1883 



(JLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



^761 



cage with hor. Hnpe yr>ii will hnvp aa pood puoopps 

 In fiPTifiirpr the other. Will probably want a niimher 

 in the eprinsr. Bright Bros. 



From a queen mailed Sept. 17th comes back io the 

 "old country" the followintr cheery greeting: 



■Rast Bftftany. Genpsee Co.. N. Y.. Oct. 3, 1883. 



The C'lrniolsn queen came to hand in fine condi- 

 tion. The Italian has not arrived. 



Robert Guvmer. 



Many more letters misrht be given, some tilling of 

 dead queens, some of live ones. But suffice it to say, 

 that on the whole the results are patisfactnry to me. 

 Though I have sacrificed quite a number of queenly 

 beauties, still some vantage-ground has therebv been 

 gained, and the sending of queens across the Atlantic 

 by mail can now be pronounced a success. 



Those queens sent were each accompanied by28 to 

 35 workers, experience having long ago shown me 

 that the suggestion of Mr. Jones, to put in but 12 to 

 30, while answering very well for short .inurneys, is 

 not so good for long ones. Tbisfact has been known 

 to me fully ten j'ears. 



" Honev in a sponge" is suggested by friends 

 King, of N. Y. City, and Henderson, of Tennessee. T 

 emploved that method as early as 18'('4. waxinp also 

 the cavities which held the sponges. Tt works very 

 well for short journeys, but I would not want to 

 trust many queens that wav on long ones. Mr. 

 Jones tells me " just how to do it." But hi« bees and 

 styles of capes do not come to hand — not even word 

 how the queen put up according to a plan he sug- 

 gested (mailed Aue. in) arrived, nor. for that matter. 

 how any of those mailed since the first one in June 

 have arrived. 



The whole thing seem'' just as easy as "rnllinar otf 

 from a log;" but, "the proof of the pudding is in 

 the eating;" and, instead of telling their plans, just 

 let us see some of " the b^^ys " put 'em in practice. 

 If they don't make a better showing than the above, 

 then the undersigned, having told them " how he did 

 It" in June, 1883, will tell them how he proposes to 



do it in 1884. FRANK BENTON. 



Munich. Germany, Oct. 23, 1883. 



The above article unravels several thinffs 

 that had been a little mysterions before to 

 Tny.«i*'lf and others. When you sent yonr ad- 

 vertisement for the July No.. I confess I was 

 a little troubled to see how you were goinsj 

 to eet nueeus sin^lv from Germany to New 

 York City free, at St. 00 each. As soon as 

 the advertisement came out T was asked 

 what it meant; and as no explanation had 

 come from you. T wasoblicred to confess that 

 I could not explain it. When in Toronto! 

 asked I). A. Jones how it was done, and his 

 reply was any thin^ but satisfactory. It 

 never once occurred to me that the queens 

 were to he sent by mail. Well, now, away 

 alona: here in November it transpires that 

 you sent an article, to be inserted simulta- 

 neously with the advertisement. This arti- 

 cle would have been most extremelsr wel- 

 come just at this time. The question has 

 been asked, why I have not tried sending 

 queens across the ocean. Well. I have tried 

 it a little ; but as T attempted to send them 

 to Italy, it is not strange that I failed. Of 

 late years T have had so much on my hands 

 all the while that must be done in order to 

 keep my reputation good, that almost all 

 else has been from necessitv allowed to gfo. 

 I have loner wished T could come across 

 somebody who had the necessary qualifica- 

 tions — that is, who would enter into the 

 spirit of the work, heart and soul, in order 

 to perfect, by experim°ints, a ca^e that woul d 

 go safely across the Atlantic. I am rejoiced 



to hear, friend Benton, that vou have been 

 doinsr this very thiuff. and have succeeded. 

 I confess that mv faith, like that of the ed- 

 itors of the Bee-Kcppers'' Mnanzhie, was rath- 

 er small in the matter until friend Uoolittle 

 announced his success. There is one point 

 here that needs consideration. Doolittle 

 succeeded without the use of water ; and. if 

 I am correct, you used water in all your 

 cages. The question now comes up. as to 

 whether it shall be water or no water. Dur- 

 ing the past season we have experimented 

 considerablv in this matter; and while the 

 bees came through without water, it is pret- 

 ty well settled that, as a general thing, those 

 haying water-bottles seem to be freshest and 

 brightest. On one occasion we sent three 

 cages with water-bottles, and three without, 

 to a distant customer. While all came 

 through alive, those with water were in 

 much the best condition. Yet, taking it 

 altogether, we have had less trouble with 

 the Good candy and no water. 



HOW BKR.KKCPTIVO Itf AY BE HADC: 

 MOST PROFITABI^E. 



COMB nONEY IN GLASS JARS SURROUNDED WITH 

 LIQUID HONEY. 



FEKHAPS I am not far out of the way when I 

 say that three-fourths of those ena-aged in 

 ' apiculture, or making this branch of industry 

 a leading feature of their business, are persons of 

 limited capital. It is also true, that a large minority 

 so engaged' have chosen this occupation because 

 they are physically incapacitated for the pursuit of 

 laborious callings. Another class embark in the 

 business from the impression that the bee-master's 

 life is fraught wilh ease and comfort, requiring but 

 little attention, and less labor — two things for 

 which their attachment at best was never strong. 

 The last-named class are like many artificially rear- 

 ed qiieens — short-lived. They have consumed an 

 insufficient amount of rojal jelly for their perfect 

 development. 



The second class, when fairly into the business, 

 discover that they have an elephant on their bands, 

 much larger than they ever expected. The first 

 class alluded to, that have chosen the occupation 

 because their insufficient capital will not warrant 

 the undertaking of a more extensive business, find, 

 in many instances, after a long uneventful struggle, 

 and years of repeated disappointment, to have come 

 out about the same place they started — at the little 

 end of the horn. They now discover for the first 

 time that they have " mistaken their calling;" and 

 with disgust and contempt for the business, step 

 down and out, but just as surely into fomething 

 else, to make a repetition of their first failure. In 

 this we find a class of ignominious failures all 

 through life. 



When we scrutinize carefully the manner of con- 

 ducting their affairs with that thriftless, shiftless, 

 badly m.anaged course, there need be no surprise at 

 their inevitable failures. It is one thing to produce 

 an article for sale, and another thing to exercise 

 judgment and skill In disposing of the article to 

 the best Interest of the producer. As much de- 

 pends on the disposal of a product as does on Its 

 production. I now come to that point which most 

 Interests the bee-keeper; viz., how he may realize 



