THE AMER WAN A PICUL TUB IS T. 



39 



One thing is certain, we. must look 

 for something else than white clover that 

 succeeds here in giving us a crop only- 

 one year out of four, or beekeeping will 

 be abandoned for more protitable busi- 

 ness. 

 NewPJiila., O. Dr. G. L. Tinker. 



KEEPING BERS IX CONXECTIOX 

 WITH OTHER BUSINESS. 



We have now entered tlie portals of 

 a new year and are, many of us, re- 

 flecting upon the possibilities and pros- 

 pects of the beekeepers of 1892. There 

 are some whose success seems almost as- 

 sured but many who realize that they 

 may as surely fail. There are many who 

 have added to the business of keeping 

 bees a supply trade, from which a rev- 

 enue to some extent may be expected ; 

 others who make a specialty of raising 

 queens, or offering a needful implement 

 they have invented, which brings up the 

 casla at least to a living basis. 



But we know that all can not be in- 

 ventors, supply dealers or queen breed- 

 ers ; that there are those whose adap- 

 tability and circumstances forbid a 

 branching out into these lines, hence a 

 more careful study of the production of 

 honey. Still,the low price of the lat- 

 ter, and the results of poor crops con-' 

 sidered, it is plain that some other busi- 

 ness must go hand in hand, to ensure a 

 livelihood, and what shall it be, that can 

 successfully claim our attention and in- 

 terest, alongside the apiary? "Small 

 fruit. Poultry, Blacksmithing, Country 

 Store, Hotel, etc.," are recommended. 



Any business must have a head to it. 

 We must enjoy it, and it must claim our 

 attention at the right time, or else disas- 

 ter follows. With small fruit, this comes 

 at the same time when we are busy with 

 the bees. Blacksmithing, if enough of 

 it, would leave no time for bee woik. 

 If only a small business some one would 

 be sure to want work in a hurry no 

 doubt, just when we were, oh ! so busy, in 



the bee yard, and perhaps one or more 

 swarms on the wing that must be at- 

 tended to at once, unless we had the 

 self-hivers ; and here is a point in their 

 f-ivor surely. It would not be advis- 

 able to lock up a country store, while 

 the bees kept us on tlie run all day 

 long. In the hotel, an institution kept 

 going to accommodate the public, un- 

 less the force were strong enough to 

 spare one to look after the bees, I do 

 not know how it could be managed, for 

 meals must be served vvlien ordered, 

 regardless of the bee business. A fruit 

 that can be harvested in the fall might 

 be raised, it seems to me, and not in- 

 terfere. Still it requires time to bring 

 these into bearing, especially apples, 

 and a living must be had in the mean 

 time, so I conclude that the beekeeper 

 must consider what suits his locality, 

 his own likings and conditions, also con- 

 veniences. But if it should be decided 

 to try Poultry let me say. Don't try rais- 

 ing ducks if they are to have the range 

 of the bee yard, as we found to our 

 sorrow that a drove of Pekin ducks, al- 

 most depopulated our hives, until we 

 were certain about it, and removed them 

 to another yard. But chickens can be 

 raised nicely along with bees. One year 

 I started my incubator early, before 

 there was any bee work pushing, and 

 succeeded in raising from these hatch- 

 ings over seven hundred fine fowls. 

 These were fed and looked after with- 

 out detriment to the bee work, and were 

 quite a source of revenue — after expense 

 was deducted — having a large pasture 

 for them. Only once did the bees at- 

 tack them in a vicious manner. 



Mrs. Milton Cone. 

 Kansas City, Mo. 



Those who purchase some of the so- 

 called "swarm hivers" should bear in 

 mind tliat such devices are an infringe- 

 ment on the only practical and patented 

 automatic swarmer now in use. A word 

 to the wise, etc. 



