114 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



in the production of honey, but beyond this 

 it is impertinent interference and annoyance 

 to disturb their wise economies. The 

 swarming instinct may be checked, regula- 

 ted, and watched over, but we do not be- 

 lieve it can ever be annihilated, or if it can 

 be, it will be at the cost of such a change 

 in the disposition of the bee, as will greatly 

 lessen its value to man as a gatherer and 

 ■storer of honey. 



Finally, we believe the All-wise Creator 

 made no mistake in giving the queen-bee 

 wings, and that it is, on the whole, best she 

 should be permitted to retain them. One 

 •of the speakers at Utica said he began the 

 clipping business by clipping off one of the 

 four wings. Then the queen went with the 

 swarm. So he took to clipping off " every 

 wing entirely." Another said, " Queens 

 ■cannot do anything with their wings but go 

 through the air. Their business is in the 

 hive ; wings are of no use there." It is as- 

 tonishing to see with what cool presumption 

 some people constitute themselves advisers 

 extraordinary to Infinite Wisdom, and pro- 

 ceed to carry out improvements in the Cre- 

 ator's plans. The queen-bee had wings 

 when the Lord God surveyed his finished 

 works, and pronounced them good. An 

 inspection of them now would not result in 

 the denial of wings to the royal insect, or 

 in any other improvement whatsoever, see- 

 ing that all the Divine works are, like their 

 glorious Maker, perfect. The Creator's fiat 

 as of more weight by far than the creature's 

 fancy, and we are content, in our bee-keep- 

 ing management, to conform to all the Di- 

 vinely-established laws of bec-lifc, instead 

 of trying to change, or even presuming to 

 suspend them. 



Why don't Farmers keep Bees ? 



Mr. Quinby, of St. Johnsville, N. Y., a 

 high authority on everything pertaining to 

 bee-keeping, discussed the above (juestion 

 in a paper read before the North-Eastern 

 Bee-keepers' Association at its recent annual 

 meeting, lie assigns four reasons for the 

 neglect of bee-keeping on the part of farm- 

 ers. 1st. They don't know how. 2nd. 

 They doubt if it will pay. -Jrd. They have 

 had such poor success in wintering bees. 

 4th. They are afraid of being stung. 



To these reasons, quite suflicient in them- 

 selves to account for the fact that very few 

 farmers keep bees, we would add another — 

 namelj^ want of enterprise. There is a 

 quality for which successful men of busi- 

 ness are noted which is very scarce among 

 farmers, and which we call "enterprise." 

 It leads to the trial of new and improved 

 methods ; to the making of ventures here 

 and there on the principle, "Nothing ven- 

 ture, nothing win ;" to an intelligent scru- 

 tiny of things generally ; and to energetic 

 action in any direction that seems to 

 promise adequate reward for dilligent 

 effort. 



For some cause or other, this quality is 

 lacking in the great majority of farmers. 

 Were it not so, there would be more manur- 

 ing and better tillage of laud ; fewer bars 

 and more gates ; some display of taste 

 about rural homes ; a general adoption of 

 improved stock ; carefully kept farm ac- 

 counts ; and many other things that are as 

 rarely found around country homesteads as 

 hives of bees. 



Enterprise is the result of education, and 

 of that sharpening of wits which comes 

 with the association of minds and the fric- 

 tion of ideas in the social and business con- 

 tracts of life. Agricultural colleges for 

 farmers' sons, and for any who contemplate 

 rural industry ; the circulation of agricul- 

 tural periodicals and books ; more visiting 

 and travel on the part of farmers and their 

 families ; the establishment and energetic 

 working of farmers' clubs ; and such like 

 means, will tend to cure an evil whose pres- 

 ence is indicated all around us in bad farm- 

 ing, woe-begone looking homes, tumble- 

 down fences, ill-bred stock, absence of 

 gardens, and last, but not least, neglect of 

 bee-keeping. 



THE ILM STRATED JOI'RIV AI.. 



As a spcciiiicn of tyimgraphy this magazine 

 is deserving of all Hie jiraisf' that has been 

 b('sto\V(Ml upon it by the Press of the country. 

 All the engravings are, without exception, 

 of a high (h'grcc of uierit. both as resju'cis the 

 subiect and the cxcciition. The literary de- 

 jiartment is well sustained. The number i.s 

 filled with interesting reading of permanent 

 value. A volume of this beautiful journal 

 will be a source of pleasinc to every posse.ss- 

 or of it. I'ublislied by the American Publish- 

 ing Company, Kooni'^T, Tribune Building, 

 Chicago, for onlj' $'2,.')0 a year. 



