AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



437 



as high in a financial point of view as 

 some of our sister industries in point of 

 finances invested and annually received 

 and disbursed, yet, when the relation- 

 ship of our industry is considered with 

 that of horticulture, floriculture, and 

 the many seeds and grasses of our coun- 

 try, to say nothing of the products 

 furnished our markets in the way of 

 honey and beeswax, we will find, when 

 unbiased investigation is given, the sub- 

 ject of apiculture is one of the most im- 

 portant on the category of industries. 



All subject-matter given in the direc- 

 tion of the dissemination of knowledge 

 upon this important subject will be a 

 boon to humanity and should be given 

 the widest possible circulation. 



I am not sure that any argument could 

 be presented, that would insure the 

 clemency and favorable consideration of 

 our law-makers upon the simple grounds 

 of the importance of the pursuit in the 

 visible financial consideration of the in- 

 dustry considered within the scope of its 

 own product. 



It is by no means a new theory, that 

 the sexual transmissions of plant-life is 

 carried on largely by the visitations of 

 insects during the time of their blooming, 

 but that the education of the masses 

 upon this important subject in the past 

 has been sadly neglected is very appar- 

 ent ; and as we advance in wisdom and 

 intelligence these once mooted questions 

 will become standard facts, and the 

 vocation of bee-keeping will be nurtured 

 as one of the leading and most useful 

 industries in our land. 



In order to present this matter in its 

 most impressive form to the members of 

 the General Assembly, you must enlist 

 one of its members in your service, who 

 is thoroughly conversant with the rou- 

 tine of legislative work, and who will be 

 painstaking in every particular. He 

 must know there is no flaw in his Bill as 

 presented, and when it is once consigned 

 to the Committee on Appropriations, he 

 must be able to show by outside pressure 

 that the bee-keepers are in earnest. 



There should be a committee appointed 

 by your State society, composed of the 

 representative bee-keepers of your State, 

 to go before the Committee in behalf of 

 the Bill. The bee-keepers composing 

 the constituency of the various members 

 of the Committee on Appropriations 

 should also write letters to their mem- 

 bers soliciting their vote in its favor. 



Another very important matter will be 

 to secure the services of the members of 

 the State Horticultural Society, and 

 have them make an appeal, in person if 



possible, and if not, by letter, to the 

 Committee, which you w'll find wUl bear 

 great weight for favorable consideration 

 in the minds of the various members 

 composing that body. 



It is an important point to secure as 

 early action as possible on the part of 

 the Committee, and should you succeed 

 in having it returned back to the House 

 or Senate (as the case may be) with the 

 recommendation "that it do pass," you 

 can consider half the battle won. 



It should be remembered, however, 

 that every Bill presented must go through 

 the same routine in each branch of the 

 Legislature ; hence the necessity of early 

 action on the part of the Committee, and 

 having it placed upon the calendar. 



All appropriation bills are granted the 

 right of way over all other bills, hence 

 there is but little danger but some dis- 

 position will be made, should it ever get 

 out of the committee room. — Read at the 

 Missouri State Convention. 



Spring, Ills. 



The Honey Crop a Fair Average. 



F. K. MANNING. 



The honey crop is a fair average this 

 summer. There was an abundance of 

 white clover, the roadsides and pastures 

 being white with bloom, and the bees 

 made good use of it. My bees have gath- 

 ered, as near as I can figure it, 65 

 pounds per colony, of white clover 

 honey, and what the fall average will 

 be I cannot tell. The prospect is good 

 in this section for a large yield of fall 

 honey, as the corn-fields are covered 

 with the big smart-weed. 



My a,)iary is in the yard between the 

 house and work-shop, and in passing 

 from and to my shop, it makes me re- 

 joice to hear the humming of the little 

 workers as they go and come from the 

 fields. I have just 100 colonies, and 

 nearly all hybrids. 



On July 27th, I put the strongest col- 

 ony I had on a pair of scales in the even- 

 ing, and balanced the scales ; and on 

 the evening of the 28th I balanced the 

 scales again, and there was a gain of 

 14J^ pounds. How is that for one day's 

 work from hybrids ? 



It makes a bee-keeper rejoice to get a 

 good crop, as in this section there was 

 no honey the last two summers, and the 

 honey this summer, I think, is the nicest 

 I ever saw. The sections are filled 

 square and full. 



Last year my bees gathered but very 



