30 



THE AMERICAN BEE-KEEPER. 



Mar. 



honey of about llh pounds to the 

 measured gallon. These experiments 

 give us a clue, into the causes that 

 produce a diffei'ence in the real 

 quality, (the eating quality) of our 

 honeys, though the eye of even an ex- 

 pert, may not detect the difference. 

 For these reasons I have but little 

 faith in any attempt to grade honey 

 after the fashion of some other pro- 

 ducts. 



BUT WHAT IS THE OUT LOOK, 



for bee culture in the future ? As I 

 have already intimated there have 

 been decades of good, and poor honey 

 years, ever since I began to observe 

 these things, I now expect them to 

 turn up in their regular course. 

 When the prosperous years are on, 

 many persons enter the apicultural 

 field, and when the poor years begin 

 to be felt, they drop out and leave 

 only those that are tilled for the busi- 

 ness. Thus adversity is not without 

 its beneficial use. The apicultural 

 field, for this reason , is not likely to 

 become too much crowded. To me 

 the outlook is as bright as it ever was, 

 and brighter. 



The business is settling down in 

 more permanant form, apicultural 

 goods and supplies are becoming 

 more uniform and staple in character, 

 and less excited by doubtful, and 

 worthless invention. And "fitness 

 of person," is taking the highest rank 

 in the bee business, in the place of 

 honey producing hive* and fixture*. 



This is the most hopeful feature of 

 our times pertaining to the future 

 bee business. As to the seasons we 

 can not govern them, as in the past 

 so they are likely to be^in the future, 

 they will be good and bad, but the 



effects will be no harder to bear by 

 bee-keepers than by those engaged in 

 other branches of agriculture. 



That a great "plant " like the W. 

 T, Falconer Manufacturing Company, 

 should stand the strain of the late 

 " hard times " depending solely on the 

 demand for apicultural goods, pro- 

 mises well for bee culture in the fu- 

 ture. 



RACES AND VARIETIES OF BEES. 



How amazingly strange, things can 

 turn out. A history of the "ins, and 

 outs," concerning the races and varie- 

 ties of bees brought to the notice of 

 apiarists by this country in the past, 

 would be exceedingly interesting if it 

 could be written without prejudice. 



After all that has been said, and 

 written, and done in the premises, 

 and after all the years of contention 

 have past, the Italian bees, standing 

 first, and our native black bees take 

 the next rank in the estimation of a 

 majority of the honey producers of 

 North America. 



These reflections, however, are not 

 iudulged in to discourage the evident 

 desire of bee men to improve our bees. 

 Those who know my record on this 

 subject, from what I have contributed 

 to the bee periodicals as well as to the 

 agricultural press, are aware that I 

 have advocated the hopeful wish that 

 is abroad in the apiacultural ranks, 

 for the best bees that the world can 

 give. And I still cherish the hope 

 that better races of bees will be dis- 

 covered and brought under the care 

 of the skilled apiarists of this country. 



Christiansburg, Ky. 



How to manage Bees is the name of 

 a book of 200 pages which we will 

 send postpaid for only 25 cents. 



