for my own sake, whether honey was worth 

 1 c.or 20c. per pound. 



No, we prefer to " kinder" grow into the 

 business, and it costs ns two or three times 

 as much money and time as it would to 

 purchase and commence where some one 

 leaves off. 



It will not do to depend upon directions 

 found in bee papers and books. Many of 

 the writers of hooks are practical failures 

 and have strength only in the literary part 

 of the pursuit. The contributors of our 

 bee papers are " many men of many minds." 

 Many of them unsuccessful as honey pro- 

 ducers. Some dishonest, and writing as 

 experiments what are only theories ; others 

 governed by personal spleen, or mercenary 

 motives; and all this in spite of the best 

 editors and publishers that we can have. 

 Bee papers and books are of most value to 

 him who has the ability to cull the chaff 

 from the kernel. 



A successful method of getting apicul- 

 tural lore, is by visiting such apiarists as 

 you would guess might be as well fixed for 

 the accomplishment of the end in view, as 

 any. Sometimes it is quite difficult to ex- 

 plain some points, in the apiary, that can be 

 brushed away with a breath on the floors of 

 conventions, or from the pages of papers. 



In my limited travels, I have been many 

 times surprised and heartily disappointed, 

 at finding'scarcely a spark, behind a great 

 volume of smoke. Again have I been 

 happily disappointed at findinga " mute in- 

 glorious Milton," truly on the royal road to 

 success. I call to mind my last journey of 

 a few days ago; I found that on the road I 

 should "'pass Mr. B's skeps." I thought I 

 should like to see how many "skeps" Mr. 

 B had. I did so, and what did I find ? A 

 young man with a lady-like wife, and two 

 sweet children ; little house and honey 

 room ; large apiary and last but not least, 

 a head full of thoughts, of a clear solid 

 and practical nature and entirely free from 

 superstition, and besides the best income of 

 colonies and honey 1 have yet heard of in 

 Michigan. 



" Here we are" said he, "trying to make 

 a business of honey producing as a specialty. 

 What do you think?" 



"That you will succeed," said 1, without 

 hesitation. 



He will succeed because he is up with and 

 a little ahead of the times. Because he has 

 the judgment to keep within his means, and 

 keep perfect system and older all about him. 

 Because he had the keen insight to see 

 where and how others had failed ; I tell you 

 it made me feel happy to see such progress. 

 No supplies to sell. A sign on the honey 

 house said "honey for sale." I never was 

 more pleased to find one of my supers over- 

 flowing with bass wood honey, than to see 

 his neat shipping cases well filled, during 

 this poorest of all seasons. 



1 like to see coats, hats, dresses and bon- 

 nets, large and small, together with all 

 necessaries and luxuries common with the 

 family, all bought with the products of the 

 apiary. If 1 have a weakness for honey- 

 producing as a specialty, please excuse it. 



This friend is in the country and do you 

 not think it would be a splendid achieve- 

 ment for our pursuit, if some non-producing 



enthusiast, could only persuade Mr. B's 

 farmer neighbors to cut into his splendid 

 field ? 



I left this friend not only a happier but 

 wiser visitor. Many such there are in this 

 broad land, who have more apicultural 

 knowledge, than disposition to write on the 

 subject. We get their experience only by 

 visiting them. 



1 am much pleased to admit, that the out- 

 look for the apiarist Is more encouraging to- 

 day than for years past. The export trade 

 proposes to hold us at, or above 15c. per lb. for 

 oursections crated and laid down in the city. 

 This is certainly good to fall back on when: 

 our home market is too full to bid higher. 

 This season we shall get 20 to 25c. 



Now bee-keepers who would succeed, it 

 rests with you to know that a divided field 

 will not pay anyone, and act accordingly. If 

 you expectto avoid an "apicultural failure," 

 choose an unoccupied field (for many such 

 there are, and good ones too) and then it you 

 are possessed of integrity, mental and 

 physical tact, with an ability and disposition 

 to work, success is surely yours, 



James Heddon. 



Dowagiac, Mich., Sept. 13, 1880. 



D. A. Jones, Ontario, explained an 

 important discovery made by him for 

 obtaining surplus honey in the brood- 

 chamber, whereby he thinks as much 

 comb honey can" be obtained as ex- 

 tracted. It consists of a division sheet 

 of perforated zinc going across the hive 

 and removable at will. The perfora- 

 tions are of such a size that the worker 

 bees can pass through but the queen can- 

 not. This sheetof zincisplaced behind: 

 the first three or four frames in the hive. 

 The queen has access to the frames in 

 front of the zinc, but not to those be- 

 hind it. The worker bees will always 

 deposit their honey in the middle of the 

 hive if possible, and with the zinc sheet 

 in, the queen cannot get at the middle 

 frames to deposit eggs. Consequently 

 the frames in frontof the zinc get filled 

 entirely with brood and the frames be- 

 hind the zinc entirely with honey. If 

 a little is deposited in the brood frames 

 it is of no consequence the object being 

 to get the honey frames free from brood. 

 As soon as a brood frame has been laid 

 full of eggs it is lifted out and put at 

 the back of the hive? for the eggs to 

 hatch out, and another frame is given 

 to the queen. The gain by this method 

 is immense. Not only can box and 

 extracted honey be obtained from the 

 same hive, but the quantity deposited 

 is increased greatly from the absence of 

 brood and pollen in the honey frames. 

 The zinc sheet can also be used to pre- 

 vent swarming, if there should be any 

 such signs at an inconvenient time : by 

 placing it at the entrance of the hive 

 the queen is shut in, and of course the 

 swarming does not take place while the 

 work goes on as usual. 



