108 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



April 6, 



Is Bee-Keeping a Failure? 



THOMAS C. NEWMAN. 



EDITOR AND PHOPHIETOB, 



CHICAGO, ILL., APRIL 6, 1881. 



The Lessons of the Hour. 



" Sweet are the uses of adversity,"' is 

 a trite remark credited to Shakespeare, 

 we believe. The winter of 1880-1 will 

 long be known as one of the most severe 

 in its nature and direful in its effects, 

 not only in America but throughout the 

 world. 



A gentleman from Minnesota assures 

 us that in the southern part of that 

 State fully 10 feet of snow has fallen 

 since the great storm of Oct. 14. Losses 

 and privations have beenffte rule during 

 the past 5 or months. Fuel has been 

 so scarce that in some places even the 

 " liberty pole " has been sacrificed for 

 use as fuel ; those sections cut off from 

 communication have been deprived of 

 tea, coffee and sugar, and the coffee- 

 mill has been made to serve the purpose 

 of the flour-mill, to grind wheat for 

 family use. 



Heavy sleet storms have destroyed 

 the timber, the principal sufferers be- 

 ing peach, soft maple, hickory and elm 

 trees. 



Birds, sheep, cattle and hogs have 

 perished by thousands, being deprived 

 of food and shelter and cut off from suc- 

 cor by the waves of death from the 

 north and west, and the oft-repeated 

 blizzard. Even mankind is no excep- 

 tion—untold numbers have been sacri- 

 ficed upon the altar of the storm-king. 

 Snow, hail, wind, blinding storm and 

 blizzard-blast have united with poisoned 

 air and miasmatic vapor to sweep men. 

 women and children into the tomb, and 

 is it any wonder that our pets— the 

 bees— should suffer in common with all 

 other forms of life ? 



But how difficult it is to discover the 

 " sweet uses " of all this adversity ! 

 True, it may point out the more hardy 

 kinds of trees, insects, birds and stock, 

 to withstand the rigors of such seasons 

 — upon the principle of " the survival of 

 the fittest "—and it may teach men a 

 valuable lesson on the necessity of se- 

 curing more perfect ventilation, drain- 

 age and pure water. 



When the unprecedented season 

 shall have passed, let us try to fathom 

 these deep lessons in respect to our 

 bees. Perhaps there is a lesson to be 

 learned here which we could learn in no 

 other way. Close observation and pro- 

 found study will no doubt be amply re- 

 warded. " Let patience have her per- 

 fect work.'' 



®"Dr. Ehrick Parmly,the genial Re- 

 cording Secretary of the North Ameri- 

 can Bee-Keepers' Society, made us a 

 very pleasant call last Thursday after- 

 noon, on his return from a three weeks' 

 tour through Colorado. We are glad to 

 say the Doctor was looking and feeling 

 remarkably well after his extended trip, 

 and his .jovial good nature done much 

 to banish the gloom occasioned by the 

 drizzling and monotonous snow which 

 was then falling. 



Now that the winter is drawing to a 

 close, and the chilling blasts are becom- 

 ing more fitful and spasmodic under the 

 tardy but certain approach of spring, 

 we begin to contemplate with an inward 

 feeling of gratification the genial sun- 

 shine and gentle showers with which 

 Nature will awaken to life ; the far- 

 stretching fields clothed in emerald 

 green, the lawns and lanes with their 

 grassy carpets, the air laden with the 

 sweet perfume of the blossoms in gar- 

 den and orchard, the trees in forest and 

 grove animated with the feathered song- 

 sters whose little lives seem an incarna- 

 tion of happy melody— all these will 

 combine to help us forget the dreary 

 hours of the past, and with keener zest 

 enjoy the future. But how many will 

 miss the cheerful hum of the myriads 

 of toiling bees, whose flitting wings 

 were wont to bear them from flower to 

 flower, where they gathered nectar fit 

 for a banquet of the gods. 



We can scarcely wonder that many 

 have become discouraged and almost 

 doubt whether bee-keeping pays, when 

 they think of the meager honey yields 

 of two successive summers, and view 

 the untenanted hives and soiled combs 

 which are left as the sequel to their 

 cherished hopes for the future. How- 

 ever, none should be too hasty in pass- 

 ing judgment. With the hives and 

 combs already provided, more than one- 

 half the original investment is saved, 

 and with a propitious season for the 

 present, our losses will be made good 

 with a credit in our favor on the balance 

 sheet. We cannot expect bee-keeping 

 to be profitable every season, any more 

 than any other special branch of indus- 

 try which is dependent upon natural 

 causes, but we can with forethought, 

 industry and systematic perseverance, 

 make it as reliable as any other, and 

 now that many will be compelled to be- 

 gin anew (or comparatively so), we sug- 

 gest that they begin aright. It will not 

 be a guaranty of success that they use 

 the best hive, nor that they have an 

 abundance of bees; a familiarity with 

 all the recognized authorities and a mind 

 crammed with theories, will often fail ; 

 the industrious brown bee will seek in 

 vain, the gold-banded Italian bee will 

 tire in its flight, and even Apis dorsala 

 will view its stores with dismay, if there 

 be no nectar-laden bloom from which to 

 gather. 



Now is the time to invest for the fu- 

 ture. Every dollar judiciously paid out 

 for seeds of honey plants will bear com- 

 pound interest— will be " bread cast 

 upon the waters." The traditional 

 two or three weeks of honey-flow can, 

 with a trifling expenditure, be made to 

 last more than as many months ; a suc- 

 cession of bloom can be secured, so that 

 should northerly winds or wet weather 

 prevail for a time, it would not carry 

 dismay to our hopes and starvation to 

 our bees. If, as we hope and confidently 

 believe, the present should prove an un- 

 paralleled honey season, it will amelior- 

 ate the only tenable objection to nielilot 

 or sweet clover, which is that it blooms 

 but little or none the first season ; and 

 we can well wait till another season for 

 our "sweet" reward from it. There 

 are many other plants which we believe 



would repay cultivation in honey alone. 

 but not one that will bear comparison 

 with this Esau of the vegetable king- 

 dom. Never was a better time to start 



in right than now, and never can we 

 truthfully say bee-keeping is more haz- ! 

 anions than other industries, or less re- 

 munerative, until we have made some | 

 provision against natural failures and 

 seasonable disasters. Every bee-keeper 

 should, in justice to himself, test this 

 matter of planting on a sufficiently ex- 

 tensive scale to satisfy himself. We 

 feel confident of the verdict. 



Law Against Adulteration in N. Y. 



We have received the following copy 

 of the bill against adulteration, referred 

 to on page 92 of the Bee Journal for 

 March 23. Mr. L. C. Root remarks: 

 " The leaders of the Bee Journal are. 

 no doubt, interested in the progress be- 

 ing made regarding the bill upon which 

 action was taken at the late session of 

 the Northeastern Bee-keeper's Associa- 

 tion. The subject is one of marked in- 

 terest to bee-keepers in general. I send 

 you a copy of the bill, which may be 

 of interest and which shows the pro- 

 gress thus far made." 



Assembly of New York. — Intro- 

 duced by Mr. Root— read twice and 

 referred to the committee on trade 

 and manufactures — reported favora- 

 bly from said committee and com- 

 mitted to the committee of the whole. 



An Act, To prevent fraud in the adul- 

 teration of sugars, syrups, molasses 

 and honey. 



The people of tke State of New York, 

 represented in Senate and Assembly, do 

 enact as folloics: 



Sec. 1. Any person, company or 

 corporation engaged in the manufac- 

 ture, refining or mixing of sugars, 

 syrups, molasses or honey for sale, who 

 shall mix the same with glucose or 

 grape sugar or any other article of adul- 

 teration, shall, before selling or offering 

 the same for sale, cause to be marked 

 on the cask or package in which it is 

 contained, the percentage of glucose or 

 adulteration therein contained, such 

 mark or label shall be in plain Roman 

 capital letters, not less than 1 ., each in 

 dimensions, in black ink or paint, and 

 on the upper and most conspicuous part 

 of the cask or package. 



I 2. Any person, company or corpo- 

 ration who shall sell or offer to sell such 

 mixed or adulterated sugars, syrups, 

 honey or molasses containing glucose, 

 grape sugar, or any articles of adulter- 

 ation, shall expose or sell the same in or 

 from the original packages in which it 

 was consigned from the manufacturer 

 or mixer to the same, and shall be 

 plainly and conspicuously marked or 

 labeled as required in the first section 

 of this act. 



I 3. Any person who shall violate 

 the provisions of this act shall be deemed 

 guilty of a misdemeanor and on convic- 

 tion thereof shall be liable to a fine of 

 not less than $10 nor more than 8200, or 

 to imprisonment in the county jail for 

 not more than GO days, or both fine and 

 imprisonment in the discretion of the 

 court. 



I 4. This act shall take effect on the 

 first day of June, 1881. 



Vennor's Predictions for April. 



So remarkable have his predictions 

 been fulfilled in the past that we hope 

 we shall not be disappointed in his pre- 

 dictions for May weather during at 

 least a part of this month. The follow- 

 ing are his probabilities for April : 



There will be sharp frost in the be- 

 ginning of April, with a snowfall on the 

 4th or 5th, but the spring will open 

 favorably, and everything will be pretty 

 well advanced bv April 15. Floods may 

 be expected in Chicago about the first 

 week in April, with high winds also 

 prevailing in the early part of the 

 month. Snow-falls are probable about 

 April 5. Navigation is likely to open 

 on Lake Ontario about April 7. 



The St. Lawrence will be open about 

 the 9th or 11th, and the first steamship 

 will probably arrive about the 17th or 

 18th. The weather will be very stormy 

 in the Lower Provinces about the 20th. 

 with very high water prevailing, but 

 in the West, April will be a dry month. 

 There will be warm weather just fol- 

 lowing the 20th, ending in thunder- 

 storms on the 24th and 25th. Snow- 

 storms are probable in the far West on 

 the 25th and 20th, and snow-falls are 

 not unlikely to occur in England at the 

 close of the month. The month will 

 end wet and cold, but, on the whole, 

 will be like a May month. 



Circulars and Catalogues.— The fol- 

 lowing Circulars and Catalogues are on 

 our desk : 



E. A. Thomas. Coleralne, Mass.— 4 pages— Choice 

 Italian Queens and Bees. 



Kennlcutt & Keyser, Tecumseh, Mich.— 4 pages- 

 Poultry and Bees. 



Bright Bros., Mazeppa, Minn.-- 90 pages— Apiarian 

 Supplies. 



S. Valentine. Doublo Pipe Creek, Md.— 4 pages- 

 Italian. Albino uml Holy I, ion] Queens ami Bee*. 



L. C. Root & Bro. Mohawk, N. V.— 12 pages-Bee- 

 Kci'i.iiin Supplies, Qulnby's New flee- Keeping, Ac. 



I. K. Onnd. Nuppaneo, Ind.— 1 page— Holy Land 

 Her* and Queens. 



II. Barber, Adrian, Mleh. — I page -Russell Hives, 

 Italian Queens ami Hees 



lie... It. 

 Queen: 



Lamb, Wilmington, N. C. — 1 page— Italian 



J. M. Brooks Jt Bro., Columbus, Ind.— 2 pages— 

 American-bred Italian Queens and Bees, and Apia- 

 rian Supplies. 



FA. Snell. Mllledgevllle, III.— is pages-Bee Hives, 

 Italian Beeaand Apiarian Supplies. 



H. A. Burch ,V Ci... Smith Haven, Mich.— 40 pages- 

 Bees. Queens and Bee-keepers' Supplies. 



Uleael & Drum, Adelpbi, ' >. s pages— Italian Bees 

 and Queens and Apiarian Supplies. 



A. T. Blauvelt A Oo„ lilauveltvllle, N. Y— 16 pages 

 —Fruit and Ornamental Trees. 



Two Queens in a Hive.— Mr. Fraden- 

 burg says : " I think I can throw a new 

 ray of light on this subject, which is 

 now-a-days attracting some attention 

 among bee-keepers. I have come to 

 the conclusion that there are but just 

 two causes or conditions in which two 

 laying queens will be found in a hive at 

 once — the first is the superseding of an 

 old and failing queen, in which case 

 each queen seems to have a sort of rev- 

 erence for the other ; the second con- 

 dition is that the bees in one part of the 

 hive do not know at all times what is 

 going on in another part of the hive. 

 This assertion may raise a storm of op 

 position among the fraternity, but I be- 

 lieve I have the positive evidence to 

 support it." 



<gg° We have received a very nice 

 specimen of thin foundation for surplus 

 boxes, made on the Root Mill, from G. 

 W. Stanley, Wyoming, N. Y. 



®" This issue of the Bee Journal, 

 the first in the month, goes to all the 

 subscribers of the Weekly, Monthly 

 and Semi-Monthly. Should any of the 

 latter wish to change to the Weekly, 

 they can do so at any time, by paying 

 the difference. 



(g°We can supply but a few more of 

 the back numbers to new subscribers. 

 If any want them, they must be sent for 

 soon. 



^"California has had its floods, and 

 now the Northwest is having a severe 

 experience in the same line. Accord- 

 ing to Veunor our turn is next. Let 

 all be watchful, and prepare in time, if 

 possible, to avoid loss. 



ingle copies of the Journal are 

 sent postage paid for 5 cents each. 



(^"Constitutions and By-Laws for 

 local Associations $2 per 100. The name 

 of the Association printed in the blanks 

 for 50 cents extra. 



(g" The Volume of the Bee Jour- 

 nal for 1880, bound in stiff paper 

 covers, will be sent by mail, for $1.50. 



©■Wlien changing a postoffice ad- 

 dress, mention the old ad 

 as the new one. 



address as well 



