532 



AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



We have heard a great deal about 

 Apis Dorsata — the bee of Java. I would 

 like to see an importation made under 

 the auspices of the Government for ex- 

 amination and trial, but I have no hope 

 that they will prove an acquisition. Any 

 race of bees that can build its combs in 

 the open air, and successfully defend its 

 stores against the depredations of na- 

 tive enemies, will, it seems to me, pos- 

 sess a temper that will need to be culti- 

 vated and mollified for the next hundred 

 years, before it would be a desirable 

 resident. 



I am, therefore, of the opinion that 

 we must look to the native blacks and 

 Italians, and their crosses, for the ideal 

 bee for this country. I believe that by 

 careful breeding we shall evolve a bee 

 superior to anything yet known. If in 

 the last forty years the horse has in- 

 creased in speed from 2:40 to 2:04, and 

 the increased milking capacity of our 

 dairy breeds of cattle has almost taxed 

 our credulity, who shall say that by se- 

 lection and careful breeding a bee may 

 not be developed that will surpass by far, 

 in docility and honey-gathering capabil- 

 ities, the best records of to-day? 

 Forest City, Iowa. 



The Keeping of Bees for Profit 

 and Pleasure. 



BY G. M. DOOLITTLE. 



That bee-keeping will compare favor- 

 ably with any other pursuit in life, I 

 lirmly believe ; and the trouble why so 

 many fail in it is that they do not prop- 

 erly attend to it. Men will give their 

 horses and cattle the best of care, but 

 when it comes to the bees, they let them 

 take care of themselves, with the excep- 

 tion of hiving swarms and putting on 

 and taking off boxes. In this way there 

 is no profit, and little, if any, pleasure 

 in apiculture. What would they expect j 

 from their cows if treated in that way ? 



The keeping of cows means milking 

 twice a day for at least 210 days out of 

 the year, and feeding them three times 

 a day for 180 days, saying nothing 

 about cleaning stables and other work 

 necessary to carry on a dairy. When 

 men are willing to thus care for bees, 

 they will find they will give as much 

 profit as can be obtained from cows, or 

 any other branch of rural industry, and 

 in this profit comes very largely the 

 pleasure side of the question. 



Bee-keeping means work, with enthu- 

 siasm enough put into it to make this 



work real fun ; a place for everything 

 and everything in its place, and to know 

 how to do things just at the right time 

 and in the right place, if we would 

 make it both pleasurable and profitable. 

 We also want the best bees, the best 

 hives, and all modern appliances, just as 

 our enterprising dairymen would have 

 the best breed of cows and the best uten- 

 sils to care for the milk. Also a man 

 must have a liking for the business. No 

 man will ever make bee-keeping profit- 

 able who prefers to lounge around a 

 country tavern or store instead of work- 

 ing in the apiary. In fact, a person will 

 not succeed in any business unless he 

 has enough love for his calling in life so 

 he will be diligent and faithful thereto. 

 "Seest thou a man diligent in his busi- 

 ness? he shall stand before kings," was 

 what King Solomon told his son, and the 

 saying is as true to-day as it ever was. 



Again, to be successful in any busi- 

 ness, a man must "grow up" into it by 

 years of patient toil and study, till he 

 becomes master of that business, when 

 in 99 cases out of 100 he will succeed. 

 It is this getting crazy over a business 

 which looks to be a good thing, but with 

 which we are not acquainted, and in- 

 vesting all we have in it, expecting to 

 make a fortune, which ruins so many 

 and gives no pleasure as a result. 



In the winter of 1868-69, I became 

 interested in bees by reading the first 

 edition of "King's Bee-Keeper's Text 

 Book," which chanced to fall into my 

 hands. Next I subscribed for a bee- 

 paper, read Quinby's and Langstroth's 

 books, and in March bought two colonies 

 of bees, and the hives I needed for two 

 years, paying $30. 1869, being a poor 

 year, I had but one swarm from the two, 

 and had to feed $5 worth of sugar to 

 get through the winter. In 1870, I re- 

 ceived enough from them to buy all the 

 fixtures I wished for 1871, and a little 

 to help on my other expenses from the 

 farm. 



So I kept on making the bees pay 

 their way, as I had resolved at the out- 

 set, that after payiug the first $35 I 

 would lay out no more money on them 

 than they brought in, believing that if I 

 could not make two colonies pay I could 

 not 200. 



In the fall of 1873, I found I had an 

 average yield of 80 pounds of comb 

 honey from each colony I had in the 

 spring, which was sold so as to give me 

 $559 free of all expense incurred by the 

 bees. I also bought an extractor that 

 season. 

 As I was determined to give the bees 



