14 



THE AMERICAN APICULTVRIST. 



knowledge of the honey bee, its char- 

 acteristics and habits, the extent to 

 which it is affected by chmatic in- 

 fluences and changes, the methods 

 to be adopted in breeding queens and 

 bees together with many other impor- 

 tant features in the same connec- 

 tion. 



Again, the fact that our leading 

 chemists as yet know but imperfectly 

 the nature and constitution of the 

 sweets gathered from the various 

 honey-producing flora opens up an- 

 other and a rich field of investiga- 

 tion. 



How imperfect is our knowledge 

 of the laws which govern the propa- 

 gation of bees and the methods for 

 uniting the desirable qualities of all 

 the races in the Aj>/s Americana of 

 the future ! 



We listen from year to year to the 

 various reports from prominent apia- 

 rists regarding their success or failure 

 in wintering their bees, and when we 

 ask them to explain to us the condi- 

 tions by which their bees were sur- 

 rounded, or the causes which brought 

 about the results, they, as a rule at 

 least, can only say "such were the 

 results," giving no cause. 



The time will yet come wlien we 

 shall be able to give a scientific ex- 

 planation of the causes and condi- 

 tions which govern this and other 

 departments of apiculture so that we 

 can proceed with the same certainty 

 as to the results as characterize other 

 industries and vocations. 



The time has come when those 

 whose efforts have been controlled 

 almost wholly by mere mercenary mo- 

 tives must give way to those with 

 nobler aims and greater ability who, 

 rising superior to such motives, will 

 devote their attention to the highest 

 branches of apicultural education 

 giving us the results of scientific re- 

 searches, for apiculture in its highest 

 sense is a grand and ennobling 

 science worthy of the attention of 

 the ablest students. 



For nearly three years we have 



toiled incessantly in order to aid in 

 bringing about these results and to 

 establish a journal which would fit- 

 tingly represent the interest of the 

 beekeepers and we are cheered and 

 encouraged with the results already 

 attained. 



One by one the ablest apiarists are 

 coming to our support so that in the 

 APicuLTURiST Can be found the 

 richest tiioughts from the most tal- 

 ented and successful apiarists in the 

 world, a fact that should encourage 

 our friends to continue their confi- 

 dence in our enterprise and extend 

 their efforts on its behalf. 



The cry has gone forth that the 

 honey market is glutted and many 

 apiarists are becoming discouraged 

 thereby. 



In our opinion this will prove a 

 blessing to apiculture as it will weed 

 out all those who are unfitted for the 

 business and those who by overesti- 

 mated inducements have engaged 

 in beekeeping expecting to reap a 

 fortune with but litde trouble or ex- 

 pense. Also, as "necessity is the 

 mother of invention" it will force 

 the beekeepers to recognize the im- 

 portance of taking active measures 

 to develop a honey market and to 

 apply the same tact, push, and en- 

 ergy to their business as characterize 

 those engrossed in other vocations 

 and industries. 



To those who wish to see apicul- 

 ture prosper we would say use every 

 endeavor to endorse, support and 

 encourage every unselfish effort put 

 forth to develop and foster apicul- 

 tural interests, and when you find a 

 bee journal fostering and protecting 

 your interests, encouraging freedom 

 of thought, keeping abreast with 

 every advance made in apiculture, 

 remember that every effort on your 

 part to increase its circulation and 

 enlarge its income will be returned 

 to you an hundred fold in the good 

 that will come to you from the im- 

 provements made in every branch of 

 apiculture. 



