608 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Aug. 



ahead. Take up the most obscure county paper, 

 and every trade is represented in its columns. 

 Our most successful merchants are the ones who 

 ' catch on ' to every advertising- novelty to be used 

 in the extension of their business. Our fairs are 

 the red-hot centers of attraction and advertising, 

 through all lines of business, with the exception, 

 perhaps, of bee-keeping. 



" Probably the hardest thing for a spirited bee- 

 keeper to bear, at the present time, is the general 

 belief that bee-keeping is a small business, and 

 that any ninny who knows just enough to chew 

 gum can successfully produce honey; and bee- 

 keepers, as a rule, are following a course of action 

 to confirm people in that belief; for if a business is 

 not worth a little advertising effort, it is not much 

 of a business." 



It seems to me that a few bee-keepers in each 

 county where honey is produced can make it pay 

 to be to the necessary expense and trouble of 

 making a nice and attractive exhibit. To be sure, 

 it has to be " mixed with taste and brains," and that 

 is just what every successful bee-keeper, or his 

 wife, has a supply of. See that the premiums are 

 enough to pay expenses (which need not be heavy), 

 and trust to sales, etc., for the " net proceeds." 



One thing has been fully demonstrated by the 

 exhibits of honey at fairs, and that is, that bee- 

 keeping is fully abreast of other productive indus- 

 tries; and, when compared with some, is much 

 ahead in attractiveness and value. 



The coming honey exhibition at the Ohio Cen- 

 tennial Exposition at Columbus, from the 4th of 

 next Sept. to the 19th of Oct., is not to be made just 

 for the money there is in it, but to show the prog- 

 ress in bee culture during the last hundred years; 

 and it is hoped that it will be the largest and most 

 attractive that has ever been held in this country; 

 and, so far as I know, those engaged In the matter 

 have the vim and push to do credit to the fraterni- 

 ty. Just think of a building 'M x 80 filled with the 

 luscious God-given sweet! I have seen tons of 

 honey piled up at fairs that did not make as much 

 show as one-fourth the amount might have been 

 made to do. 



Now, friend Root, you need not add a lot of such 

 comments to this as will knock what I have said in- 

 to a "cocked hat," and make me feel like crawling 

 into a hole and " pulling the hole in after me." If 

 you do, I have got a settler for you "in my mind." 



Auburndale, O., July 9, 1888. A. B. Mason. 



Now, look here, Dr. Mason, you have 

 written a tiptop article ; in fact, it woke me 

 up to a great deal of enthusiasm until I 

 came to your concluding sentence, but I 

 think that is entirely uncalled for. 1 never 

 added any comment to any thing you ever 

 wrote, that I know of, that did any thing 

 like what you say ; and on this matter of fairs, 

 lU'cmiums, etc., where you are perfectly at 

 home, how could I, even if I tried ever so 

 hard, take the wiud out of any of your sails. 

 I should very much like to know, however, 

 what that "settler" is. Never mind; I 

 have not quite got over my enthusiasm 

 about having everyl)ody in the world get 

 acquainted with everybody else in the 

 world, so far as may be ; and there is no 

 place in the world that offers any thing like 

 the facilities for getting acquainted, as do 

 our agricultural fairs and honey Bhows, I 



Why, you do not need even an introduc- 

 tion, to be enabled to talk familiarly with 

 the best men and best women our land af- 

 fords, while you are on the fairgrounds ; and 

 the wonderful thing about it is, that even 

 the most obscure individual finds he has 

 something to communicate that is really 

 valuable to the masses. Will it pay V Just 

 one illustration : It was at the Oliio Stale 

 Fair that I first caught sight of the beauti- 

 ful wheelbarrows we have been furnishing 

 our friends for the past year or two. 1 had 

 long thought about such a wheelbarrow, 

 and had day-dreams of how one might be 

 made of basswood and steel, planned by 

 some master mind that knew how to get the 

 greatest possible strength with the very 

 least possible material. It was at the Ohio 

 State Fair that I first caught a glimpse of 

 my ideal wheelbarrow. I just stood and 

 looked at it. Then I got acquainted with 

 the man who had it in charge. He knew all 

 ai)out wheelbarrows, but he did not know a 

 thing about bees or bee-men. I do not 

 know to what extent the trade has grown, 

 but 1 will just add that our last order for 

 wheelbarrows was for an even 500 at one 

 clip. Now, had I remained at home, as 

 lots of us do stay at home, 1 should not have 

 had that wheelbarrow yet, in all probabili- 

 ty ; and, my friends, you would not have 

 had one either— surely not so good a one. 

 By all means, go to the fair, and go fully de- 

 termined to do good as well as to get ^ood. If 

 you love your fellow-men as the Bible en- 

 joins you to do, you must go to fairs. If 

 there are bad men at your fairs, and bad 

 things going on, why, that is all the great- 

 er reason you should go and help crowd out 

 the bad. And don't forget the 100th birth- 

 day of our beautiful State of Ohio. Even if 

 you do not live in Ohio, you should be glad 

 to make us a neighborly visit about the time 

 the national convention meets. Let us 

 have the greatest national convention the 

 world has ever seen. Ohio is centrally lo- 

 cated, and Ohio is pretty well along in in- 

 telligence, temperance, and righteousness. 

 Come and meet with us, ;ind we will do you 

 good. Dr. Mason and 1 will be there to 

 welcome you, even if nobody else goes, and 

 we will show you there is room for all, and 

 plenty of opportunities for all to lend a help- 

 ing hand. 



THE BLACK BEE AN IMPORTED IN- 

 SECT. 



PROF. COOK TELLS US THEY WERE NOT HERE BE- 

 FORE THE WHITE MAN CAME. 



« SUBSCRIBER from Independence, W. Va., 

 wishes to know it' the common black bee was 

 found here when America was discovered. 

 I think we may answer unhesitatingly that 

 it was not. In the first place, tradition says 

 it was introduced from Europe. Again, it is iden- 

 tical with the German, or black bee, which would 

 not have been the case if it had been a distinct or 

 American species. Further, the Indians knew bees 

 as " white man's flies," which clearly indicates that 

 white men brought them to America. Lastly, they 

 were not in the far West till within the memory of 

 man, which would not have been true if they bad 



