1605 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



1233 



NEARLY 25,000 SUBSCRIBERS, AND NEW ONES 

 COMING IN AT A RAPID RATE. 



As an evidence of the way our subscrip- 

 tion-list is jumping up, I will state that we 

 received something over 1000 new names last 

 month. Some days we get over 100 new 

 subscriptions. The improvements that we 

 are making in our journal, and the special- 

 issue numbers that we expect to get out 

 during the coming year, evidently take well 

 with our subscribers, new and prospective. 

 And, by the way, very few old ones are 

 dropping out. Our list to-day is very near- 

 ly 25,000, and we confidently expect to push 

 it up to 40,000. The liberal patronage that 

 we have been getting from bee-keepers will 

 enable us to make the journal more than 

 ever like a standard magazine— one that will 

 be indispensable to the honey- producer. 



"HAVE MORE CHARITY." 



The foregoing is the title of an editorial 

 in the last issue of the Bee-keepers' Review, 

 which has a good deal of practical hard com- 

 mon sense in it. 



I wish our great family of bee-keepers would have 

 more charity than they do for one another. Perhaps 

 the majority do think well of their fellows, but there 

 are a few who are too much given to fault-finding, to 

 seeing a man's faults and failings instead of his good 

 qualities. I don't say that men or their actions ought 

 never to be criticised or condemned; but many times 

 are men fairly abused for something for which they 

 are not 1o blame. I sometimes get letters accusing me 

 very sharply of something for which I am not in the 

 least to blame. If you think that a man has made a 

 mistake, or has done wrong, it is not always best to 

 ignore it or keep still about it; but before condemning 

 a man, ask in a kind and courteous way for an ex- 

 planation. Don't be so ready to impugn a man's mo- 

 tives until you know all of the circumstances. 



While I am about it I might as well say I 

 indorse still another editorial on the use of 

 a nom de plume by the same writer. 



As a rule I do not approve of the use of a nom de 

 plume- There are cases when modesty might be an 

 excuse; where a man, or more likely a woman, might 

 be willing to write but did not care for the resulting 

 publicity. But when a man enters into a critical argu- 

 ment, and proceeds to "roast" some opponent, he 

 ought to come out fair and square with his own signa- 

 ture. To strike a man in the dark, and then dodge 

 behind a nom, de plume, marks a man as a coward. 



SHALL WE TAKE MORE THAN ONE BEE 

 JOURNAL ? 



I HOLD in my hand a very complimentary 

 letter from one of our subscribers regarding 

 the improvements that have been made in 

 Gleanings from time to time. He thinks 

 it covers the whole ground so thoroughly 

 and so well that there is no use of his taking 

 more than one bee journal. While we ap- 

 preciate most thoroughly this voluntary ex- 

 pression of our correspondent, I desire to 

 say that I believe he is mistaken. If any 

 one keeps bees for the money he can make 

 out of them, he ought by all means to take 

 not only one journal but two or three of 

 them. Gleanings does not pretend to cov- 

 er the whole field of apiculture. The per- 

 sonal bias of an editor, even though that bias 

 be unconscious, may cause him to emphasize 

 certain developments of bee lore to the total 



neglect of all others. As I look over our ex- 

 changes I can see fields that they are cover- 

 ing that Gleanings is not; and, conversely, 

 I can see fields that we are covering that 

 they do not. 



W. L. Coggshall, perhaps the most exten- 

 sive bee-keeper in the world, once said to 

 me that he could not afford not to take all 

 the bee papers published in the United 

 States; and that, moreover, he could not af- 

 ford not to scan every page after they came 

 into his hands. "But," you say, "he owns 

 and operates some two or three thousand 

 colonies, while I have only fifty. One jour- 

 nal is enough for me." Let us see how 

 nearly correct that is. Suppose the average 

 annual surplus is 25 lbs. per colony, of comb 

 honey. I am purposely putting the figures 

 low so as to give my friend the benefit of 

 the figures. We will say that he sells the 

 honey for 15 cts. at the commission man's, 

 and that it nets him 10 cts. clear. That 

 will make $2.50 per colony, or $125 in all. I 

 do not know of a bee journal published but 

 may contain some hint that will be worth 

 several times the subscription price for the 

 year. If three bee- journals cost $3.00, or 

 on a clubbing basis $2.50, it would be very 

 strange if our friend with fifty colonies could 

 not get more than $2.50 out of them. While 

 the net earning would be $125 from fifty col- 

 onies, if those earnings can be increased on 

 a conservative basis of only $10, take the 

 benefit of the doubt and invest in two more 

 journals at least. The farmer who takes 

 only one agricultural paper, even the very 

 best one, may miss some valuable hints which 

 his more progressive neighbor is availing 

 himself of, and, consequently, will be getting 

 ahead of him in a business way. 



THE advantage OF SELLING HONEY AROUND 

 HOME; HOW DAN WHITE SELLS HONEY. 



Bee- keepers should learn to do more and 

 more of their own marketing. Educate your 

 own community to the wholesomeness and 

 genuineness of both comb and extracted 

 honey. The local bee-keeper may just as 

 as well as not get a reputation for several 

 miles around his vicinity. If he tries ped- 

 dling he may not be able to sell very much 

 on his first trip; but let him try it again. In 

 time he will become acquainted, and con- 

 sumers will have confidence in the honey- 

 man. After a time he can get them to send 

 their orders without having to go after 

 them. 



W. Z. Hutchinson, in the Bee-keeper's Re- 

 vieiv, points out a case where one extensive 

 bee-keeper, Mr. E. D. Townsend, of Michi- 

 gan, sold his entire crop of 20,000 lbs. around 

 home at 7J cts., while other producers who 

 sent their honey to the jobbers got very Ht- 

 tle over 6 cts. , and had to pay freight in ad- 

 dition. 



But some bee-keepers are not born sales- 

 men. Well, then, let them call in the ser- 

 vice of some one who is, and sell on salary 

 or commission. Go with them and learn 

 how. But better by far go yourself, and let 



