830 



AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



Nine members, representing 301 col- 

 onies, reported a surplus of 7,677 

 pounds, or an average yield per colony 

 of 25% pounds. Owing to an excessive 

 wet spring and summer this was thought 

 to compare favorably with our friends 

 of the North and West, who make bee- 

 keeping a specialty. 



The members reported a better sale 

 for honey than of former years, which 

 fact goes to prove that the masses are 

 being educated up to the proper limit in 

 the use of honey as a substantial food 

 product. 



It is earnestly desired that the press 

 take a more active part in the dissemina- 

 tion of information on the proper culture 

 of the little busy bee. Also, that the 

 State Experiment Station take some 

 steps to give this important branch of 

 rural economy the attention it deserves. 



"How does apiculture compare with 

 other pursuits," was discussed, but no 

 one having made the business a specialty, 

 the genera] opinion prevailed that at 

 least for the present it was only safe as 

 supplemented to other kindred occupa- 

 tions. 



It was thought, by intelligent man- 

 agement, that bee-keeping would com- 

 pare favorably with the smaller indus- 

 tries — such as poultry-raising and truck- 

 gardening, etc. 



On motion, a vote of thanks was ten- 

 dered Dr. J. B. Alexander for the use of 

 his office ; to the Mecklenburg Times, 

 and other papers, for kindly printing 

 notices, etc. ; after which the associa- 

 tion adjourned to meet at the Court 

 House in Charlotte on the third Tuesday 

 in July, 1893, at 10 o'clock. 



A. L. Beach, Sec. 



"The "Winter Problem in 



Bee-Keeping " is the title of a splendid 

 pamphlet by Mr. G. R. Pierce, of Iowa, 

 a bee-keeper of 26 years' experience. It 

 is 6x9 inches in size, has 76 pages, and 

 is a clear exposition of the conditions 

 essential to success in the winter and 

 spring management of the apiary. Price, 

 postpaid, 50 cents ; or given as a pre- 

 mium for getting one new subscriber to 

 the Bee Journal for a year. Clubbed 

 with the Bee Journal one year for 

 $1.30. Send to us for a copy. 



Please Send Us the Names of your 

 neighbors who keep bees, and we will 

 send them sample copies of the Bee 

 Journal. Then please call upon them 

 and get them to subscribe with you, and 

 secure some of the premiums we offer. 



1&~ Do not write anything for publication 

 on the same sheet of paper with business 

 matters, unless it can be torn apart without 

 interfering with either part of the letter. 





Heart-Rending to Grwg Up Bees. 



Closing out my bees and discontinuing 

 the Bee Journal is heart-rending to me 

 for there is nothing I like better than 

 caring for bees, and sitting in the shade 

 in summer and reading the Journal. 

 My bees did well the past year. They 

 swarmed nicely, and stored 1,500 

 pounds of comb honey, and 175 pounds 

 of extracted. I have kept bees for 25 

 years, but I find my health has failed, 

 and so I will have to turn over my sub- 

 scription to a lady here to whom I have 

 sold my bees. 



Mrs. Martha Anderson. 



Bushnell, Ills., Dec. 6, 1892. 



Like Giving Up an Old Friend. 



I have been in the bee-business for 

 over forty years, and have had to give it 

 up on account of poor health. It is like 

 giving up an old friend to give up the 

 Bee Journal and the bees. 



H. W. Conklin. 



Rockton, Ills., Dec. 10, 1892. 



Christmas-Tree Stand, Etc. 



As Christmas is near at hand, I will 

 tell how I made a pretty stand for a 

 Christmas tree : I took a board 14x14 

 inches, and one inch thick around this 

 I made a t tiny paling fenc:e — there is a 

 post at each corner set firmly into a %- 

 inch hole, and a gate at the middle of 

 one side with little posts, the same as at 

 the corner. The palings are about %- 

 inch thick, and % inch wide, and the 

 cross pieces are just a little thicker. 

 The best tacks I could find for tacking 

 the palings to the cross-pieces were pins 

 cut in two, using only the head ends. I 

 then painted the fence white, and the 

 board grass-green. In the center of this 

 is a hole into which to fasten the tree. 



