934 



Nov. 8, 1906 



American Ttee Journal 



the commercial side of beekeeping. Once 

 when our maddeningly successful apiary 

 grew to 40 hives when we did not want more 

 than a dozen at most, and the neighborhood 

 was surfeited with our bounty, we were " just 

 naturally " obliged to sell honey. We enjoyed 

 greatly getting the product ready for market, 

 and were somewhat surprised that so much 

 fun could be turned into ready cash. As a 

 matter of fact, both my husband and myself 

 have absorbing vocations and avocations in 

 plenty, so that our sole reason for keeping 

 bees is just because we love the little crea- 

 tures, and tind them so interesting that we 



would not feel that home was really home 

 without them ; the sight of our busy little 

 co-workers adds daily to our psychic income. 

 We are so very busy that we have very little 

 time to spend "with them, and we have finally 

 formulated our ideals for our own bee-keep- 

 ing, and that is to keep bees for honey and 

 for "fun." We shall have plenty of honey 

 for our own table, and just enough to bestow 

 on the neighbors so they will not get tired of 

 it; and fun enough to season life with an 

 out-of-doors interest, and thefeeling that no 

 summer day is likely to pass without a sur- 

 prise. Anna B. Comstock. 



oufhern 



Conducted by Locis H. Scholl, New Braunsfels, Tex. 



Bust the Bee-Man in his cozy-kept shop, 



Where he whiles away his lazy hours; 

 Meal-bells may sound, but no time to stop, 

 But prepare for the yield from Nature's 

 flowers; 

 And be gathered by his pets from glen and 



field— 

 During another season's bountiful yield. 



Preparations for Next Season 



a poor one, he was compelled to sell his in 

 terest; but he had been too thoroughly in 

 oculated with bee-fever for it to be easily 

 eradicated, and in 1S9S he began bee-keeping 

 again. He had no means to start on, but 

 most thoroughly believed in the saying, 

 " Where there's a will there's a way." Dur- 

 ing that year he cut 30 bee-trees in the woods 

 and brought the bees home. He was not able 

 to buy hives or fixtures, but, " Necessity is 

 the mother of invention," and lots of other 

 things, so he made his own hives and frames, 

 and took, during the following year, $260 



These should begin early — as soon as 

 the present season's crop is off. 

 First, the bees should be put in trim 

 for winter, and here is where many 

 bee-keepers stop. But keep on ! Get 

 your next year's supplies ; secure the 

 usual early-order discounts ; use your 

 idle moments during fall and winter, 

 and nail them up ready for next year. 

 You'll make a double gain — get the dis- 

 counts, and get the honey when it 

 comes. 



Bulk Comb Honey 



This is now the chief product of 

 Texas apiaries, and the demand far 

 exceeds the supply each year ; while 

 extracted honey goes begging. It is 

 no trick to sell bulk comb honey, and 

 the price obtained is from 3 to 4 cents 

 more than for extracted. A third of 

 the contents of the cans packed with 

 this comb honey is extracted, hence it 

 must be remembered that comb-honey 

 prices are obtained for it, or if the 

 original price of the extracted honey 

 is subtracted, a much higher price is 

 obtained for the comb honey. 



Bulk comb has proven the most 

 profitable in the South. 



I 



Mr. J. E. Chambers 



Mr. J. E. Chambers, of Concho Co., Tex., 

 owned his first bees in Bee County in 1888, 

 and, although he knew nothing of practical 

 bee-keeping, he was much interested in bees. 

 In Is'Jd he began modern bee-keeping, and in 

 partnership with Mr. Mann, of Menardville, 

 owned some 80 colonies. That year proving 



lift 



J. E. CHAMBERS AND HELPERS 



worth of honey. From that beginning to this 

 day he has de\oted all his attention to bees, 

 not trying to do anything else, and he has 

 studied it with that mystical exaltation that 

 forgets itself in the pursuit. His enthusiasm 

 has never waned in the least, and he can yet 

 work from morning till night without realiz- 

 ing the flight of lime. If he could have had 

 an education, he would perhaps have been a 

 journalist, but withuut that very necessary 

 equipment, he could not hope to succeed in 



that field; and among all the other pursuits 

 he would yet choose bee-keeping as the one 

 best suited to his taste, and in conformity to 

 his disposition and temperament. 



During his first years of bee-keeping he 

 kept well within the beaten track, but that 

 was not his disposition. He soon began to 

 branch out and try things that the wise ones 

 said could not be done, and were all wrong, 

 but he has ever had a contempt for all things 

 orthodox ; not that some of these things are 

 not true and all right, but the term implies 

 "fogyism;" at least, it seems that way to 

 him. One of the first things he found out 

 through experimenting, was that the " stand- 

 ard hive," so-called, did not suit hi6 ideas or 

 method of working. This led him to further 

 experimenting, with the result that he finally 

 adopted his present hive, WU inches long, 

 14 1 .. wide, and 6 deep. He has now been 

 using this hive for over 5 years, and finds it 

 all he desires. But were he to start over 

 again, he would make a change in the frames 

 to the Hoffman, which he considers the best 

 made at the present time; but he knows of a 

 frame that would suit his style of manipula- 

 tion better. 



During the last 5 years he has used the 

 Carniolan bees in all his honey-yards. He 

 considers them the best, all things consid- 

 ered. The imported stock, or home-bred 

 queen6 from the imported, are the ones he has 

 found to average the greatest yields of honey. 

 The swarming disposition is the only draw- 

 back, but that does not give him as much un- 

 easiness as it formerly did. His non-swarming 

 device has effectually done away with all that 

 trouble, and he is now able to control all 

 swarming and keep the full force together. 

 During the present year he has used it on a 

 number of colonies with the most gratifying 

 success, requeening and keeping down all 

 swarming with the utmost certainty and ease. 



Since starting in bee-keeping he has bought 

 over $S00 worth of the best factory-made 

 white-pine hives, and now owns nearly 300 

 colonies of bees and 300 nuclei, with extract- 

 ing houses and all necessary supplies, to- 

 gether with his home, valued at $1000— in all, 

 over $3000 worth of stuff. During all the 

 time he has been thus engaged he has never 

 worked at anything else, or for any one else, 

 and what little he has accomplished has been 

 done with the help of the little bees. 



A Friend. 



It was somewhat difficult to obtain a 

 photograph of Mr. Chambers, but after 

 insisting upon it, the picture of him- 

 self and his young helpers came with 

 the letter below, from which it will be 

 seen that Mr. Chambers is a modest 

 man, such as generally attend to their 

 own business. His cell-building ar- 

 rangement and non-swarming man- 

 agement have been mentioned in some 

 of the bee-papers, and we hope that 

 Mr. Chambers will find time to prepare 

 several articles for us soon, which he 

 has promised to do. He has several 

 items of interest which will be given 

 from time to time later. Here is the 

 letter : 



Friend Scholl:— Your letter i6 received. 

 1 regret that I did not get it sooner ; how- 

 ever, I have no recent photograph of myself, 

 but to satisfy you I will have some taken, 

 and will send one. I have always had a dis- 

 taste against having many of these things 

 struck off. 



I expect to be in San Antonio during the 

 meeting of the National Association, Nov. S, 

 9, and 10. 



Bees did well for me the past season, many 

 nuclei of 6 and 8 combs building up to full 

 colonies, and giving a surplus of 50 pounds of 

 fine white honey during the 14 days of sumac 

 flow. These were Carniolans, daughters of 

 imported queens. I have never been able to 

 accomplish such results with any other race 

 of bees. Do you wonder that I am partial to 

 this great race. Full colonies stored over 6 

 supers of 30 pounds each to the colony. The 

 past year has been bad for swarming, but I 





