226 



Mar. 21, 1907 



American l^ee Journal 



wise thing to do when some circumstance, or 

 combination of circumstances, happens to 

 leave beeless a man who has previously had 

 reasonable success at the business. 



Let us put the case in a very simple, con- 

 crete form. Suppose a bee-keeper has a 

 varied flora of such limited amount that the 

 bees get enough from different sources to give 

 them a good support, but from nothing do 

 they store any surplus for their owner except 

 from the single source — basswood. Now, 

 suppose the demand for that sort of timber 

 has made a clean sweep, and not a basswood 

 tree is left. It is not even necessary to 

 suppose that he has lost his bees, for what 

 good are bees if they yield no surplus? What 

 is the wise thing to be done? 



If the bee-keeper be running a large farm 

 successfully, with 10 or 20 colonies of bees as 

 a very subordinate interest, the matter is very 

 simple; the bees can go, and he can do very 

 well without them, unless it be that he can 

 replace the basswood by alfalfa, sweet clover, 

 or some other crop that is profitable aside 

 from its honey. 



Suppose, however, that our bee-keeper is a 

 very successful specialist, all other interests 

 being subsidiary to bee-keeping. Loss of 

 pasture simply means loss of location, and he 

 will at once seek another field. 



But these are unusual cases. Let us take a 

 more common case, that of our correspondent, 

 which is not unlike what many, many others 

 have experienced. Seasons have been dis- 

 couraging, and now that he finds himself 

 without bees it is a good lime to quit. Rather, 

 he has quit, and the question is whether he 

 shall stay quit. As factors in the problem we 

 have a stock of hives, probably supplied with 

 combs, supplies enough for a good crop, and 

 the experience gained from keeping bees 20 

 years or more. The problem is to decide 

 whether these are all to be thrown away, or 

 to be continued in use by the investment of 

 enough money to purchase one or more colo- 

 nies for a fresh start. 



The decision depends upon what may be 

 considered the reasonable expectation for the 

 next year and succeeding years. If there are 

 to be no more good years, better stay quit. 

 The fact that 2 or 3 years ago there was a 

 good year shows that the sources are not cut 

 off, but that the freaky thing we call 

 "weather," or some other thing that we do 

 not understand, has caused a dearth in spite 

 of the possible presence of bloom in abun- 

 dance during many of the past 20 years. No 

 one knew in advance that 1904 would be a 

 good year. Why is not 1907 just as likely to 

 be good as bad? It is a rather remarkable 

 thing that so many years in succession should 

 be bad. It would be still more remarkable if 

 the next 20 years should be similar, and so 

 why may not the next 30 be just as good as 

 the past 20 were bad? Then, too, it must be 

 remembered that within the past 2 years nine- 

 tenths of the bees have been wiped out; prac- 

 tically giving 10 times the pasture there was 2 

 years ago. Given the expectations that may 

 reasonably be founded on such data, is it not 

 the wise thing to make a fresh start, even if 

 it be by sending hundreds of miles for a 

 nucleus? 



Now for the closely related question : 



" Shall our correspondent continue taking a 

 bee-paper?" With no bees there is no need 

 of one, although there may be a few with 

 such interest as to continue reading one 

 although never expecting to keep bees again. 

 Our correspondent says : 



" If I ever get hold of another colony I will 

 surely subscribe again for the American Bee 

 Journal, for no man with one colony should 

 be without it." 



Ton may put it down as a pretty sure thing 

 that the man that talks in that kind of way is 

 not going to be satisfied till he " gets hold of 



another colony." Self-interest at this end of 

 the line would naturally incline to the opin- 

 ion that in the interim he should continue to 

 take a bee-paper. But is that not really to 

 his own interest? A dollar spent in keeping 

 himself informed as to all the forward move- 

 ments may keep him in such trim that when he 

 does take hold again he will get back his dol- 

 lar many limes over in increased results. Such 

 being the case, unless he has decided in the 

 most positive manner that he will never keep 

 bees more, is he wise to allow his favorite 

 paper to lapse tor a single week? 



0) iscel laneou^ 

 ileitis - Items 



Mr. Robert B. Ross. Jr , of Montreal, 

 Canada, was a caller at this oflnee recently 

 when on his way home from a business trip 

 to British Columbia. Mr. Ross keeps a dozen 

 colonies of bees, more for recreation and 

 study than for the financial profit derived 

 from them. He is a very pleasant gentleman 

 to meet, and is intensely devoted to the study 

 of the bee. 



The National Association, on March 

 11, had 2271 members. So it is still growing. 

 The 250O mark should be reached very soon. 



General Manager France has been busy 

 lately helping the bee-keepers of several 

 States to get laws on bee-diseases. This is a 

 good work, and perhaps no other organization 

 can help as much along that line as can the 

 National. We hope that before many more 

 years pass, every State will have on its statute 

 books such laws as may be necessary to stamp 

 out at least the principal bee-diseases. 



few years that the Company was incoporated 

 for the purpose of handling the business in a 

 satisfactory manner. The oflicers of the Com- 

 pany elected for the ensuing year were: S. 

 J. Griggs, President, Treasurer, and Manager ; 

 D. D. Griggs, Vice-President; and W. R. 

 Nichols, Secretary. Nearly all of the stock 

 was promptly subscribed, being taken by 

 some of Toledo's most infiuential business 

 men. 



Griggs Bros, were among our advertisers 

 last year, and we hope that they will soon be 

 again represented in our columns through the 

 new concern of Griggs Bros, & Nichols Co., 

 which, we take it, is " out to win." 



The Washington State Convention 



of bee-keepers was held at North Yakima, 

 Feb. 4, 1907. The following officers were 

 elected: President, Isaac Hays; Vice-Presi- 

 dent, Hans Muram; Secretary, Virgil Sires, of 

 North Yakima; and Treasurer, August W. 

 Sipp. Vice-presidents for each county of the 

 State of Washington will be voted for at the 

 next meeting. 



We are informed that there are two Bills 

 now before the Washington State Legislature, 

 one for the appointment of a State Inspector 

 of Apiaries, and another to amend the foul 

 brood law which was passed 2 years ago. 



Carrying Bees Under Difficulties. — 



The following has been sent us by Mr. Irving 

 Long, of Missouri, which we reproduce for 

 our newer readers, as we believe we pub- 

 lished the same amusing story several years 

 ago: 



A German bee-keeper undertook to carry 

 some of his choicest bees to a bee-show. He 

 took a train in Hanover with his bees in a 

 basket at his feet. The bees escaped from the 

 basket and crawled up hi.s trousers legs. His 

 actions soon aroused suspicions in the hearts 

 of two women who occupied the same com- 

 partment with him. They pulled the bell-cord 

 and stopped the train. When the bee-fancier 

 explained the situation he was placed in an 

 empty compartment to have it out with the 

 bees all by himself. Here he removed his 

 trousers and began shaking them out of the 

 window to free them of the swarm. Unfortu- 

 nately they caught a telegraph pole and were 

 swept away, bees, money and all. At the 

 next station the irate station-master brought 

 forth the reluctant bee-fancier in a rug and 

 he pawned his watch to acquire decent rai- 

 ment to walk back along the line in search of 

 his bees and his trousers. 



The Griggs Bros. & Nichols Co.'s 



Apiary appears in the picture on the first 

 page. They are successors to Griggs Bros. 

 The Company was incorporated in October, 

 1900, with a capital stock of $15,000. The in- 

 corporators were S. J. Griggs, D. D. Griggs, 

 J. R. Griggs, W. R. Nichols, and F. W. 

 Neithart. It seems the business of Griggs 

 Bros, had increased to such an extent the last 



The Apiary of Geo. H. Adkins, and 



also his home, are shown on the first page. 

 He sent us the following description under 

 date of Feb. 25 : 



Editor York:— The photograph shows 

 my home and part of my apiary, located 

 within 2 miles of where Ethan Allen de- 

 manded the surrender of Fort Ticonderoga. 



