108 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



honey crop begins the bees fill up the 

 brood chamber so thoroughly that there is 

 no more room for the queen to breed, and 

 without the use of the extractor the bees 

 would be unable to keep up their numbers 

 by reproduction, and would dwindle 

 down and die away ; simply by too much 

 wealth. 



Again, when the bees harvest honey 

 late in the fall, and have not time to cap 

 it all, the honey which remains uncapped, 

 if not extracted, will absorb moisture and 

 will destroy the bees that will feed on it 

 during the winter, as Mr. Heddon had a 

 chance to see during the winter of '70-'71. 

 This we gather from Mr. Heddon's own 

 testimony, page 261, vol. v. of the old and 

 valuable Am. B. J. (48 colonies reduced 

 to 6.) Why then should we oppose the 

 use of the extractor and the production of 

 extracted honey ? 



Mr. Heddon seems to be afraid that if 

 too many persons engage in bee-keeping, 

 that business will become unprofitable, 

 — because too much honey will be raised. 

 My impression is quite 'iiflfereut. If much 

 honey is raised, tlie American public will 

 become used to it, and will regard it a,s a 

 necessity of life, and it will be one indeed. 



Let us say then, to the beginner in bee- 

 culture : Do not be afraid of bee-culture ; 

 it is a profitable business, notwithstand- 

 ing all that Mr. Heddon may say to the 

 contrary, and the best proof that it is 

 profitable is, that Mr. Heddon still sticks 

 to it, although he has had as many draw- 

 backs as any one of us. 



Raise extracted honey, and sell it at 

 home, or around home. Do not extract it 

 when too thin (a little practice will soon 

 teach you when to extract). Keep it 

 clean. Teach your customers to use 

 granulated honey, and to reject the liquid 

 article, and you will not need to be anx- 

 ious for a honey market. 



Do not be afraid if your neighbors go 

 to keeping bees, for there should be room 

 for all, — except the dishonest ones, — and 

 the editors of past, present, and future 

 bee-papers, with their proselyting, will 

 never do so much harm to the business as 

 one or two dishonest dealers or adultera- 

 tors, Mr. Heddon to the contrary notwith- 

 standing. Go ahead, honey producers! 



C. P. Dadant. 

 Hamilton, 111., Mar. 10, 1876. 



For the American Bee Journal. 



Shall the National Society be Aban- 

 doned? 



From the lack of interest taken in its last 

 annual convention held at Toledo, I should 

 think it about at its end, so far as useful- 

 ness is concerned. There was only about 

 a baker's dozen of members present, that 

 had attended former meetings of the 

 society; the rest consisted of "new re- 



cruits" from the country around Toledo. 



At the last session, on morning of third 

 day, the subject of abandoning the Society 

 was discussed, and the utter hopelessness 

 of making it further a success generally 

 admitted, except by Mr. Zimmerman, who 

 insisted that another meeting be held, and 

 Philadelphia be the place of holding the 

 next annual convention. Mr. John Z. 

 Smith suggested that as the National 

 Society was a defunct institution, he 

 thought it would be well enough to send 

 it to Philadelphia for respectable inter- 

 ment, and he named G. W. Zimmerman 

 for President, who was elected unani- 

 mously. 



At the close of these proceedings, I, 

 with several others, left the hall to visit 

 the apiary of B. O. Everett, Esq., in Toledo, 

 but as far as I could learn, there was but 

 one member (the present incumbent of the 

 Presidential chair.) that intended to go to 

 the Philadelphia meeting. 



It might be well enough for amateurs in 

 bee-culture to attend, but the large pro- 

 ducers of honey and real bee-men, cannot 

 leave their bees during first or second 

 week in September, without serious loss, 

 as it is just at the time to put our bees in 

 condition for wintering. 



Daniel Kepler. 



Napoleon, O., March 17th, 1876. 



For The American Bee Joarnal. 



To the Public. 



Grateful for kindnesses shown me in 

 various ways, in addition to what has ap- 

 peared concerning my connection with 

 the Italian Bee Company, and Mrs. Tup- 

 per, I desire to remove some probable 

 misconceptions. 



My partnership was never what was 

 technically called ''silent.'''' It was pub- 

 lished in our first circulars, and I never 

 consented to the suppression of my ad- 

 dress in any circular or advertisements. 

 Fully trusting Mrs. T., I managed our Lo- 

 gan apiary and shop, and filled orders as 

 they were sent to me. It was not until in 

 Jan. last that I suspected that there was 

 any design in what had been represented as 

 "■printers' mistakes." Up to the time of the 

 dissolution of our partnership, my part'of 

 the expense otthe business largely exceeded 

 my receipts. Without making any claim 

 upon the profits of business in 1875, no 

 customer of the Co. is likely to lose one- 

 hundredth part as much as I do by actual 

 money and stock gone, and that even if I 

 were to refuse to settle those claims upon 

 which I have received nothing. My own 

 assets in settlement are simply the name 

 of the Company and its possible future. 

 Yet in all unfilled orders I expect to meet 

 honor's call as far as means will allow. 



J. E. ROCKWOOD. 



Logan, Iowa, March 15, 1876. 



