AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



181 



It was with the purpose of making a be- 

 ginning, if possible, at answering these 

 and similar questions that 1 undertook 

 the experiment with section foundation. 

 It first occurred to me that samples of 

 honey made from natural comb might 

 be submitted separately to several care- 

 ful individuals, experienced in the pro- 

 duction of honey, for comparative tests, 

 with the hope that the reports of such 

 tests would give the light sought. With 

 further thought, that hope gradually 

 grew dimmer, until the committee of 

 the North American Bee-Keepers' con- 

 vention to whom the septa cut from 

 comb made from the several foundations 

 were submitted for comparison with a 

 view to a report, gave the matter up in 

 despair, when it went out altogether. 

 (Concluded next week.) 



xxxzxxTzxxxTxyrxTya 



Tie MicMiaii Stale Conyeution. 



Reported for the " American Bee Journal '■ 

 BY W. Z. HUTCHINSON. 



(Continued from page 152.) 

 Next came an essay by Mr. James 

 Heddon, entitled 



The Future of Bee-Keeping, 



I wish you all a happy New Year, and 

 being well aware that financial success 

 in any honorable calling does a full 

 share in promoting happiness, I will en- 

 deavor to do what little I can to add 

 brilliancy to the torch of apicultural 

 learning. As in the past, I shall en- 

 deavor to state what-I believe to be the 

 truth, and that, too, with gloves ofif, 

 wholly regardless of how such con- 

 ceived truths may affect interest or rep- 

 utation, letting the chips fall where they 

 may. 



I hope you do not imagine that I can 

 foretell the future of our loved pursuit, 

 and as we all know such can only be 

 guessed at, I shall endeavor to present 

 only such facts as I think materially 

 aid us all in guessincj what the future of 

 our pursuit is to be, guiding us in trim- 

 ming our sails accordingly. 



I believe that intelligent bee-keepers 

 have finally abandoned the theory that 

 our product, in any form, may become a 

 staple. As very much of the future 

 of bee-keeping hinges upon this point, 

 some 15 years ago some of our friends 

 who had various apicultural commodi- 

 ties for sale (none of which were honey), 

 seemingly inveigled themselves into the 

 pleasant belief that our product would 

 very soon become a staple commodity, 

 and apropos to the foregoing endeavored 

 to instil] the same erroneous opinion into 

 the minds of other bee-keepers. 



I believe it to be fatal to success in 

 any business, to harbor accommodation 

 theories in the place of cold, solid facts. 

 I want to know the truth about commer- 

 cial things, at least, and then if those 

 truths do not "set me free," they cer- 

 tainly will have a strong tendency to set 

 me on my feet. The opinion of a man 

 who believes, or thinks he believes, 

 something because he wa7its to, is of no 

 value whatever. 



But I presume I am knocking at a 

 man of straw, for I doubt if any of you 

 fancy that honey is to become a staple. 

 With this belief in view, you will see the 

 necessity of maintaining the character 

 of our product as a luxury — a fancy arti- 

 cle. To this end we should take the 

 utmost pains in grading our honey, 

 keeping the different varieties separate, 

 and with all of them we should see to it 

 that the honey is thoroughly ripened be- 

 fore removed from the hive, and if ex- 

 tracted, carefully strained from all sedi- 

 ment, and put up in attractive packages. 

 If in the comb, there is still greater need 

 of attractiveness in appearance, as well 

 as taste. The sections should be neat 

 and clean, the honey completely capped, 

 put up in handsome little crates wholly 

 free from leakage, and shipped in such 

 way as to remain so, clear to the. end of 

 the deal, or into the hands of the con- 

 sumer. 



Now lastly, but not leastly, in fact 

 mostly, we as bee-keepers should do all 

 in our power to maintain the reputation 

 of our fancy product in all that which 

 passeth show. 1 now have reference to 

 that nonsensical suspicion abroad among 

 consumers, that our product is adulter- 

 ated. Many consumers did suppose that 

 honey from the hands of packers occu- 

 pying secluded basements in large cities, 

 was adulterated. United States Chemist 

 Wiley told them so in the various news- 

 papers of the country, and they believed 

 it after they had read what Prof. Wiley 

 had said, and that hurt honey-producers 

 materially. Admitting t^at Mr. Wiley's 

 pleasantries were more or l*s true, the 



