THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



25 



tal was of "secondary importance; " but 

 the low price of honej' and high price 

 of bees makes capital inseparable from 

 success. To succeed we inusi have cap- 

 ital in the shape of a large apiary, all the 

 needful appliances for rapid manipu- 

 lation, and a business eye for " the main 

 chance." Avoid having too many irons 

 in the fire, and give your business your 

 undivided attention. " Bee-culture don't 

 agree with farming nor any other busi- 

 ness. There will be a clash and one 

 or the other neglected, and of course un- 

 profitable. The average bee-keeper must 

 liave strong stocks to make a success of 

 "honey gathering rapidly." A good 

 mechanic can make a good job out of 

 poor stock, but a poor mechanic will 

 make a poor job out of the best stock. 

 The same is true of bees; a skillful api- 

 arian can secure good yields of honey 

 from weak stocks. An extractor is a 

 convenience, not a necessity. Occasion- 

 all}' it will come in play for extracting 

 broken combs so as to patch them up. 

 "Will you raise 9 cent extracted honey 

 for a dull market, or 25 cent box honey 

 for a ready market? My advice is to 

 keep larger apiaries and raise honey in 

 small glass boxes. 



T. S. Bull — How would you dispose 

 of our dark fall honey ? Will tJiat sell in 

 boxes ? 



James Heddon — Most assuredly it will. 

 My father is a traveling agent for a 

 manufacturing firm of our town, and is 

 thoroughly posted in regard to the best 

 honey markets of the country. He re- 

 cently advised me to quit using the ex- 

 tractor altogether, as the price of extracted 

 honey is constantly receding. He says 

 that box honey only will be profitable in 

 future; and that the darker grades will 

 sell well in a 2% pound box. 



Dr. Southard — Will not the bees 

 crowd the brood chamber with honey, 

 when the extractor is not used ? 



James Heddon — My opinion is, that 

 an extractor is never necessary for this 

 purpose. Seven years of practical ex- 

 perience in the apiary is the basis of 

 this belief. Mr. Burch has succeeded 

 admirably in securing box honey, with 

 no aid from the extractor, while Mr. 

 Bingham regards its use as of no ad- 

 vantage whatever. Don't use large hives, 

 l)ut small ones; the bees will breed be- 

 low and store honey above in boxes. 

 [Gonduded in our next.] 



For the American Bee Journal. 

 How Are The Mighty Fallen. 



It is rather amusing to hear the cham- 

 pions of the Honey Extractor " go back " 

 on their old hobby. They were riding it 

 so long that I thought it impossible for 

 them to fall off. But, lo, even the ever- 



changing Novice lost his balance and fell 

 with a thud. "No more Honey Ex- 

 tractors!" "Too much liquid honey!" 

 "The price is not remunerative and the 

 market is overstocked." 



I am sure the market is not much over- 

 stocked with good honey, but the truth of 

 the matter is the Extractor does not secure 

 the enormous amounts that Novice's "All- 

 Metal light-running" machines are rep- 

 resented to do. Bx nihilo nihil fit. Na- 

 ture produces the honey and the bees 

 gather it and always find room to store it 

 in their own hexagonal jars. 



The work required in the use of Ex- 

 tracter, going from hive to hive, remov- 

 ing the comb, uncapping the cells, return- 

 ing the comb and closing the hives, be- 

 gins to tell on these Extractor champions, 

 and they cry out. 



Twenty cents per pound is a paying 

 price in " hard times " for box honey, and 

 if three times the amount of extracted 

 can be produced, as we liave been told 

 over and over again, (see back volumes of 

 of Journals), why not hold to the Extrac- 

 tor? Extracted honey per pound 8cx3= 

 24c. Here could be a gain of 4c on box 

 honey. 



Gentlemen, please be consistent. "Truth 

 is mighty and d<}es prevail." 



Novice is to be pitied as " Othello's oc- 

 cupation " seems to be gone. 



Since the Honej' Extractor " wild fire " 

 wears such a " long face" and bewails its 

 misdirected efforts, would it not be wise 

 for us to be a little easy on the Founda- 

 tion Combs '? H. H. Flick. 



Lavansville, Pa. 



Holding Fast to its Old Name, which 

 it lias carried successfully through the 

 long period of thirty-four years, the Ameri- 

 can Agriculturist swings out its banner 

 for the "Centennial Year" with the vigor 

 of the prime of life, and with well found- 

 ed promises of still greater achievements 

 in its appropriate sphere — that of a plain, 

 practical, highly instructive and trust- 

 worthy family journal. Its name, adopted 

 at the start for a special field of work, 

 has become almost a mis-nomer, because 

 it is now equally useful to City, Village, 

 ahd Country. The closing number of 

 volume 34, now before us, like its usual 

 issues, is full of good things, varied in 

 contents, which are prepared with much 

 labor, thought and care, and illustrated 

 with over 60 well executed and well 

 printed original sketches and engravings. 

 This Journal is a marvel of cheapness, 

 beauty and utility, costing only $1.60 a 

 year, postage included, for its more than 

 500 double pages of useful information, 

 and 500 to 600, or more, of fine engrav- 

 ings. Every family should liave it. — 

 Orange Judd Company, Publishers, 245 

 Broadway, New York City. 



