1888 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTUKE. 



iil9 



1. Taking- the year round, ordinary farming de- 

 mands more muscular effort than properly arrang- 

 ed boe-keeping; but it is not so hard upon the 

 nerves, nor does it require that a person be so 

 quick and handy. ^. r do not consider practical 

 honey-producing a light occupation. I consider It 

 ill adapted to women, although some of our ladies, 

 who, no doubt, are exceptionally adapted to it, suc- 

 ceed quite well. James Hkddon. 



I should say, friends, that a good deal de- 

 pends on the notion of the individual. 

 Wliere there is a will there is a way. When 

 I was a boy, the driest and dullest, and most 

 fatiguing and disagreeable work I ever 

 helped to do was getting out manure, es- 

 pecially when it came to cleaning the hog- 

 pen. Well, it is a little funny to think that 

 this is just the work 1 enjoy most of all now. 

 The secret of it is, however, I have discover- 

 ed that the contents of the hog-pen is great 

 for raising vegetables ; and the thought of 

 what the result is going to be, makes the 

 laborious and disagreeable work pleasant. 

 When I was a boy I did not consider the out- 

 come. Perhaps father did not explain it to 

 me ; and I am afraid it would have taken a 

 great amount of explanation to make me 

 love the work just then. Now, bee culture 

 may, in the light of the above, be considered 

 a light occupation ; and, if you will excuse 

 the strain on the imagination, I should like 

 to susrgest that cleaning hog-pens may be 

 considered a light occwpation, in the same 

 line (at least under some circumstances) 

 perhaps we had better add, also, " for the 

 time being." 



Question No. V2.— What is meant hy a ftee-heeper 

 who is a specialist "! 



A man whose main occupation is bee culture. 

 Dadant & Son. 



<1ne who makes it his principal business. 



Mrs. L. Harrison. 



One who makes bee-keeping his main or principal 

 business. W. Z. Hutchinson. 



One who depends on bee-keeping for his bread 

 and butter. A. J. C<iok. 



A specialist among bee-keepers is one of those 

 modest souls who claim the earth and all that is 

 on it. Chas. F. Muth. 



One who devotes his whole time to the business of 

 bee-keeping, according to the authority of G. M. 

 Doolittle. G. M. Doolittle. 



All bee-keepers are sometimes called specialists. 

 More properly it applies to the man who devotes 

 himself to some side branch of the business, as 

 queen-rearing, or bees by the pound— or to honey 

 put up in some particular shape. 



E. E. Hasty. 



I am glad you asked this question; I take pleas- 

 ure in giving mj' personal definition. T call a bee- 

 keeper a specialist who makes honey-producing his 

 main business; who depends particularly upon it 

 for a living. James Heddon. 



The man who answers to the (Jommei'cial Agency 

 reporter's question, " What is your business?" by 

 "bee-keeping" is generally a specialist. In other 

 words, one whose principal liusiness— and perhaps 

 means of livelihood— is bee-keeping, is the specialist. 



Geo. Grim.m. 



One who gives his special attention to a single 

 branch of apiculture. One maybe a specialist in 

 queen-rearing, or in comb honey, etc., just as a 

 doctor in medicine is a specialist in the treatment of 

 special diseases, etc. P. L. Viallon. 



Just as many different things are meant by it as 

 there are men who use the term. I wish its mean- 

 ing might be settled. As frequently used, a man 

 who keeps 40 colonies of bees is a specialist. Some 

 mean one who raises more honey than he needs for 

 his own family; others mean a man who makes 

 bee-keeping his sole business. Possibly the true 

 meaning should be a man who pays moie attention 

 to bee-keeping than to any other business. 



C. C. MlLLEK. 



It is hard to tell. We have a man here who keeps 

 .50 colonies of bees, but I don't call him a specialist 

 with bees, for the reason that he is largely engaged 

 in raising berries or small fruit, and his bees are 

 a side issue. This same man formerly raised vege- 

 tables for sale. Now he has quit all the vegetable- 

 business except onions, which he raises by the acre. 

 Now we consider him a specialist on onions, al- 

 though that is only a part of his work. We keep 

 from 40iHo .')00 colonies of bees, and, besides, we are 

 engaged in the blackberry business. But still our 

 main dependence and work is with the bees. We 

 claim to be specialists with bees, as that is our lead- 

 ing business. E. France. 



That depends upon who is doing the talking. 

 When I do it, I mean one who is distinguished as a 

 bee-keeper, whether having a local or world-wide 

 reputation as such; and by a bee-keeper, I mean 

 one that either makes or buys his supplies and fix- 

 tures, cares for his bees, markets the products of 

 his apiary, and is not engaged in any other business 

 during the time the bees and the securing and car- 

 ing for the products require special attention. At 

 the Chicago Convention, Mr. A. I. Root claimed tf) 

 be one who makes bee-keeping a specialty. I have, 

 before and since, known of parties claiming what 

 I did not think belonged to them. At the Ohio State 

 Bee-keepers' Convention, some one (but not a bee- 

 keeper) claimed my rubbers, and I have not seen 

 them since; and this week, at a farmers' institute 

 in Michigan, some one claimed my hat, but— left a 

 better one in its place. Dr. A. B. Mason. 



Now, look here, Dr. Mason ; bee-keei)ing 

 is my business; but raising vegetables just 

 now is my play, hobby, or recreation, or 

 whatever you have a mind to call it ; and if 

 you were" to come here any of these nice 

 days you would see that I live up to the old 

 adage, or try to, '' Business first and pleas- 

 lu'e afterward ; '" at least, the friends around 

 here try to make me live up to it. Every 

 little while they say, " Here, don't go out 

 into the garden yet until you read this 

 mail ; " or, " The printers want you to read 

 those galley-proofs, and give your answers 

 right away, or we shall be behind o)i 

 Gleanings again ; " or, " Father, here is a 

 man who has got a lot of bees to sell. What 

 had we better do about taking tliemVetc. 

 Now, I will leave it to the assembled friends 

 to say if I am not a bee-keeper. Even if 

 you do try to insinuate that I took your rub- 

 bers, there won't anybody believe it who 

 has seen both of us. A pretty-looking fig- 

 ure I should cut, trying to get away with 

 your rubbers on I 



