THE AMERICAJN BEE JOURNAL. 



99 



bee-keeper of experience, says in the Janu- 

 ary number of the magazine: 



"There is too mu('li of this spirit, of 

 getting something for nothing, or at least, 

 of realizing great results from little labor 

 before the world. The prime reason why 

 I recommend bee-keeping as a business, 

 is, that those who engaged in it are sure 

 to earn all they get," and in this he will 

 find not a few to sustain him. 



I am often asked, if I w'ould recom- 

 mend it as a business. My reply is, I 

 certainly should, if you are adapted to it. 

 First satisfy yourself on this point, and re- 

 member the best authority on tlie subject 

 says, that four out of live of those who en- 

 ter the business fail to succeed. Be mod- 

 erate in your purchases, learn the busi- 

 ness thoroughly, and I assure you a de- 

 lightful field of investigation is open to 

 you. It is a pleasant, active, out-door 

 business — one that employs all tlie powers 

 of mind and body, bringing us into close 

 communion with the finer manifestations 

 of our Ci'eator's wisdom, in the nice ad- 

 justment of things, to meet the wants of 

 his creatures. 



There is much difference in the enjoy- 

 ment of life to one engaged in some active 

 out-door pursuit, breathing pure air, 

 thoroughly oxygenating his blood, with a 

 good appetite, and better digestion. 



As compared to a man whose sedentary 

 habits bring to his lungs the impure air 

 of ill-ventilated rooms, with a poor ap- 

 petite, and poorer digestion, dyspeptic 

 and despondent, in consequence. 



It is not the rich who get the greatest 

 enjoyment out of life; not the millionaire 

 "who goes bustling through the world, 

 but he who is engaged in honest toil, 

 with more vitality than is needed for the 

 day's business, always some to work off in 

 fun and frolic. When I am well I am 

 happy, and when I am sick I am miser- 

 able, regardless of other conditions. 

 Hence if bee-keeping does not pay in 

 dollars and cents, as well as to stand be- 

 tween producer and consumer, and toll 

 the production of the world, or to ex 

 change money at one-half of one per cent, 

 profit, we are the happier. 



And if it is as we are told, that the 

 "chief end and object of human eflbrt is 

 happiness," the balance is then clearly on 

 our side, and in favor of our business. 



As an article of food, honey is of great 

 value. " Milk and honey" has long stood 

 a synonym for prosperity and happiness. 



At the first meeting of this Association, 

 at Albany, some of you will rember the 

 German who was in regular attendance, 

 and manifested such deep interest in our 

 proceedings. At the last session, on being 

 asked for remarks, he replied, in broken 

 English: He could not make a speech, 

 nor did he know anything about keeping 

 bees, but wished to say he had been 

 greatly interested in the subject, and that 



he read in his Bible of a ' promised 

 land' — a 'land flowing with milk and 

 honey,' and often thought this beloved 

 America, the land of his adoption, was 

 that land ; that nowhere on the face of the 

 earth was milk as pure, plenty, and cheap, 

 as here." And, "gentlemen, if I can be- 

 lieve one-half you say, honey will soon 

 be as cheap, in proporti(m to fts value." 



It has been rather humiliating to most 

 of us, certainly so ,to me, not to be able to 

 meet the change in climate, or whatever 

 it may be, and thus avert the great mor- 

 tality in wintering and springing that is 

 so fatal to our business. 



Great progress has been made in sum- 

 mer management. What now we most 

 need is carefully conducted experiments 

 on winter management, with results re- 

 ported, to this and kindred associations, 

 to be studied, and a system evolved there- 

 from that will benefit all. 



I think the time will surely come, when 

 we shall make bee-culture profitable in 

 the poorest seasons, and winter tliem as 

 certainly as farmers do their stock. The 

 fact that some wintered successfully dur- 

 ing the great calamity that befel our bees 

 in the winter and spring of 1872, is an 

 argument to this end. 



It is our province to so develop the 

 science, and increase the production of* 

 honey, that this delicious article of food 

 may be within the reach of all. Then 

 will the inference of our German friend 

 at Albany be fully sustained. 



For the American Bee JournaK 

 Undesired Experience. 



CHAPTER II. 



The winter of 1874 and 1875 brought its 

 own trials. As colonies, our bees were, 

 in several cases, brought to the verge of 

 destruction. They perished in such num- 

 bers that again and again, we wondered 

 how so many could be taken and a rem- 

 nant still remain. However, April 1st 

 found bees au'l a queen in every hive, and 

 — thanks to the protection aliorded by 

 their chaff-packed outer boxes — the weak- 

 est handful was taken safely through the 

 spring, and, by June, had become a thriv- 

 ing colony. 



Although persuaded that our fears, with 

 respect to foul brood, had been ground- 

 less, none the less carefully did we watch 

 for a re-appearance of the evil — whatever 

 it might be — which had alarmed us. 

 Through April and May we made repeat- 

 ed and thorough examinations in each 

 colony. More especially did we keep 

 under surveillance the combs at No. 7, in 

 which hive, as may be remembered, we 

 had found dead brood the preceding Au- 

 gust. But we could discover no trace of 

 disease, and each fruitless search was an 



