165 



THE AMERICAN BEE-KEEPER 



Septi nihcr 



ture, new carpets, new dresses etc., as 

 they play "hide and seek" in her 

 thoughts. 



Yes, luckl that is the mystic chaim we 

 hear so much about in connection with 

 bee-keepiug by those who have just en- 

 tered into it, and often by the old fogy 

 bee-keeper who has been in the business 

 for years. Queer thought! There is not 

 any more luck following the bee-keeping 

 industry than there is in the grocery 

 business or the carpenter's trade. It 

 means simply what ability you have tor 

 work in that line, how much energy you 

 put into it, how much time you devote 

 to it, how enthusiastic you are over it, 

 how many of the little kinks you study 

 into, and what knowledge along that line 

 you have or can acquire, and how you 

 apply that knowledge. At least, that is 

 the way I look at it after being in the 

 bee-keeping industry for nearly thirty- 

 three years. Luck depends on system- 

 atic, persevering care and attention. If 

 yonr bees are left to care for themselves, 

 with an occasional oversight when you 

 have no other pressing work or the ham- 

 mock ceases to be enjoyable to you, then 

 1 venture to say that you will have the 

 usual "bad luck" we hear so much about. 

 Again, give them the care they need. 

 and that regularly and in the right time, 

 the same as you would your pig, that 

 pig which you expected to make outweigh 

 your neighbor's which was born in the 

 same litter, and my word for it, and the 

 flowers secreting honey, you'll have luck 

 that will make your neighbors open their 

 eyes. You cannot expect to have it un- 

 less you work for it, for hives open at 

 the top during Winter and Spring, no 

 thoughts or work about securing a mul- 

 titude of bees in time for the blooming 

 harvest, no ^preparation for surplus 

 honey before it comes, and no inspiration 

 in your heart which makes the tips of 

 your lingers itch to be doing something 

 all tlic while to make the bees prosper 

 in your hands, all tend to make the time 

 near at hand when your neighbors will 

 say. "I told you that A. would never 



have any luck with bees." Undoubtedly 

 this is where many a beginner has made 

 his mistake: he relied too much on that 

 magic word, luck. 



If you have entered into bee-keeping 

 and find yourself too busy to properly 

 attend to them, turn the bee business 

 over to some member of the family who 

 will give it the time, study and attention 

 required for success in any line, and 

 your luck will be assured. See the bees 

 often, keep their hives warm, dry and 

 comfortable during Winter and Spring, 

 know just when the flowers bloom which 

 give the surplus honey in your locality, 

 work to secure the maximum amount of 

 bees just in time for that bloom, put on 

 the surplus arrangement at the very 

 beginning of that bloom, and take off 

 the surplus at the ending of the same, 

 when the honey in the sections is snow 

 white, so it will captivate every eye 

 which is placed upon it, get it ofl' to 

 market at the right time and in the most 

 marketable shape, and then properly 

 prepare the bees for Winter again, and i 

 you'll have^no further cause to depend 

 on the word "•luck." 



rXPAINTED HIVES. 



I am glad Arthur C. Miller saw tit tL» 

 write again on this matter, and in suclk 

 a kindly spirit as he did on pages 122-"3 

 of the Bee-keeper for .luly. The read- 

 ers now have two of his articles on the 

 subject of unpainted hives as against 

 one of mine, and I am perfectly willing 

 to leave the matter in their hands, allow- 

 ing each to paint or not to paint as | 

 "seeraeth good in their sight.'" Allow 

 me to suggest, however, that truth can- 

 not be obtained by trying to be a Miller 

 or a Doolittle in any matter, but by try- 

 ing to be "your own blessed self." In 

 this unpainted hive matter, set apart a 

 certain number of single walled hives, ] 

 paint half of them and leave the other 

 half unpainted. After using both in this 

 way for a term of years yon will know 

 of a truth which is best suited to yoit 

 antl your locality. The proper way is to 



