JULY 15, 1914 



527 



It is stated that this bulletin is free for the 

 asking'. Certainly every Indiana beekeeper 

 should oblain a copy before the edition has 

 been exhausted. 



To give the reader an idea of some of the 

 good things that are in this bulletin, we 

 copy from page 32 some short pungent 

 l)aragraphs under the head of " Miscella- 

 neous Statements " that can be read with 

 profit, and here they are; 



SOME MISCELLANEOUS STATEMENTS REGARDING nlCliS 

 AND BEEKEEPING. 



Pure honey does granulate. 



Honey-combs are not manufactured. 



" Any old thing " does not make a suitable hive in 

 wliirh to keep bees. 



Queens are mated but once in their lives, and then 

 out in the open air. 



Bees do not bite holes in ripe fruit, but they do 

 .suck the juices after the openings have been made. 



Bees may have some wisdom, but ignorant people 

 give them credit for more knovs'ledge than they pos- 

 sess. 



It does not pay to "jump head over heels " into 

 the bee business unless there is plenty of experience 

 to back it up. 



It is not just a proposition of putting on some 

 supers in tlie spring and taking off a crop of honey 

 in the fall. 



Beating the dishpan or ringing the dinner-bell 

 never settled a swarm — they just naturally cluster 

 after leaving the hive. 



Bees have no more to do with the scattering of 

 fruit diseases than do the other hundred of insects 

 that visit the flowers. 



It is not a sign of ability to make a practice of 

 trying to Iiandle bees without smoker or veil — it's 

 just foolhardiness. 



Bees do not know their owner. They are v/ild 

 animals, in no sense domesticated, even though they 

 do not always resent the intrusion of man. 



A small person who " uses his head " is worth 

 more than a ton of "beef" in the beeyard; but a 

 liberal supply of both brain and muscle is the ideal 

 combination. 



There is not a king or queen in the hive in the 

 literal sense of the words. There is no individual 

 bee that rules the colony. They seem to work toward 

 the end that the greatest good for all may be accom- 

 plished. 



Sometimes even bees do not seem to have any 

 common sense. 



And, again, on page 34 are some more 

 paragraphs worth reading: 



INFLUENCES CONTRIBUTING TO PROFIT AND LOSS IN 

 THE APIARY. 



Two factors, carefulness and carelessness, make 

 up the greater part of the profit or loss in beekeep- 

 ing. In many of the suggestions which follow, one 

 or the other of these factors will be apparent. 



Study your business and the demands of youv 

 locality. 



Success in beekeeping, as in any other business, 

 demands that much attention be given to details. 



Equalizing brood or stores in foul-brood localities 

 invites the spread of disease. 



Use movable frames, and see that they are mov- 

 able and not cross-combed. 



It pays to know the conditions e.xisting in the 

 colonies from week to week 



Bait combs get the bees started early in the sec- 

 tions, and so they store more honey. 



Fads last only a short time. It isn't worth while 

 to bother with them. Real merit counts in the long 

 run. 



Try to have hives and equipment conform to the 

 standard in size. Their market value is much higher. 



An attractive package adds much to the market 

 value of a product. 



A reputation for selling only good goods is one of 

 the best assets of a beekeeper. 



It does not pay to work for wax production. It 

 requires too much of the time and energy of the bees 

 in producing it. 



Contract the entrances to weak colonies. It may 

 save them from extermination by the robbers. 



Beekeepers' meetings are sources of much good. 

 Try one and see for yourself. 



Home-made equipment in general either costs more 

 or is worth less than factory-made supplies. 



Box hives and cross-combed frame hives are not 

 only a nuisance, but do not give satisfactory finan- 

 cial returns. 



It pays to go through the coionies carefully, early 

 in the spring. Some may be queenless, others weak 

 or in need of food. 



It does not pay to keep more colonies than can be 

 properly cared for. Better sell off some than buy 

 more and not care for them. 



Feeding sugar syrup in the fall may mean satisfac- 

 tory wintering, and a strong colony ready for the 

 honey-flow the next season. 



Italian bees have been proved to be the most 

 profitable in a large number of widely scattered lo- 

 calities. 



Keep in touch with the bee journals, publications 

 of the Department of .Agriculture, and the State 

 Entomologist's office. They are all working tor the 

 betterment of beekeepers. 



The practice of selling prime swarms is more 

 profitable to the purchaser than to the seller. 



Scraps of wax gathered here and there increase 

 the returns in dollars, and may prevent the spread 

 of foul brood. 



When shipping to a commission man it may save 

 much worry and some money to find out first wheth- 

 er he is responsible or not. 



When buying bees, buy them guaranteed to be free 

 from disease, and see that they are so before remov- 

 ing them from the premises. 



It pays to use full sheets of foundation, both in 

 brood and extracting frames and in the sections. 



Two or three weak colonies may manage to live; 

 but if they were united to form one strong colony 

 they would usually store a surplus of honey. 



Wholesaling of honey is the easy way, but the 

 building-up of a retail home market is the more prof- 

 itable way. 



Even though extracted honey may not appeal to 

 one's esthetic nature, yet the locality may require 

 extracted-honey production in order to get "a market- 

 able product. 



The man who asks a good price for first-class 

 honey not only sells it but wins the respect of his 

 customers. The man who sells below the market is 

 laughed at after he is gone. 



The possession of a good smoker and veil pays 

 high dividends in the reduction of the number of 

 stings and the resulting ease and rapidity with 

 which the bees can be handled. 



It's a beekeeper's business to know whether his 

 neighbor's bees have disease or not. If there are 

 any suspicious cases or information is desired, noti- 

 fy the State Inspector of Apiaries, Room 130, State 

 House, Indianapolis. 



Foul brood causes more loss than any other enemy 

 of bees. The disease is spread through the honey; 

 and any way that allows the bees of one colony to 

 get the honey of another is favorable for the spread 

 of the disease. 



After a beekeeper has reached the greatest number 

 of colonies that he can care for without interfering 

 with other duties, then the law of diminishing re- 

 turns applies; and if the number of colonies be in- 

 creased further, the profit per colony will be reduced. 



The number of colonies in one location should be 

 determined by the abundance of honey-producing 

 plants. In some locations several hundred colonies 

 might be kept profitably, while in other localities 

 twenty-five colonies are too many. In some locations 

 one hundred colonies may make a living and very 

 little besides, while if the number were reduced to 

 fifty a profitable surplus might be secured. 



As Mr. Kindig is an experienced foul- 

 brood inspector, and as such has traveled 

 extensively over his State inspecting- hives, 

 judging by what he has seen, he is in posi- 

 tion to know whether it pays one to make 

 his own hives. At all events, this is what 

 he has to say: 



Speaking broadly in reference to conditions that 

 are met with throughout the State, the home-made 



