60 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



to be candied, I sell some for money and a 

 consideuable for trade, e. g.,I paid f 4 and 

 the balance in sliuig honey for a bureau, 100 

 lbs. for a 2 year old Durham heifer, 275 lbs. 

 for carpenter work, some more toj mason, 

 some for corn. A neighbor told me that he 

 was putting up a variety of Illinois fruit for 

 some friends in Indiana, I suggested put- 

 ting in some of our honey, he got 21 lbs., 

 and brought a neighbor who got fi lbs., he 

 thought his friends might want a barrel of 

 honey ; my blacksmith's bill is paid in 

 honey, &c., etc. My neighbors prefer the 

 slung honey because it is cheaper and 

 healthier, and no wax in it. Many persons 

 cannot eat honey because it gives them 

 colic. I have yet one of such to find who 

 cannot eat slung honey when candied solid. 

 Last fall neighbor "SI. told me he wanted 

 some honey and would take luore but his 

 Avife could not eat it. tlie last time she tast- 

 ed it he went for the doctor. When he 

 came for the honey he brought her along 

 and she ate liberally of it and it had no bad 

 effects. 



We would advise all bee-keepers to make 

 home sale of slung honey, and if city style 

 will have comb honey niake them pav tor 

 it. D. D. Palmer. 



Eliza, Mercer Co., 111. 



For tlie American Eee Journal. 



An Address 



DELIVERED BEFORE THE SOUTnAVESTERN 

 KEJJTLTCKY BEE-KEEPERS' SOCIETY BY 

 DR. N. P. ALLEN, THE PRESIDENT OF THE 

 SOCIETY, ON DEC. 30, 1874. 



The objects of this Association are to ad- 

 vance the science of bee culture, by asso- 

 ciating in one body those who are interested 

 in bee-keeping. 



The importance of association wdien there 

 are connnon objects to carry out will be 

 readily conceeded. 



The value of consultation about matters 

 in which all are interested, and especially 

 where there is room for difference of 

 opinion cannot be over-rated. 



We liavc our Agricultural Societies and 

 our Granges tu look after the great founda- 

 tional industries of the country ; and con- 

 ventions and meetings are held all over the 

 land in order to carry out the ends for 

 whicli they were organized. 



No sensible individual undertakes to 

 carry out solitary and alone the ends he is 

 aiming to accomplish when there are others 

 equally anxious to succeed in the same di- 

 rection, with whom he can consult and co- 

 operate. There is no class of men whose 

 interests calls louder for consultation and 

 association than hcc-kce|)ers. 



When we take into consideration the fact 

 that bee culture is both a science and an 

 art ; that but few in our land liave any 

 knowledge of the great discoveries or inven- 

 tions that have been made ; that the mass 

 of bee owners are ignorant of even the 

 simplest oi)crations of the apiarv. It be- 

 lioves us to do all we can to (lis|ierthe cloud 

 of ignorance which over-hangs thcui, and so 

 far as we can to ini])art that knowledge by 

 which they may prosecute bee-culture suc- 

 cessfully. 



I regard bee-keeping in this country in its 

 infancy. 1 feel sure that the great founda- 

 tional principles of success have been at- 



tained with the movable frame hive, the 

 honey extractor, and the Italian bees. 

 There is nothing wanting but a thorough 

 knowledge of bee cultine and a determina- 

 tion to succeed. Thei-e are a large number 

 of determined men in the northern States 

 that are ]iro(lucing honey by the ton, they 

 are realizing large profits from the labor of 

 honey bee, many of them are growing rich, 

 and \vhy can we not as well as them^ when 

 our gardens, fields, and forests are strewn 

 with flowees rich with honey '? 



Bee-keeping has taken a high stand 

 among the productive industries of the 

 world, and many are reaping a rich reward 

 in its pursuit. 



Honey as food for man was of sufficient 

 importance to be recorded in the sacred 

 Scriptures : " Sampson enjoyed a rich feast 

 of honey taken from the carcass of a lion." 

 John the Baptist while he was preparing 

 the way for the coming Savior, dined upon 

 locusts and wild honey. 



It is absolutely certain if man is to have 

 honey the bee must collect and store it for 

 him, and it is none the less certain that the 

 proposition of honey gatheretl and made 

 available for human use is very small com- 

 pared with what might be got it' there were 

 bees enough to gather it. 



The question, Avill it pay ? is the question 

 that interests most persons, in the various 

 l)ursuits of num. I answer that bee-keep- 

 ing, like all other pursuits, has its successes 

 and reverses, but I am fully satisfied that it 

 is no more subject to failure and disappoint- 

 ment than any others. 



I am aware that many who have bees fail 

 to realize any profit from them, but that is 

 no reason why they should not. If they 

 were to give their farm stock no more at- 

 tention and care than they give their bees 

 they would prove even more worthless than 

 their bees. 



There is no good reason why our land 

 should not tlow with milk and honey, We 

 could, if we would turn our attention to it, 

 procuce • tons where we now produce 

 pounds. It does not take long to learn to 

 swarm bees artificially, and thereby insure 

 increase of stocks, nor to Italianize ourblack 

 bees and cultivate a superior race of bees 

 that are more prolific and better honey 

 gatherers. We can soon learn to extract 

 the fluid honey and return the comb to be 

 hlled again, in fact all the o])erations of the 

 apiary can be learned by any one who will 

 give it their undivided attention, for there 

 are no secrets in bee-keei)ing. But in order 

 to accomplish this we uuist use exclusively 

 the movable frame hive. "We cannot suc- 

 ceed to but a limited extent with the box 

 hive. Then I would earnestly advise all 

 who are interested in l)ee-keepiug, either 

 for pleasure or for profit, to get the movable 

 frame hive, and transfer your bees into it. 

 Procure a honey extractor and thereby in- 

 crease yoin- honey to an unlimited extent. 

 Take the ]inblicatious on bee culture, I 

 would recommend the Ameimoan Bee 

 Journal, Mixni's Bve ]]'orlil, and Olean- 

 ()i{/,s in Biv Vultnrc^ixs invaluable to those 

 seeking knowledge ni the management of 

 bees. 



It is s<aid that he who causes two blades of 

 gi'ass to grow where but one grew before, is 

 a benefactor of his race ; and it can be no 

 less true that he who causes two pounds of 

 houey to be made where but one was made 

 before, is a benefactor, and a blessing to 



