a box three centimetres high, otherwise 

 of the exact dimensions of the hive to 

 be operated on. It has two glass win- 

 dows on opposite sides, so that I can 

 observe the moment when the bees 

 begin to fall. The ether being first 

 placed in this box (about 30 grammes on 

 a sponge, protected with zinc) I im- 

 mediately put the hive above, and raise 

 it when I see the bees fall. By this 

 means evaporation is more prompt, and 

 the operation presents less danger to 

 the bees. F. Eisenhardt. 



For the American Bee Journal. 



Bee-Culture vs. Farming, etc. 



W. O. CARPENTER. 



In the December Journal you have 

 an article, " Is Bee-Culture subject to 

 more failures than Farming or Stock 

 raising V" 



This is a very abstruse question, and 

 by no means to be answered in a sum- 

 mary manner ; each avocation has its 

 special requirements, and the question 

 is not so much whether the one is sub- 

 ject to more natural failures than the 

 other, but whether both come within 

 the average capabilities of the ordi- 

 nary run of individuals. " Non cuivis 

 homini contingil adire Corinthum" 

 — only those who strive to acquire 

 great things can reach Corinth — and 

 this is especially applicable to the suc- 

 cessful management of bees. The 

 chances are, the same individual would 

 not be equally successful, whether he 

 undertook the occupation of farming or 

 bee-culture. To succeed in bee-keep- 

 ing, irrespective of having a fair knowl- 

 edge of business, you must possess a 

 certain aptitude, have more or less a 

 mechanical turn with an inventive 

 brain, quick sight, and good powers of 

 observation, and settle in a favorable 

 location. It is by no means a game of 

 ehances. 



To succeed in farming, you require 

 another kind of knowledge, altogether 

 apart from that acumen of perception, 

 so necessary for bee-culture. You must 

 be a good judge of stock, (a specialty 

 of itself) and you must have consider- 

 able experience in raising and cultivat- 

 ing crops, with a knowledge of the 

 nature of different soils, manures, &c, 

 and their relative application to each 

 individual grain or herb. This infor- 

 mation is usually obtained in early life, 

 and you commence on your own ac- 

 count at a suitable age with a full store 

 of farming knowledge. Not so in bee- 

 keeping ; it is a science usually com- 

 menced at mature age, probably a fancy 

 instilled into the mind by a certain in- 



tuitive faculty you feel you possess, but 

 of course it requires some experience 

 and observation, before you can safely 

 launch into it, and before you are really 

 on a par with the young trained farmer 

 just about to commence business. This 

 being accomplished, suppose each enters 

 upon his relative occupation ; both well 

 up in their profession ; I will suppose 

 each to be first-rate in their respective 

 callings. Query : Which will make the 

 largest return for the capital invested ? 

 But to work this out fairly, a given 

 number of colonies, must be supposed 

 to be an equivalent for a given num- 

 ber of acres ; and I am hardly prepared 

 to give that piece of statistics correctly, 

 but, say for example, 500 colonies of 

 bees against 320 acres of land ; I would 

 then say if you gave the 500 colonies to 

 Mr. Doolittle, and the acres to the best 

 farmer in the State, the latter would 

 stand no chance with him. The Vice 

 President of the Kentucky Convention 

 stated his average for 6 years was $12.35 

 per colony ; can the experienced farmer 

 produce such an average per acre V But 

 it must be borne in mind by all those 

 about to enter upon the business of 

 bee-keeping, that all bee masters are 

 not Doolittle's. The want of science 

 will materially reduce the proceeds, and 

 with regard to the relative failures of 

 each from various accidents of bad 

 weather, &c, if the farmers loses his- 

 oats, he perhaps saves his corn or his 

 hay, or some other produce ; but the 

 bee-keeper saves nothing ! Of course 

 if you place a bungling bee-keeper in 

 competition with a skillful farmer, the 

 farmer will beat him ; but setting two 

 men together of average intellect in 

 their respective professions with the 

 average failures from bad seasons, the 

 bee man will have the best of it, unless 

 prices fall to an unprecedented extent. 

 Lawrence, Kansas, Dec. 8, 1879. 



For the American Bee Journal. 



How to Obtain Cash for Honey. 



JAMES HEDDON. 



Every honey producer living where 

 there is a production in excess of home 

 consumption, knows full well the puz- 

 zle he is in, after good luck and good 

 management have supplied him with a 

 full crop, to then realize on the same. 

 How long, do you suppose, we shall 

 have to go "hawking about" our pro- 

 duct ("in order to build up a taste for 

 it, and make it a staple"), before we 

 can take it to market (in either town 

 or metropolis), and realize cash upon it,, 

 at some price, in the same way that 

 other producers do for their products ? 



