42 



THE AMERICAN BEE-KEEPER. 



Februa 



BRIEF REVIEW OF SIMMINS' 

 BOOK. 



By Arthur C. Miller . 



"Three Hundred Pounds per An- 

 num from Thirty Acres, or a Modern 

 Bee Farm and Its Economic Manage- 

 ment" is the title of a book recently 

 issued in England and written by 

 Mr. Samuel Simmins, a prominent 

 bee-keeper of that country, it is 

 worthy of more than a passing notice, 

 in fact American bee-keepers would 

 do well to purchase it. 



The author starts out by stating it 

 as his intention "to adhere strictly to 

 the science of practical bee-keeping." 

 but he soon wanders oflf onto poultry 

 and cattle. One can forgive him this 

 when viewing the pictures of his fine 

 Jerseys. 



The first chapter, entitled "Bee Cul- 

 ture as a Profession and for Rrecre- 

 ation." begins with a homily on farm- 

 ing, with bees as an adjunct, drifts to 

 how to learn bee-keeping, how to 

 start, where to locate, growing crops, 

 capital to invest, moving bees, sale 

 of bees and queens, manufacture of 

 suppli ;s, and concludes with some in- 

 teresting remarks on bee-keeping for 

 recreation. 



The next chapter, on "How to Han- 

 dle," begins with precautions against 

 robbing, then "driving," "transfer- 

 ring," "uniting," "smoke," "gloves," 

 veils." "sting cures," etc. And so 

 the chapters go, jus tas most of us 

 "talk bees," drifting from one part to 

 another. The lack of order and con- 

 tinuity detract from the pleasure of 

 the book. Beside this, the paper and 

 binding are poor, the illustrations are 

 scattered indiscriminately, without re- 

 gard to the text, and many "head" and 

 "tail-pieces" are used, which, while 

 having no connection with bees or 

 bee-keeping, take up valuable room 

 and add to the expense without add- 

 ing to the beauty of the work. Per- 

 haps Mr. Simmins is not to blame for 

 these latter faults, but the first edi- 

 tion of his book, published in 1887. 

 warranted our expecting much better 

 than we have in this edition. How- 

 ever, the good things are so numerous 

 and the teling of them so plainly be- 

 speaks the work of an experienced 

 hand, that the shortcomings may well 

 be overlooked. Mr. S. is a firm be- 

 liever in planting for honey, and uses 



for such purposes crops of value 

 hay, etc. His figures of costs and 

 turns are interesting. In consider; 

 poultry as an adjunct to a bee fai 

 he tells of a profit of $5 a head, wl 

 in this country $1 to $1.50 each is ci 

 sidered good. 



The chapter on swarming has irn 

 points quite different from Amerit 

 practices and beliefs. The one 

 queen-rearing is valuable, and then 

 a profitable chapter on the product 

 of wax and the non-use of foundati 

 Much is said on the use of honey 

 food and medicine, but bears rat 

 heavily on the medical profession. 



Like all enthusiastic bee-keepers, 

 has tried hrs hand at inventing, i 

 with results that are worth studyii 

 Some of his conclusions as to ' 

 them in hive construction are radi* 

 ly different from notions on this s 

 habits and his methods of meet 

 of the "pond." 



Mr. Simmins is much irritated 

 the cool way some of his discove) 

 and inventions have been appropria 

 as original by writers over here; 

 some of the things which he consici 

 as original with him — direct introdi 

 tion, for instance, which Huber pi 

 ticed a hundred years ago— are ■ 

 dently claimed under a misappreh 

 sion. Some other things appearec 

 old English works. But there is 

 to be said for Mr. S. — he has, in m 

 cases, rediscovered these old thi 

 and, by modernizing and making pi 

 tical. made them of use to us. 



The final chapter is called. "Fl 

 flight." and consists of a collectior 

 paragraphs which are sort of af 

 thoughts, and relate to various s 

 jects. 



Mr. Simmins is a "free lance," : 

 when he has an idea for an expi 

 ment or practice, goes ahead, reea 

 less of curre.ntly accepted beli' 

 This independence has led hirti 

 afield, sometimes ahead, sometit 

 backward, but it has made the rest 

 of his work as given in his hook 

 cidedly worth reading. 



Providence, R. I., Jan. 6.. 1905. 





Screws for compressing spai 

 frames were used as early as 1861. 



"There seems to be a hidden qual 

 in some men which renders them ( 

 agreeable to bees." — Wildman. 



