THE AMERICAN APICULTURT8T. 



127 



than 100 pounds of honey were taken 

 from these two new swarms. 



Low Prices. — If the people wlio 

 are nianufacturino; beekeepers' supplies 

 continue to cut i)rices as they have in 

 past seasons, tlie bee business will soon 

 be run into the iiround. Hundreds of 

 men have bought a few hives of bees 

 and as soon as they have gained a little 

 knowledge of the bee business, have 

 at once come out with a flashy circular 

 and a big advertisement, offering sup- 

 plies for sale. The novice is allured 

 into the supply business with the idea 

 tliat when he enters it he soon will be- 

 come; rich. Poor fellows. It. takes l)ut 

 a few months' time to convince all sucli 

 people of their mistake. 



Now, very few people would care 

 about the number who enter the supply 

 lousiness, were it not for the fact that 

 all inexperienced persons commence at 

 the start to cut the prices, thinking l)y 

 so doing they can steal the trade other 

 parties have alreadj' secured I)y fair 

 dealing and promptness. In this they 

 mistake again. 



The large dealer is obliged, on ac- 

 count of so much competition, to re- 

 duce his prices, which were already too 

 low, in order to hold his trade. 



Mr. A. I. Root set the low-price 

 liall in motion and since he commenced 

 to manufacture goods at sucli figures as 

 ho alone could live upon, the prices of 

 all kinds of beekeeping supplies have 

 steadily decreased, till to-day there are 

 not half a dozen dealers in the country 

 wlio are getting a new cent for an old 

 one. These people are keeping along, 

 and hoping against hope, that some- 

 thing will soon turn tip that will better 

 the condition of things. 



We sometimes look over the adver- 

 tisements found in the bee papers. 

 One-pound sections are advertised at 

 $3.00 per 1,000. We contend that no 

 man even with the most improved ma- 

 chinery can manufacture 1,000 one- 

 piece flrst-class sections and pack them 

 for shipment, for the small sum of 

 $3.00, and get a profit by so doing. 



Why do business for nothing or for 

 the fun of the thing? One more point 

 we wish to speak about in this connec- 

 tion. Are the low-priced goods the 

 cheapest? One man who has been ad- 

 vertising one-piece sections at .$3 per 

 1,000 sent us a sample lot of about 300 

 sections, on which we paid $1.50 ex- 

 press charges. When the sections 

 came we looked them over and found 

 them worthless and tlirew the entire 



lot into the fire. They were as value- 

 less as so much brushwood. 



Take the matter of bee-hives. Some 

 l)eople advertise the L. hive at less 

 tliaii one dollar each, all complete. 

 Well, such a hive will last about one 

 year, l)ut a hive that can l)e bmight for 

 .1i!2 50 will last a man a life-time. We 

 have SOUK! L. hives in the Bay State 

 .Vpiary that were made thirty years 

 ago. They are, to all appearances, 

 good for thirty years more. 



The names of new dealers are being 

 added to the list every year. They 

 come out with flaming advertisements 

 and circulars. Ninety-nine out of 

 every hundred discover the first year 

 of their experience that there is " no 

 money in it," and they soon disappear 

 from sight, only to give place to otliers 

 who must go through the same mill in 

 order to be convinced that there are 

 not millions in iL 



Save your money and time, friends, 

 for we can assure you that the bee- 

 keepers' supply business is thoroughly 

 overdone. 



Albino Bees.— Some time ago w^ 

 gave our experience with the Albino 

 ijees. Our remarks had reference to 

 l)Ut one strain of Albinos, and that 

 strain originated in Maryland. Albino 

 l)ees produced by a cross between the 

 Syrians and the Italians such as Dr. 

 Tinker has developed, is a far dirt'er- 

 ent bee from those Albinos bred by 

 in-and-in-breeding the Italians. It 

 must 1)6 evident to any beekeeper, that 

 a strain of bees whose only good point 

 is in its beautiful color, and that pro- 

 duced by in-breeding, mu.st l)e worth- 

 less. At least we have found it so. 



Cheap Bee Papers. —There is 

 much rivalry going on among some of 

 the bee journals; and, in order to get 

 ahead and secure the largest circula- 

 tion, some of the parties engaged in the 

 strife have reduced the price of their 

 paper to a figure far less than what a 

 first-class journal can be printed for. 



Now, as a matter of course, any on»; 

 will readily see that the publisher must 

 have a fat pocket-book, the price of 

 the paper must be raised, or the publi- 

 cation discontinued at no distant day. 

 We do not question the fact that some 

 of the journals can stand the pressure 

 for a long time so ftir as money is r<'- 

 quinul. Will tliey? is the question. 



Tliis lively competition reminds us 

 of two groceryuKMi whose placets of 



