12 



THE AMERICAN APICULTURIST. 



we pay well for the systematic 

 combination of the manufacturers ; 

 the same with many other articles 

 used in tlie business. I liave illus- 

 trated to many of our New York 

 beekeepers a system by which we 

 can break these combinations, and 

 have proven to them that with 

 system we can save one cent for 

 every pound of honey produced. 

 This one cent would make quite a 

 difference on the profits of our crop, 

 and would be a saving to American 

 apiarists of nearly one million 

 dollars annually. 



If we want to put the price of 

 honey lower so as to increase the 

 consumption, here is a chance, and 

 that too, without decreasing the 

 profits of the producer. I might 

 say much more on this subject, but 

 this article is already too long, and 

 as I am giving my spare time to 

 this question I should be pleased to 

 have every reader of this paper, 

 who would like to see the practical 

 workings, and enjoy the benefits 

 derived from such action, make it 

 manifest by sending me a postal 

 card, and we shall see what can be 

 done. 



Fayetteville, N. F.jMar. 30, 1883. 



BEE-CULTURE IN 

 GENERAL. 



By Q. W. Demaree. 



The modern system of beekeep- 

 ing is not the work of any one 

 person, but is the result of the ag- 

 gregated labor and brain work of 

 hundreds of persons all over the 



wide world. Apiarists, as a gen- 

 eral thing, are men of broad views, 

 possessing a large share of public 

 spirit ; they freely give to the pub- 

 lic all of their hardly acquired 

 knowledge, and by means of their 

 pens their light is spread from sea 

 to sea. 



Were I asked what has contribu- 

 ted most to the perfecting of the 

 modern system of bee-culture, I 

 should answer, that there is but one 

 great cause, and that is the " mova- 

 ble frame system." Nearlj' every 

 important invention which has been 

 brought to light, many of which are 

 essential to profitable bee-culture, 

 would be useless in the absence of 

 the movable frame. 



How essential, then, it is to have 

 a thorough knowledge of this, the 

 essential part of beekeeping, and 

 also of the art of manipulating bees. 



It is true that many persons may, 

 and do make beekeeping pay, who 

 never were, and never will be, skil- 

 ful manipulators ; but then such 

 pei'sons simply profit by the ex- 

 periences of others, and never them- 

 selves add anything to the general 

 store of knowledge. 



When we take into consideration 

 the fact that the present advanced 

 state of bee-culture, of which most 

 of us feel a just and reasonable 

 pride, has been reached as it were 

 " step by step, " liow important it 

 is that all should strive to add 

 something to the ever-swelling tide 

 of knowledge. 



It is a fact to be deplored — es- 

 pecially by us older ones — that the 

 chief hindrance to the rapid ad- 

 vancement of the science of api- 



