186 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



which patented articles arc of such un- 

 questionable value, that wo shou-d con- 

 sider ourselves lacking in duty to our 

 readers, did we fail to keep them fully 

 posted. As an instance, take the movable 

 frame, the patent on which has bu lately 

 expired. In the long list of patents that 

 have been obtained upon hives, however, 

 we believe there are very few that have 

 obtained general favor among bee-keepers. 

 We publish the preceding article, hoping 

 some hints may be gleaned therefrom, of 

 general interest. — Ed.] 



Shall Farmers Keep Bees ? 



A PAPER BY JULIDS TOMLINSON READ BE- 

 FORE THE FARMERS' INSTITUTE AT AL- 

 LEGAN, JAN. 11, 1876. 

 Were we told to-day that something of 

 value was within our reach, to be had 

 for the gathering; that plenty of laborers 

 were ready to bring this to our door and 

 put it into the most convenient form for 

 our use; and that this labor would be 

 freely performed, we would be deeply in- 

 terested to know what that substance was 

 and who were the laborers. The most 

 beautiful of the processes of vegetable 

 life is the opening of flowers; and in 

 their recesses is distilled the precious nec- 

 tar called honey, the substance of value. 

 In the development of insect life so busily 

 carried on about us, is produced the bee, 

 whose natural instinct is to gather the 

 honey from the flower — he is the laborer. 

 Honey is beautiful to look upon and is 

 equally pleasant to the taste. It is fre- 

 quently spoken of in profane and sacred 

 writing, and always with favor. Honey 

 exists in plenty all about us, and although 

 some believe to the contrary, still is is 

 my firm belief that it exists in suffi- 

 cient quantities to supplj^ a few swarms 

 on every farm. Bees are the onl}'^ agents 

 for the gathering of honey and they will, 

 if room is provided, store enough for 

 their own sustenance and a handsome 

 amount for their owner. They also in- 

 crease and form new colonies and are con- 

 tent with inexpensive homes. There is 

 no question about the profit of bee-keep- 

 ing where all conditions are favorable and 

 all appliances are at hand. But there is a 

 dark side to the picture. Some apiarists 

 claim that bee-keeping can only be prop- 

 erly pursued as a special business — "that it 

 does not agree with farming or anything 

 else." This may be true from a certain 

 stand-point, but among Allegan county far- 

 mers the facts are quite to the contrary Al- 

 though a bee-keeper, wishing to make all 

 he could out of his bees, he had no sym- 

 pathy with any feeling which would dis- 

 courage farmers from bee-keeping. There 

 are. however, real difficulties even here. 



(1.) Bees, are easily irritated and their 

 stings are, to some people, very dangerous. 

 They must be handled ver}^ carefully for 

 once offended they do not soon forget it. 

 (2.) The bee moth is an insect which always 

 infests the hives and can never be entire- 

 ly destroyed. It lives in the comb, consum- 

 ing the wax and sometimes destroying the 

 swarm. It is like a besetting sin, always 

 ready to take advantage of any weakness 

 of the swarm or carelessness of the keep- 

 er. (3.) Foul brood is a disease that is 

 incurable so far as is known at present; 

 and although it has never prevailed in 

 Michigan there is danger of its introduc- 

 tion and it must be considered as one of the 

 risks of bee-keeping. (4.) All these ills are 

 insignificant when compared with the ter- 

 rible disease called dysentery, which, 

 though of recent origin, has spread all 

 over the northern states, killing, each win- 

 ter and spring, at least half of the bees. 

 So deadly is it that Mr. Bingham of Abro- 

 nia, one of our most skillful keepers, has 

 taken his bees to Tennessee to escape it. 

 But whatever be the manner of wintering, 

 the bees come out in the spring so weak 

 that it requires great care and skill to 

 bring them up to working condition. Of 

 fifteen swarms he had left last spring, one- 

 half failed to thrive and make surplus 

 honey. Probably seventy-five per cent, 

 of those who had bees five years ago now 

 have none, and unless some remedy is 

 found for this disease we may as well 

 despair of success. There are other draw- 

 backs, such as loss of queens, ravages of 

 parasites, king-birds, etc. These are the 

 hindrances, and each must for himself 

 answer the question, "Shall farmers keep 

 bees?" Among the requisites for a bee- 

 keeper are steady nerves, undaunted cour- 

 age, a fair share of mechanical skill, 

 promptness, habits of close observation, 

 and unflagging enthusiasm in his calling. 

 All who have these qualities and a heart 

 and purse to undertake the risks, may 

 keep bees: but those who have them not, 

 had better pay one dollar a pound for 

 their honey. 



For the American Bee .Toumal. 

 My Experience With Small Frames. 



Much has been said about the diflTerent 

 hives and broad frames. Bee-keeping will 

 pay, with proper care and treatment — but 

 I cannot make it pay with the Langstroth 

 hive in this section. The reasons are: we 

 must not leave more than 1600 square 

 inches in tlie brood chamber in this north- 

 ern climate; the ends should be tiglit to 

 prevent the cold air chilling the brood in 

 the spring; a board should be in the place 

 of the first frame, to take out and leave 

 room to lift out tlie frames; this may also 

 be used to contract the brood chamber for 

 a small swarm; a loose bottom board is 

 necessary, as every bee-keeper knows; 



