houses which 

 handle honey have by their business 

 methods acquired a reputation 

 among the experienced shippers of 

 the fraternity. Some have acquired 

 a reputation which will not tend to 

 increase their yearly business in our 

 products. Others deserve, and 

 should have the confidence of honey 

 producers. Nearly every year some 

 inexperienced shipper falls a victim 

 to the disagreeable methods and 

 treatment of unbusiness-like or dis- 

 honest dealers. There are many of 

 those who quote regularly in the 

 bee-papers, with whom we are un- 

 acquainted; but be it known, we 

 know some of them too well; and if 

 any reader of The Bee-keeper shall 

 request our opinion of any of those 

 with whom we have had business 

 dealings, it will be gladly given. 

 The publishers of this journal pay 

 us for keeping an eye upon the in- 

 terests of its patrons: and we be- 



lieve that our experience along this 

 line may be of service to some of 

 those whom we trust will have a 

 crop of honey to market this year. 



A FORECAST. 



One of the most progressive, scien- 

 tific and well-known bee-keepers 

 of the northern states, under date 

 of March 9, 1901, wrote us as 

 follows: "The Bee-keeper for 

 March is just at hand; and permit 

 me to congratulate you on the mat- 

 ter it contains. You are forcing it 

 to the front with great energy. If 

 you keep on at the rate at which 

 you are going, it will soon excel 

 anything in the field." 



There is no use of concealing the 

 fact that such letters are very en- 

 couraging; and we can assure our 

 readers that our rate of speed will 

 not only be maintained but increas- 

 ed, just as fast as possible. This 

 journal does not belong to the class 

 which holds that the field of apicul- 

 tural journalism is already full and 

 overcrowded. There is yet lots of 

 room for improvement; and whether 

 The Bee-keeper shall ever attain 

 to its coveted position in the field 

 or not, is uncertain ; but we hope 

 yet to see a strictly first-class 

 magazine devoted exclusively to 

 bee-keeping. 



TONGUE-REACH. 



Perhaps there is not a bee-keeper 

 in the whole land who has not noted 

 a great difference in the nectar- 

 gathering capacity of certain colo- 

 nies in his yard. "Good workers" 

 is the word usually employed to 

 designate the characteristics of any 

 pai'^.icular colony which has been suc- 

 cessful in storing a large quantity 

 of honey. Other dolonies which, 

 though populous, have given little 

 or no surplus while others were 

 gathering and storing supers full of 

 honey, have been called "lazy." 



