THE AMERICAN APICULTURIST. 



21 



It also lends an additional charm when 

 the paper is conducted by one of long 

 and varied experience, for then much 

 that is irrevalent is consigned to the 

 waste basket and the readers are fur- 

 nished with nothing but the real cream 

 of the matter. 



But some are saying the last season 

 was so unproductive that really we c;ni- 

 not afford this luxury, and there is no 

 hiding the fict that to many last year 

 the bee business was unprofitable, but 

 granting this would it be wise not to 

 subsciibe for a bee paper? Nay, would 

 it not be better to reduce expenses any 

 where else ratiier than in this? For, 

 apart from depriving yourself of a real 

 pleasure, would not such a policy prove 

 in the long run suicidal in many ways 

 to your interest? 



When the merchant's speculations 

 bring the balance on the wrong side he 

 does not reduce expenses by cancelling 

 his subscription for the Journal that 

 gives him a report of the markets. Tlie 

 same things might be said about far- 

 mers, mechanics, and professional men : 

 they all have special papers bearing up- 

 on what is most interesting and vital to 

 their success, in a word indispensa- 

 ble, so that wherever there is retrench- 

 ment, it certainly is not here. If then 

 these feel the need of instruction and 

 stimulation from the perusal of their 

 papers, is it wise for the enterprising 

 beekeeper to go without his? 



For it is no exaggeration to say that 

 an article, or even a single paragraph 

 may throw such light upon for e. g. 

 the introduction of valuable queens, or 

 the ripening of honey, or the market- 

 ing the same to the best advantage, etc., 

 as would pay a handsome dividend up- 

 on the small investment. 



Many make the queen the chief f:ic- 

 tor in successful bee culture, and on 

 the whole she is likely though to the 

 progressive beekeeper a first-class bee 

 paper is a sine qua non. 



In answer to the question "Shall I 

 subscribe for a bee paper?" I would say 

 you need not if you are quite sure you 

 can afford to do without it. Wilkie. 



CYCLONES. 



Miss Emma Wilson describes the 

 hubbubs in the apiary, true to life, in 

 Gleanings^ Dec. ist, when she calls them 

 "cyclones." We have often remarked 

 that our apiary looked as if a cyclone 

 had passed through after our removing 

 the bees to the cellar, or when an un- 

 usual amount of work had been done 

 with them such as taking off supers or 

 putting sections on. 



I don't think we encourage the cy- 

 clones so much as we used to. We find 

 it easier to pick up after each day's 

 work, than it is to pick up after several 

 days' work or, if one will take but a little 

 more care at the time of stirring up, 

 much confiision may be prevented. 

 For instance, when we take off surplus, 

 etc , pile them in piles as we go along ; 

 and when we go into the storage house 

 always make it a point to carry an arm- 

 fiil in and pile them up in their proper 

 place, instead of dropping them all 

 down together, where most convenient, 

 as some help are prone to do, and as we 

 ourselves are tempted to do \ and always 

 when walking around in the apiary keep 

 on the lookout for something to dOj as 

 well as observing the hives. In this 

 way we shall keep much of the cluttering 

 up djne. 



I learned a lesson of thoughtfiilness 

 and observation more than ten years 

 ago that has been usefiil to me ever 

 since. It was a dear lesson as experi- 

 ence often is. 



After the hurry of the season was over 

 on walking round througli the apiary I 

 found several colonies of bees had built 

 combs under their hives and had filled 

 the combs with brood, but as the space 

 was so small the combs were so narrow 

 they would not amount to much when 

 transferred into frames. The colonies 

 had badly dwindled. If we had been 

 more observing, these colonies would 

 have been noticed before, as probably 

 we had passed and repassed those same 

 hives several times, perhaps twenty times. 

 One reason we had not noticed them 

 was a few bees were still left in the hive, 

 I think in every case enough to protect 



