1897. 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



581 



Answering the query I will say, Yes, conditioning that 

 answer, however, upon the laws of saccess In any other busi- 

 ness undertaking. No business will pay unless it Is carried 

 on in a business-like way. Bee-keeping is no exception to the 

 rule. Methods must be employed and results workt for if suc- 

 cess is expected. If a man expects bees to pay when he keeps 

 them in hollow trees, or set in some out of the way place and 

 never looks after them, except to put the new swarms into 

 soap-boxes or nail-kegs, and brimstone them in the fall to get 

 the honey, he will be disappointed. I don't mean him when I 

 say bee-keeping will pay. 



If another Is too shiftless to supply the bees with proper 

 appliances for storing honey in marketable form ; if he ex- 

 pects them to board themselves, do all the work, and put the 

 money In his pocket, while he sits In the shade or holds down 

 some dry-goods box " up at the corners," I don't mean him 

 when I say bee-keeping will pay. 



If a man don't know or don't care to learn the reason iu 

 the divine economy for having drones, and know or care to 

 know how to prevent the increase of that part of the colony, 

 which, in excess of requirements are only consumers, I don't 

 mean him when I say bee-keeping will pay. 



All these men had better buy what honey they can afford. 



But to every one, be it man or woman, who Is adapted to 

 it by habits of thought, study and observation, and who has 

 energy enough to master the essential principles, it will richly 

 repay for all the thought and time required to be devoted to it. 



Because some men follow dairying after a slip-shod, 

 happy-go-easy method, and fail to make money out of it, does 

 not prove that dairying will not pay. And because a good 

 many fall to realize all their fond anticipations of coveted 

 sweets by the same methods in the apiary, It does not follow 

 that success will not crown the eflorts of the careful, prudent 

 and Intelligent bee-keeper. It will pay to keep bees until 

 every town in this broad land is supplied with enough honey 

 te meet the demand. 



I venture the assertion that not half the towns in the 

 United States are supplied with honey six months in the year. 

 If every bee-keeper will meet the wants of consumers in his 

 and adjoining towns, it will surprise him what an amount can 

 be sold. 



But for all the honey-producers to rush their surplus crop 

 off to the large cities to glut the market, while hundreds of 

 people in their own townships don't know the taste of honey 

 from glucose, because they so seldom taste It, is a sure way to 

 make bee-keeping unprofitable. 



I have no doubt that tons of honey could be sold in every 

 State where hundreds of pounds are now sold, if the matter 

 was properly workt up by the local bee-keeper. This is some- 

 thing every bee-keeper should take a personal interest in, for 

 it is certainly one thing to raise a crop of anything, and 

 another to market it to the best advantage. Almost every 

 week brings me letters from bee-keepers that have from 50 

 pounds upwards that they want to sell. Now, if I buy it I 

 must have a margin on wholesale prices, while in nine cases 

 out of ten it could be sold at or near home at retail prices. I 

 feel just like urging upon bee-keepers the necessity of work- 

 ing up their home markets, and depend less upon the " mar- 

 kets of the world." (From my standpoint we have had too 

 many markets the past few years.) 



I am not going to say that my plans and methods, or the 

 appliances used by me are the best, but when I look around 

 and see the many slip-shod methods that are pursued by those 

 who make bee-keeping a failure, I very naturally come to the 

 conclusion that my methods, being successful, are at least an 

 improvement, and " what other folks can do, why with pa- 

 tience may not you?" — Michigan Farmer. 



Newago Co., Mich. 



Report of the Northern Illinois Convention. 



BY B. KENNEDY. 



The annual meeting of the Northern Illinois Bee-Keepers' 

 Association was held Tuesday, Aug. 17, 1897, at the Court 

 House in Freeport. The meeting was called to order with 

 Pres. S. H. Herrick in the chair. About 50 were present, 

 and a very good meeting was held. 



REPORTS OF THE PRESENT SEASON. 



Pres. Herrick then called for a report from each member 

 ,on the following questions : How many colonies had you at 

 the beginning of the honey harvest? How many colonies 

 DOW ? How much honey have you extracted, and, approxi- 

 mately, how much have you to extract for the present crop? 

 How much comb honey ? 



The responses showed 8-i3 colonies, spring count, and 

 1,164: colonies now — an increase of 321 colonies, with 22,210 

 pounds of comb honey, and 28,280 pounds of extracted; 

 nearly all of which is fine white clover honey. The crop was 

 better than it has been for several years, tho not on an aver- 

 age with the best honey-years. 



Following the reports was the election of officers for the 

 next year, which resulted as follows: Leroy HIghbarger, 

 President; S. H. Herrick, Vice-President; B. Kennedy, Sec- 

 retary ; and O. J. Cummlngs, Treasurer. The next annual 

 meeting will be held at Freeport. 



EMPTY' COMBS — LAYING WORKERS. 



QuES.— What is the best method of preserving empty 

 combs from worms ? Ans. — Clean combs or a tight room. 



QuES.— What is the best method of getting rid of laying 

 workers and yet preserve the colony? Ans. by 0. J. Cum- 

 mlngs :— Take the frames all out of the hive, carry them a 

 good distance from the hive, shake the bees all oft in the 

 grass, and remove all but one comb. Take a frame having 

 eggs from some other colony to replace the one left out. The 

 laying workers seldom get back to the hive, and the working- 

 bees rear a queen from the eggs placed in the hive. 



Ans. No. 2. — Remove two frames from other colonies 

 containing eggs and brood, together with the bees on them, 

 and place side by side in the queenless colony. The next day 

 Introduce a caged queen between the two frames. 



CLIPPING AND REARING QUEENS. 



QuES.— Does it pay to clip queens? Ans.— The prevail- 

 ing opinion is that it does pay. 



Quj;s. — Can bees rear queens from eggs one week old ? 

 Ans. — Yes ; but poor queens. 



QuES. — Can bees move eggs ? Ans. — Yes. 



BEST PACKAGE FOR EXTRACTED HONEY. 



QuES. — What is considered the best package to market 

 honey in ? Ans. — For wholesale dealers, 60-pound cans ; for 

 retail, 1 pint cans, or }i pint glasses. 



PREVENTING SECOND SWAKMS. 



QuES. — What is the best method to prevent second swarms ? 

 Ans. — The Heddon method, or cutting out queen-cells. 



B. Kennedy, See. 



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