42 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAIi 



the interests of those who are already 

 struggling in the business? And is it a 

 blessing to the new recruits to be allured 

 into as precarious and uncertain a pursuit 

 as ours? Where are the fortunes that 

 Langstroth and Quinby should have made, 

 possessing the best ideas of to-day twenty 

 years ago, with no bee-disease to annually 

 decimate the ranks of " bee-dom" ? 



The interests of the publishers of the 

 bee-iournals are in direct antagonism to 

 our own as honey producers, as is evi- 

 denced by Novice's refusal to publish my 

 article which was only a fair and candid 

 consideration of this subject, -and written 

 for the purpose of correcting a few ot his 

 mis-statements. I intended to have read 

 said article here to-day, but inadvertently 

 left it at home. „,-,»• 



(The article Mr. Heddon alluded to is 

 as follows. — Sec.) 

 The Other Side of Bee-Cut.ture. 

 Friend Novice: — I was not a little sur- 

 prised at finding my " refused " article 

 had crept into Gleanings after all. If you 

 take the privilege of copying my articles 

 from other papers, and commenting upon 

 them, you will no doubt allow me room in 

 your columns for a candid honest reply. 

 Please remember the shield that was red 

 on one side and white on the otlier, and at 

 least give us credit for honesty even if we 

 do diiffer trom you. Let us see if the arti- 

 cle referred to is such an exaggeration or 



not. . , 



Novice, you quote the price ot gooa ex- 

 tracted honey at 16c. to 18c. and 20c. per 

 pound Why does one of our best posted 

 apiarians peddle out 3,000 lbs. of extracted 

 honey at $1 per gallon ? The party I have 

 in mind is a "travelling man" a part ot 

 the year and knows more about honey 

 markets than the next one hundred bee- 

 keepers you will meet. Why does Mr. 0. 

 O Perrine reply to offers that he " does 

 not want to buy honey at any price " be- 

 cause it is such a drug on the market, that 

 there is not half the usual sale for it? If 

 this is a "honey buyer's" dodge, why did 

 this same "honey buyer" advertise for 

 honey but a few years ago? What have 

 we got to-day to warrant better success in 

 the future than in the past ? Hope ? How 

 much money or bees would any ot us 

 have if we had sold all of our honey in 

 past years at the prices given by Mr. Mc- 

 Master in " Honey Column " in your Oc- 

 tober No. ? I infer from some of your 

 past insinuations, that you class me with 

 the "honev buyers." If so, what of my 

 offer in "'Honey Column " for October. 

 If you don't believe me a " honey seller,'' 

 just send me down an order for this small 



lot- ^ . 



What a foolish man Adam Grimm must 

 be to sell his bees, when these "swamps ol 

 Michigan" are open to him and he knows 

 the bees here will pay all he asks for them 

 in "just four months." Who hived the 



swarms from those bees that were "visited 

 only once in one or two weeks?" My 

 bees will sometimes swarm in less than 

 "one or two" days. If bees and honey 

 are worth so much, pray tell us why I can- 

 not sell the bees and honey you have ad- 

 vertised for me. I never sold a pound of 

 honey to any party who had ever heard of 

 your " honey column." 



" Moral." 

 About fifteen years ago, near Vandalia, 

 Mich., out of over five hundred colonies 

 of bees that came out strong in the spring, 

 forty-five out of every fifty starved during 

 the summer and fall, and that too, in spite 

 of feeding and keeping them alive for 

 nearly sixty days in some cases. One 

 careful apiarian fed until he could afford 

 it no longer and then lost all but two out 

 of about one hundred colonies. 



The comb honey I offered in your 

 "honey column" for October, is in these 

 same "section frames" weighing about 

 three pounds each, and why don't tliey 

 " sell at sight" ? The northern part of 

 our State (Mich.) has yielded beyond a 

 precedent the past season, and of course 

 all eyes are turned toward that locality. 

 Can't see New York now. People were 

 looking there a year ago. To conclude, I 

 will make this prediction, and time will 

 show who is right, and who is wrong. In 

 the future not much extracted honey will 

 be taken, at least for eating purposes, 1 

 mean for table use. Comb honey in fancy 

 shape will be the bulk of the production. 

 The price will range from 15c. to 18c. per 

 pound, net, for choice comb, and from 6c. 

 to 8c. for extracted. Very little extracted 

 honey will be produced when apiarians 

 learn how to get just about as much sur- 

 plus comb honey from their bees, as can 

 be taken in liquid form, and also when 

 they learn, that in an apiary properly ar- 

 ranged and manipulated there is no need 

 of an extractor whatsoever ; and that ex- 

 tracted honey will not sell to experienced 

 purchasers unless capped over and well 

 " ripened " before taken from the combs. 

 The prices given above are subject to war, 

 inflation and panics. 



I have written the above in all candor 

 and good feeling toward all my fellow 

 bee-keepers and invite all criticisms of 

 the same nature, and request that you, Mr. 

 Editor, print or return this to me. 



James Heddon. 



Mr. Hiram Roop's reply in Gleanings 

 stated that bee-keeping is much more pro- 

 fitable than farming, citing his own ex- 

 perience as " proof stronger than Holy 

 Writ" in support of his assertion. But 

 why don't Roop's farm pay? Because 

 he neglects it in the care of bees. A 

 farmer in my neighborhood is paying 

 the principal and interest of a fb,OUU 

 mortgage on a farm whose area is only 

 twenty acres in excess of Mr. lioop s. 

 But he attends to his business. 



