62 



THE AMERICAN APICULTVRIST. 



that reason, or for the more potent 

 reason that a lie will travel a mile be- 

 fore truth can don its boots, he could 

 not be induced to give it up. What 

 does the world about us know about 

 "feeding bees?" If they hear of a 

 man feeding bees they take it at once 

 that he is " manufacturing honey." 

 Say what you will, the great mass of 

 consumers have no faith in modern 

 honey, and the fault is all our own. 

 We must stop the sugar business and 

 supply the wants of our bees with 

 pure honey. We have been told lately 

 that we must educate the people on 

 the subject of pure honey so that 

 feeding sugar to winter bees will not 

 excite their suspicions. Well, now I 

 say that it can't be done; you may 

 explain to the average consumer 

 once a week the year round what you 

 feed your bees for, and how you feed 

 them, and he will ask you every time 

 if you feed them to "make honey," 

 or some like question that will con- 

 vince you that your labor has all been 

 in vain. 



Now I am going to say what I 

 would rather not say, but truth de- 

 mands it. In my own locality, being 

 well known, I can sell honey largely 

 the year round ; but I could not sell 

 a pound of honey if my customers 

 knew that it was not produced in my 

 own apiary. This simple, hard fact 

 is the best possible illustration of the 

 lack of confidence in modern honey. 

 I, myself, would not buy honey from 

 a man who feeds largely on sugar 

 syrup because, no matter how honest 

 he might be, he could not warrant 

 his honey to be absolutely pure. To 

 say that a little sugar carried by the 

 bees into the surplus does not hurt 

 the honey, does not mend the matter. 

 To sell a mixed article for 2i pure ar- 

 ticle is a fraud, necessarily so. Let 

 us take out of the way all the hin- 

 drances. . 



Christiansburg, Ky. 



EDITORIAL NOTES. 



DOES IT PAY 'TO KEEP BEES AS A 

 BUSINESS ? 



This question has not received 

 proper attention. If called upon to 

 decide we should certainly say that, 

 as a rule, it does not pay to keep 

 bees as a business. The keeping 

 of bees should be connected with 

 some other vocation, as but few men 

 are adapted to handle a large apiary ; 

 and, again, there are but few locali- 

 ties where forage is sufficiently abun- 

 dant to keep bees in large numbers. 

 It is our opinion that farmers, 

 mechanics and most laboring men 

 can make beekeeping profitable by 

 keeping only such a number of colo- 

 nies as they can care for during the 

 few hours they could devote to such 

 work each day. Most any mechanic 

 would find time to manage from 

 twenty to thirty colonies, as the days 

 are the longest at the time the bees 

 would need tlie most attention, and 

 the hours the mechanic could spare 

 is the best part of the day for doing 

 work in the apiary. 



The farmer could raise honey and 

 wax and take them to market with 

 the other products of the farm. The 

 mechanic could sell his honey to his 

 fellow-workman, friends and neigh- 

 bors, and he would find that even 

 though he raised but a few hundred 

 pounds of honey each season, the 

 money reahzed therefrom would be 

 of great help to himself and family. 

 The laboring man who has no in- 

 come except what he obtains by 

 hard work is indeed in " hard luck." 

 To those who can do so, we advise 

 the keeping of a few colonies of bees, 

 raise honey for your own table, and 

 also get the needed recreation and 

 pleasure so much desired by all. 



During the long winter evenings 

 the sections could be nailed, the 

 hives " put up, " and every prepara- 

 tion made for taking the crop of 

 honey the coming season. Except 

 in swarming time bees need little or 



