258 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Feb. 15 



constant study, and their natui-al history has 

 become familiar to many; and from this dates 

 the period of progressive bee culture. 



From this time we find men studying the 

 bees from a financial point; and not very 

 long after this time men began to keep bees 

 as a way of making a living, and the special- 

 ist in bee culture soon appears — a man who 

 spends his entire time in bee culture, sup- 

 porting and educating his family from the 

 products of the bees alone. 



Finding this to be the case, we inquire, 

 "Have these men made a fair living and in- 

 come? Are theyintelligent and progressive? 

 Are they on a par with other men in like 

 pursuits? Do they enjoy luxuries of life, and 

 educate their families? " 



It may be said that bee-keepers rank well 

 in the way of education and intelligence. 

 Their calling is one that draws out research 

 and investigation. While part of the time a 

 bee-keeper's life is a strenuous one, there is 

 a part of the time when he has time to read 

 up, travel, and become generally well post- 

 ed; and wherever you find a body of bee- 

 keepers you find men high in honor, intelli- 

 gence, and sociability. 



While bee-men do not make fortunes at 

 the business, they do make an honest and 

 fair competency. Thei-e are years that have 

 drawbacks, and years of prosperity; and 

 there are years of low prices and years of 

 good prices. But when the average is taken, 

 there has been fair pay for the labor and in- 

 vestment. 



After considering the past and present we 

 may ask, "What is the future of the honey 

 business? Will there be large quantities of 

 honey produced in the future? " 



In looking into the future it is only reason- 

 able to expect there will be great advance- 

 ments made in bee culture. In opening up 

 the West, new fields are coming in which 

 will very soon be the paradise of the bee- 

 keeper. In my travels through the West and 

 Northwest I fiad that many sections are be- 

 ing reclaimed and watered by the govern- 

 ment and other capital. 



All of these lands will be the home of al- 

 falfa, and will all very soon be thoroughly 

 occupied by the bee-keeper. 



In Southern Idaho the government is 

 spending some fifteen million dollars on two 

 projects, and these lands will soon be ready 

 for the tiller, and the settlers are fast com- 

 ing in. The same condition exists in Wash- 

 ington, Montana, and Wyoming, as well as 

 in Utah, New Mexico, Arizona, and Nevada. 

 In all of these States there are valleys which 

 have hundreds of thousands of square acres 

 which will produce alfalfa and other honey- 

 bearing plants. These will soon be occupied 

 by settlers, including bee-keepers, and large 

 crops of honey will be coming from every 

 section. In Hawaii and Manila there will be 

 honey produced in large quantities. We 

 shall also find larger amounts of honey com- 

 ing into our markets from Cuba and Porto 

 Rico in opposition to our own product. 



The question now arises, "Will the con- 

 sumption of honey increase so as to make a 



demand for all of this increase of product? " 

 There is every indication that the demand 

 will be adequate for the supply. There are 

 various reasons why this will be true. On 

 the 1st of January, 1907, the national pure- 

 food law took effect. This will take out of 

 the mai'ket large amounts of adulterated 

 honey that has been put up and sold for the 

 pure article. This has already affected the 

 price of extracted honey. The demand for 

 the latter has never been so keen as now. 



Another thing that will help on the demand 

 will be the thorough organization of bee- 

 keepers. By organization they will concen- 

 trate effort and capital to advertise honey 

 and place it before the people, setting forth 

 that it is the only sweet produced liy nature 

 ready for man's immediate use. It is stored 

 by nature in the tiny fiowers, and gathered 

 by the bees, carried in the honey-sac, and 

 stored in the comb by the bees as nature se- 

 cretes it in the tlowers. 



It is a predigested hydro-carbonaceous 

 food, easily digested, so that many invalids 

 can use honey that can not use other sweets. 

 It is certainly true, since glucose has been in- 

 vented, and has come so generally into use, 

 thatBright's disease, appendicitis, and many 

 forms of stomach trouble have alarmingly in- 

 creased.' Honey is soothing to the stomach 

 and to the nmcous membranes, and can be 

 used freely where glucose and even cane su- 

 gar can not be used without injury. 



This is a time of organization. Both cap- 

 ital and labor combine to push these inter- 

 ests to the utmost extent. This has proven 

 of great benefit to each, and to-day we see 

 the wages of all clases are fully doubled com- 

 pared with a few years ago. On account of 

 a combination of capital we find most of the 

 products we use going higher and higher. 

 The high wages received makes it possible 

 for the masses to buy and use on their tables 

 that which they think is best for the health 

 of themselves and families; and we see man- 

 ufacturers catering to this condition of affairs. 



There are innumerable brands of food pre- 

 pared, all of them setting forth that they are 

 predigested, have wonderful health-giving 

 and strength and muscle building qualities. 

 This is wonderfully true of the class of cereal 

 foods, all of them costing from double to 

 treble what the original wheat cost from 

 which they are made; yet the people buy 

 them freely because they believe they have 

 merit. When we take up any magazine we 

 find beautiful cuts, very often colored plates, 

 and advertisements setting forth the merits 

 of the wonderful life-giving pre-digested 

 breakfast foods which have the power to 

 build up the lost and worn-out forces of man. 

 Suppose bee-keepers were all organized, and 

 that each one would contribute a small 

 amount toward a fund to write up and ex- 

 plain to the general public the beauties and 

 superior qualities of honey as a food, setting 

 forth that, for the amount of vitalforce, heat, 

 and strength it gives, it is one of the most 

 concentrated foods, and that the price paid 

 for it, accoi'ding to all of its good qualities, 

 makes it a very cheap article of food. 



