758 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



with a strong solution. While this 

 method apparently was successful, 

 the year following in some of the 

 hives the disease again appeared. 



Another method was to remove all 

 the combs from the hive and destroy 

 them with the frames, hrst brushing 

 the bees off into a cleansed hive pre- 

 pared with new frames filled with 

 foundation ; cage the queen 24 hours, 

 to prevent the deposit of eggs ; pre- 

 vent the exit of bees, and feed them 

 with honey treated with a solution of 

 the acid in proportion of a tea-spoonful 

 to a quart of honey, this last being to 

 correct all honey that the bees carried 

 with them from the old hive, and I 

 think the most important thing to do. 



This last method of treatment has, 

 with me,proved to be a perfect success, 

 as I have not had a sign of any disease 

 in my apiary for six years. 



The presence of dead bees in the 

 comb, or the foul smell which they 

 occasion, does not indicate a case of 

 foul brood as many suppose ; but 

 when partially developed larvje turned 

 into yellow matter is found, and an 

 odor that may be detected 20 feet 

 from the hive, one may be certain 

 the disease is present. Such will 

 never cure itself, and it will require 

 persistent and thorough work with 

 some of the few remedies, all of which 

 must have the power to kill the bac- 

 teria. 1 prefer a solution of salicylic 

 acid prepared according to Mr. ^Ninth's 

 formula, because 1 have used it, and 

 have been successful with it. 



Ludlow, 5 Ky. 



Written for the Indianapolis Convention. 



Tlie Future of Bee-Cultare. 



G. W. DEMAREE. 



Every thoughtful person who is 

 about to engage in any business pur- 

 suit, or feels a deep interest in the 

 same, naturally, and wisely, too, asks 

 what of its future ? What of its pros- 

 pects in the years to come V Can I 

 invest money in the business with a 

 reasonable hope of reaping fair prof- 

 its ? These are a few of the questions 

 that the thoughtful, prudent man will 

 ponder well in his mind. Only the 

 rash and visionary individual will 

 rush into a business pursuit, blindly 

 taking the chances, whatever they 

 may be. 



If we trace back the history of bee- 

 culture, we will find that any sugges- 

 tions that bee-culture may be safely 

 engaged in as a " specialty," inde- 

 pendent of other sources of a liveli- 

 hood, is of modern origin. Bee-cul- 

 ture is a branch of agriculture. The 

 man who rears bees, and produces 

 honey and wax for the market, is a 

 farmer, an agriculturist, as truly so, 

 as is the man who plows and pro- 

 duces crops. The primary meaning 

 of the Saxon word jeorm (farm) is to 

 provision, to produce, and the bee- 

 keeper is a producer in every sense of 

 the word. Furthermore, I am per- 

 suaded that in the near future it will 

 be found protitableto pl8w and plant 

 and sow for pasturage for the bees. 



In my opinion the success of bee- 

 culture in the future will depend 



largely upon its being connected with 

 other suitable branches of agricul- 

 ture, thereby making the income of 

 the apiarist less precarious, and put- 

 ting him in a position of full fellow- 

 ship with the great agricultural cause. 

 The great mass of agriculturists 

 believe in " mixed farming," and are 

 ready to smile at any person who 

 would presume to risk his living on 

 the precarious income from any small 

 branch of agriculture. Is he not right 

 in looking with suspicion on a single 

 branch of the great agricultural busi- 

 ness as a " specialty V 



This idea of " specialty " in bee- 

 culture has out-grown the business, 

 and there is no good reason for it. 

 As I have already said, bee-culture is 

 a branch of agriculture, and, in fact, 

 a very small branch of so great a 

 business as is agriculture. Hence the 

 man who proposes to make bee-cul- 

 ture a specialty, must expect to create 

 a surprise in the minds of men who 

 engage in ''mixed farming" with 

 only ordinary success. 



It has not been considered safe in 

 the past to rely upon any one branch 

 of agriculture for a living. Right in 

 the cotton belt of the great South, 

 where cotton has been produced as a 

 specialty for many years, there is now 

 an awakening going on looking to a 

 system of "mixed farming" in the 

 future, which idea is gaining ground 

 rapidly. If bee-culture is an excep- 

 tion to all other rural pursuits in this 

 respect, it argues wonderfully for the 

 apicultural cause. It occurs to me 

 that many of us who have written on 

 the subject, have erred in that we 

 have encouraged specialty in a gen- 

 eral way. Specialty may, and will do, 

 in certain cases, but in a general 

 way it will never answer in any rural 

 pursuit. 



The dangers likely to beset the 

 future progress of bee-culture are 

 numerous. As honey begins to take 

 its place with other commodities con- 

 sidered necessaries to life and com- 

 fort, low prices must follow, and low 

 prices must necessarily exert a de- 

 pressive influence. Some will be 

 anxious to get out of the business, 

 because bee-culture will not pay in 

 the majority of the cases, as a "spe- 

 cialty." The supply business is likely 

 to be over done with shoddy goods, 

 and the " patent hive " craze will 

 play its part as never before. But 

 the chief danger is the unavoidable 

 conflict now already commenced be- 

 tween the fruit and bee-interests. 

 We have had in this part of Ken- 

 tucky a-fair illustration in the season 

 just "past, of what may grow into 

 serious trouble in the future. The 

 sudden transition from drouth to 

 seasonable weather early in August, 

 had the effect to split the skins of the 

 grapes to an unusual extent, and the 

 result has been the general remark, 

 that " the bees have riddled the grape 

 crop." The cider-mills have been 

 another source of annoyance. 



It is clear to me that these troubles 

 will have to be settled in the future, 

 at the " bar of justice." The apiarist 

 must necessarily prosecute his busi- 

 ness with ungovernable working 

 stock. lie cannot hinder his bees 



from going wherever their inclina- 

 tions take them, and it will be a legal 

 question in the future as to whether 

 public policy will protect the bee- 

 keeper in his business, or ostracize 

 him as a public nuisance. 



It seems next to the impossible to 

 arouse bee-keepers to a realization of 

 these facts. "The Bee-Keepers' 

 Union " is the only scheme that has 

 been devised, which promises to aid 

 bee-keepers in maintaining their 

 rights. It has been in active opera- 

 tion for more than a year, and all will 

 admit that its affairs have been well 

 managed, and a good work has been 

 accomplished through its agency, and 

 yet comparatively few bee-keepers 

 are found ready to support the 

 " Union " in its endeavors to establish 

 bee-culture with its increasing pro- 

 portions on a level with other legiti- 

 mate industries. 



As to myself, I feel quite sure that 

 I shall never call on " The Bee-Keep- 

 ers' Union " for help, but this does 

 not influence me in the least in choos- 

 ing what my course shall be in this 

 matter. The old maxim which says, 

 " In helping others we help our- 

 selves," is good philosophy. Let all 

 of us act out this grand principle, and 

 our rights, and the rights of those 

 who shall lill our places in the future, 

 will be respected. 



Bee-culture is a new industry— a 

 new enterprise as regards modern 

 improvement, and all new industries 

 and new enterprises must depend 

 much for their success upon public- 

 spirited men — men who do not look 

 solely to the dollars and cents in im- 

 mediate clutching distance ; but the 

 true stimulous is " well-grounded 

 faith " in the enterprise, that it will 

 feed, clothe and educate thousands of 

 families in the future. 



In conclusion I would like to sug- 

 gest to those bee-keepers who have 

 stood off and refused or neglected to 

 give substantial aid to the " Union," 

 that they reconsider this matter, and 

 if they find that they cannot co- 

 operate with the Bee-Keepers' Union 

 on account of defects in its organiza- 

 tion, or constitution, that they sug- 

 gest some better plan, something that 

 will meet their approval. Their silent 

 do-nothing position is more irksome 

 to the friends of the "Union" than 

 would be their open opposition. 

 Christiansburg.5 Ky. 



For the American Bee Jouma!- 



Tlie PiiWislied Report-Omissioii, 



WM. r. CLARKE. 



The report of the North American 

 bee-keepers' annual convention, re- 

 cently held at Indianapolis, is to hand, 

 and the publisher is to be compli- 

 mented for its neat typographical ap- 

 pearance, and especially for the 

 promptness with which it has been 

 issued. It is a new thing under the 

 sun for the members of the North 

 American Bee-Keepers' Society to 

 have the report in pamphlet form 

 within three weeks of the adjourn- 

 ment of the annual meeting, and 



