144 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



what is stated would be that it is a delusion 

 to go into bee-keeping as a remunerative 

 industry, though it is a fine calling for 

 oxygenating the blood, giving a good 

 appetite, and keeping off dyspepsia, with 

 its attendant " blues." If it is all this, 

 and if, besides, it will yield a comfortable 

 subsistence, why, then, it is by no means 

 a bad calling. We don't suppose that the 

 Captain has made a fortune out of it any 

 more than the lamented Quinby; but if 

 he has found a competence in it, as we 

 think he has, why then, it is just as well 

 to say so much in its praise. 



Too much stress cannot be laid on the 

 advice not to go into bee-keeping unless 

 you are " adapted to it." A man wants 

 " a call to bee-keeping," if he is to suc- 

 ceed at it; just as truly as a man wants 

 " a call to the ministry," in order to be 

 effective in that vocation. 



There is an idea abroad just now, that, 

 whereas at first, bee-men eulogized the 

 business in order to get buyers for patent 

 hives and a legion of useless "fixins"; 

 now there is a fear entertained lest too 

 many should go into it and so the busi- 

 ness be "overdone." We don't imagine 

 that Captain Hetherington is influenced 

 by any such motive, because he knows 

 quite well that successful bee-keeping, on 

 a large scale, requires peculiar qualifica- 

 tions such as few persons are likely to 

 develop. For ourselves, we play second 

 fiddle to no one, as an amateur bee-keeper, 

 but we know as well as any one can tell 

 us that we are not " adapted " to bee- 

 keeping as a calling. We can do better at 

 preaching and editing, although neither 

 of these can be called a money-making 

 business. For shallow purses, thread- 

 bare coats, patched clothing, and " shock- 

 ing bad hats," commend us to the minis- 

 terial and editorial fraternities. But if 

 any one undertakes to run down either of 

 these professions, we are prepared to go 

 for him with a very sharp-pointed pen, 

 dipped in ink with rather more than the 

 usual proportion of gall in it. w. f. c. 



(H^- On the 16th C. O. Perrine went to 

 the South on a tour of inspection. He in- 

 tends visiting ni«?iy of the bee-keepers in 

 Louisiana, Florida, Tennessee, Kentucky 

 and Ohio, before returning. 



|[|;^f" At a recent meeting of a county bee- 

 keepers' society, the secretary thereof 

 made the charge that he had purchased of 

 a well-known dealer, for pure Italian, a 

 queen which proved to be a very poor 

 hybrid, if not a pure black. This matter 

 occupies a large portion of space in the 

 report of proceedings of the society, pub- 

 lished in the local paper. The accused 

 party asks that we publish the report in 

 full, and sends us a full reply. This 

 would occupy several pages, and as it 

 comes at a late hour, when the pages are 

 mostly made up for this number, we pub- 

 lish neither charge nor reply, not having 

 room therefor. 



Even had we the room, we doubt the 

 wisdom of the publication. The readers 

 of the Journal are not interested in the 

 details of a personal quarrel, and if we 

 begin it, the wrangle may run through 

 several numbers. The American Bee 

 Journal has always deservedly borne the 

 reputation of being fair and impartial, 

 and the very freedom of its columns has 

 perhaps been, more than anything else 

 the subject of criticism. A highly es- 

 teemed correspondent says "I have always 

 liked the Journal, though I think too 

 many unkind flings are admitted. They 

 are mischievous and do not aid our art." 

 We believe this is a fair expression of the 

 opinion of others. 



In the present instance, a man with an 

 enviable reputation as an upright dealer 

 is said to have sold to another dealer, as 

 pure, a queen nearly, if not quite, black. 

 We certainly cannot believe he would be 

 so idiotic as to commit so bare-faced a 

 fraud, even if he had no principle what- 

 ever, for the loss of reputation thereby 

 would be more than the price of many 

 queens, and a very few such transactions 

 would entirely stop his gains from sales. 

 We can readily believe that a man may 

 buv a pure queen and afterward suppose 

 himself to be imposed upon. A few 

 years ago we ordered an Italian queen of 

 a man whom we believed to be honest. To 

 make sure of her kindly reception we put 

 her in a small colony that we had pur- 

 posely kept queenless for a week or more, 

 having cut out all queen cells so we might 

 feel sure, not only that they had no queen, 

 but that they had no means of raising 



