AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



405 



there. Wisconsin and Iowa had sent in 

 some lately, also small lots of Minnesota 

 honey can be seen. 



The demand is very limited. I sent 

 500 pounds to each of two of the largest 

 honey dealers more than a month ago, 

 of which not one-fourth was sold the 

 other day. It is as fine honey as I ever 

 produced, and with but little (no white) 

 honey on the market at the time shipped. 



I give the above statement for the 

 good of the bee-keepers at home, who 

 expect to get 18 to 20 cents for their 

 honey, after seeing J. A. Shea & Co.'s 

 quotations. I asked Mr. Shea himself, 

 if he wanted to buy any honey. "No, 

 no ; I don't want to buy at all," was his 

 reply. I would recommend that every 

 bee-keeper endeavor to correct the quo- 

 tations if found incorrect. 



As far as I can learn of Minnesota's 

 honey crop, it is about one-third of an 

 average. The southern portion has 

 more clover honey than ever heretofore. 

 (White clover was never much of a crop, 

 anyway.) Linden was good for about 

 four days, and then it was killed by a 

 little rain at noon, with the hot sun be- 

 fore and after. There was only a little 

 scattering and crippled blossoms left, 

 which ended the white honey crop. No 

 honey was coming in for about five 

 weeks after that, on account of dry 

 weather. For the past two weeks some 

 fall honey came in, to fill up the brood- 

 chambers, and most of the colonies 

 worked a little in the sections, but now 

 it is too dry again, and bees are flying 

 considerably, but store little in the sec- 

 tions. 



The north and northwestern part of 

 this State have but little honey. Some 

 of the bee-keepers had to feed their bees 

 to keep them alive part of the summer. 

 The winter and spring losses were very 

 heavy all over the State. Some who had 

 from 150 to 200 colonies lost nearly all; 

 others fared better, but on the whole, 

 probably 65 per cent, were lost by May 

 10th. 



I commenced with 225 colonies. After 

 losing one in wintering, 30 dwindled in 

 April, and some I sold, they produced 

 about 8,000 pounds of white comb 

 honey, and there is about 2,000 pounds 

 of mixed honey on the hives now. They 

 increased (after doing my best to pre- 

 vent it) to 830 colonies — over 100 colo- 

 nies more than I care to keep. It is 

 hard for me to kill bees, and there is but 

 little chance to sell them. The brood- 

 chambers are pretty well filled with 

 winter stores now. 



I intend to attend the bee-keepers' 

 convention at the World's Fair in Octo- 



ber. Every bee-keeper who expects to 

 go to the Fair should arrange to go to 

 the convention and get acquainted with 

 the " big guns " and other bee-keepers, 

 while they have the chance to " kill two 

 birds with one stone." It will surely be 

 a treat to every bee-keeper. 

 Theilraanton, Minn., Sept. 11, 1893. 



Farmers as Bee-Reepcrs — TIic 

 Otiicr ^ide Discussed. 



Writte7i for the Ame7-ican Bee Journal 

 BY T. I. DUGDALE. 



Having noticed that considerable is 

 being written of late on the above sub- 

 ject, I thought perhaps a few words on 

 the other side might not be out of place, 

 especially when viewed from the stand- 

 point of a honey-producer. 



Perhaps before proceeding further 

 with this article, it might be well to say 

 that I may have some "big guns" 

 trained on my camp before closing, but 

 as the guns are so large, and the target 

 so small, I propose to take the chances 

 of getting hit. 



Now, I wish to inquire who it is that 

 so earnestly and frequently advises 

 farmers and horticulturists to keep bees. 

 Is it those whose occupation is the pro- 

 duction of honey, or by those interested 

 in the sale of bee-keepers' supplies, 

 which may consist of anything from a 

 queen-cage to a self-hiver, etc.? and by 

 this last I wish to be understood as in- 

 cluding the whole army of those engaged 

 in the supply business. I submit the 

 question for the reader to answer. 



But let us look a little further, and see 

 whether or not it is advisable to advo- 

 cate this wholesale keeping of bees as a 

 sort of " side show," to be carried on in 

 connection with farming. I say no ; for 

 during the last 20 years, of all the 

 farmers I have known to engage in bee- 

 keeping, none of them ever got enough 

 honey to pay the first cost of outfit and 

 interest on the investment, and throw 

 their labor in gratis. I find that, as a 

 rule, farmers make what might be 

 termed " the wait and see if they (the 

 bees) are going to do anything" kind of 

 bee-keepers, and have neither the 

 l^nowledge, time, nor inclination to give 

 their bees the care which they require 

 in order to meet with even moderate 

 success. 



Perhaps one reason for so much neg- 

 lect is the fear of being stung, which 

 can only be fully overcome by long and 

 continued practice in handling, and not 



