THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



55 



up at the window. It was enono;h — 

 the story had been told ! 



J left the window, and presently Nel- 

 lie came in to tell me, what I already 

 knew — the new queen had been mur- 

 dered by her rebellious subjects. 



Cyula Linswik. 



North Eastern Bee-Keepers'Association, 



THE FOURTH ANNUAL CONVENTION, HELD 

 AT UTICA, N. Y., FEB, 4 AND 5, 1874. 



FTRST HAY. 



After the preliminary business mutters were 

 disposed of, President M. Quinby, of St. 

 •lohnsville, delivered his opening address, 

 from which we jirint extracts as follows : 



WHY UOK'T FAKilERS KEEP BEES. 



This question put to most farmers might 

 be briefly answered, Because I don't know 

 how. But, like tlie Yankee, who answered 

 one question by answering another, it indi- 

 cates the importance of asking wJiy we do 

 not know how. And answering this involves 

 the asking of a thousand others in the multi- 

 plied ramiflcatious leading from it. Do not 

 expect me to answer all, or even very many, 

 for the very significant reason given above, 

 I do not knoic how. 



Bee-keepers desirous of promoting this 

 branch of science, must present inducements 

 to the farmers themselves, before they have 

 any to present to their sons. Nearly all that 

 have been ottered have been presented very 

 unskillfully. One class simjily believes that 

 improvements have been made in the hives, 

 without understanding why they are improve- 

 ments; and we find some hives patented, not 

 because they are improvements, but because 

 they are difterent from others. Bought and 

 sold, not because they will promote bee-cul- 

 ture, but because money is expected to be 

 made without labor. Practical knowledge 

 of management can no more be bought with 

 a price, than capacity for the school-boy. 

 Failure has been the consequence of suppos- 

 ing it could, and to-day ten empty hives can 

 be found piled up as wasted lumber, where 

 one can be found containing bees. The result 

 presents but few inducements for the farmer 

 to begin bee-keeping. Another class — small 

 to be sure — endeavor to make bee-keeping 

 attractive to the masses. Owing to the pe- 

 culiar training of the farmer, and his own 

 ignorance of the subject, their etlbrts have 

 proved nearly abortive. 



Two years ago, sonu; progressi\e bee-kee])- 

 ers attended the discussion on this subject, at 

 the rooms of the State Agricultural Society. 

 It was expected some success would follow 

 their efl'orts, as some important jioints in 

 their experience were given, the result of 



what they knew — little in comparison to 

 what will be known — and they gave it freely, 

 without money and without i)ri(;e. It was 

 shown very conclusively that a man had .se- 

 cured, in one season, So, 000 lbs. of surplus 

 honey, and saved his bees for another year, 

 his sales amounting to over $7,000. We ex- 

 hibited very clearly by this one case the 

 amount that could be collected on a small 

 area of land. And this in turn gave very 

 clearly the amount produced in the area of 

 the whole State — which amounted to mill- 

 ions upon millions of pounds — that of other 

 States not mentioned. The object in making 

 this statement was to show" that there was no 

 lack of honey to gather, now wasted, to en- 

 gage all the enterprise likely to be enlisted in 

 a hundred years yet. The object in stating 

 the amount collected by one individual, was 

 to show the difference in results, between the 

 old and new method of bee-culture. 



Understanding something of the manner in 

 which farmers had been educated in this mat- 

 ter, and suspecting it might not be received 

 as a truthful relation, it was suggested that a 

 committee be appointed to investigate the 

 statements made by the society. A resolution 

 to that eft'ect was oftered, but never carried 

 out. Had it been, it might have settled the 

 point relative to the facts. A prominent 

 member, an otficer of the society and chair- 

 man of the meeting, who seemed to know 

 something of bees by his own experience, 

 said that he had kept bees many years, and 

 never found them very profitable. Once in 

 al)out five years in good seasons, they paid; 

 other seasons it was more trouble to keep 

 them alive, than they paid for, advised young 

 farmers to be very careful how they invested 

 in the business. In these remarks we find an 

 answer to the question why a certain class 

 do not keep bees. Coming from a prominent 

 man, all would suppose him qualified to de- 

 cide. On what grounds the decision was made 

 was not asked. He evidently did not believe 

 the statement made by the society. But his 

 experience of twenty years ago could not be 

 supi)osed to have any great value now, and it 

 was hardly fair to give it as proof that bee- 

 keeping would not pay, thus discouraging fu- 

 ture effort. Sheep husbandry has been 

 taught for thousands of years. Should a man 

 that discovered some improvement over his 

 neighbor's management at this late day refuse 

 to give it to his neighbor; or should the neigh- 

 bor, if it should be given him, refuse credence 

 to his story because he had kept sheep many 

 years and thought he knew about all there 

 was to be known on the subject, and say that 

 some years they paid very well, but he thought 

 the chances of dry weather, i)oor pasture, poor 

 fences and other casualties made it rather 

 ri.sky business ? Should he not be careful how 

 he discourages progression '/ This course, no 

 doubt, discouraged bee-keei)ing the more be- 



