THE AMERiCAJS BEE JOURNAL. 



775 



that every man will make a success- 

 ful bee- keeper, any more than it is to 

 say, every man is by nature an artist, 

 and every woman a musician. Unless 

 a person possesses certain natural 

 qualitications, or can acquire them by 

 cultivation, he would verv likely 

 make a failure of bee-keeping. 

 Among the necessary qualilications 

 are, perseverance,industry, continuity 

 of purpose, love of home more than 

 of riches, a talent for looking after 

 details, promptness, and at least 

 tolerable health. If he possesses all 

 these coupled with a love for natural 

 history and botany, and is as enthu- 

 siastic and untiring as most one-idea 

 men are, he may conclude to make 

 bee-keeping a life business— provided 

 always he has, or can obtain, a favor- 

 able location. It would be folly for a 

 person to expect the fullest success as 

 a honey-producer on a bleak Dakota 

 prairie, under the present state of the 

 art. Talk as we please of the desira- 

 bility or practicability of raising arti- 

 ficial pasture for bees, it has not yet 

 been successfully and economically 

 done. 



Therefore, in my judgment, unless 

 in addition to all the required quali- 

 fications, there is the natural honey- 

 flora in abundance, it will be wise to 

 couple bee-keeping with some other 

 pursuit. If the locality is favorable, 

 and the establishment of out-apiaries 

 is practicable, the business may be 

 made fairly remunerative. As a rule, 

 however, I believe that bees should 

 form a part of the surroundings of 

 every ideal rural home ; not only be- 

 cause it adds to the beauty of the 

 landscape picture, but because, in the 

 economy of nature, bees are necessary 

 to the perfect fertilization and fructi- 

 fication of the vegetable kingdom, 

 and that object can best be attained 

 by the proper distribution of the 

 means to accomplish the end sought. 



If beekeeping were in the hands of 

 specialists only, it is quite reasonable 

 to suppose that some localities would 

 be overstocked, while others would 

 be destitute of bees. Why does every 

 cottager persist in keeping his pig, 

 instead of leaving the matter of pork- 

 raising to the specialist? Because the 

 pig is a scavenger, utilizing many 

 little scraps that would otherwise go 

 to waste. Bees are gleaners, also, 

 bringing many a golden drop from 

 the waste places of our imperfect 

 agriculture. 



I believe in specialists to this ex- 

 tent : Every person ought to know 

 how to do some one thing thoroughly, 

 and if his capacity is limited to the 

 acquisition of the knowledge neces- 

 sary to master that, he ought to stick 

 to it. But the man who only knows 

 one thing is a one-idea man. His 

 capacity for enjoyment in this world 

 is also limited. His horizon is the 

 narrow bound of a single thought, 

 when just beyond lie the limitless 

 fields of culture awaiting the polished 

 plowshares of investigation and pro- 

 gress. It broadens and develops a 

 man to know more than one thing. 

 and it seems to me to he reflecting on 

 the intelligence of our race to think 

 that man is not capable of mastering 

 more than one branch of learning. 



I see no better reason why bee- 

 keeping should be confined to special- 

 ists than hog raising. All who have 

 given the subject thought, know the 

 latter industry can only be enlarged 

 to certain limits. The massing to- 

 gether of large numbers of either 

 animals or men,800n develops disease 

 and death— nature's remedy for re- 

 storing the proper equilibrium of life. 

 Who shall say that foul brood is not 

 Nature's punishment for overstocking 

 and a gentle hint to more widely dis- 

 tribute the bees which she intended 

 to act as marriage priests to all the 

 plants in her flowery kingdom ? In 

 my judgment 100 colonies in one yard 

 comes very near the limit of protitable 

 increase. 



If then, it is not desirable to con- 

 fine the production of honey to spec- 

 ialists ; and if, when one's immediate 

 locality is suSJciently stocked, and he 

 does not care to establish out-apiaries 

 enough to occupy his whole time, or 

 to aflord him an ample income, what 

 occupation will best fit bee-keeping 'f 

 If only a few colonies are kept it 

 makes but little difference, if the per- 

 son is at home in the morning or 

 evening. It need not consume more 

 than five minutes per colony each 

 day to properly look after them. If a 

 larger number are kept, the employ- 

 ment should be such as would give 

 work when not required in the apiary. 

 I see no reason why dairying, or 

 stock-raising, or both combined, will 

 not be in perfect harmony with bee- 

 keeping. This branch of farming 

 employs one at home, keeps him busy 

 in winter, occupies his time chiefly in 

 the morning and evening, and gives 

 ample scope to his ability and capital. 

 The increase of bee-pasturage will 

 also increase his available food for 

 stock, and vice versa. 



If near a good town, the raising of 

 fruits (if we except strawberries, 

 which ripen at the wrong time in the 

 North, and yield no nectar), is well 

 adapted to go with bee-keeping. 

 Raspberries, blackberries and goose- 

 berries are especially good honey- 

 plants, and neither ripen with us till 

 the swarming season is about over. 

 Apples, plums, and such other tree 

 fruits as can be successfully growu 

 are excellent honey-producers. Our 

 season's success in the apiary often 

 hinges on the impetus given to the 

 bees by the abundance of bloom on 

 these fruits. The keeping of poultry 

 in connection with bees has already 

 been mentioned, and no doubt could 

 be successfully managed. 



It appears to me that with any of 

 the professions, if we except physi- 

 cians in active practice, bee-keeping 

 could be carried on simultaneously. 

 Ministers, lawyers and teachers need 

 some recreation in the open air, to 

 counteract the bad effects arising 

 from sedentary habits, and where 

 these are located in rural districts, 

 what reason is there why they may 

 not combine pleasure and profit in a 

 well-managed apiary ? Croquet, lawn 

 tennis and base ball might be neg- 

 lected by the ardent student of bee- 

 culture, but perhaps the country 

 would survive. The habits of study 

 of professional men are a guaranty 



that they would master the science of 

 bee-keeping, and therefore be likely 

 to succeed. We note with pleasure 

 that some of the brightest lights in 

 apiculture have been clergymen. 

 They have done as much to advance 

 the art as any other class of men, not 

 excepting specialists. Some of the 

 best bee-keepers of to-day are minis- 

 ters, lawyers, doctors and teachers. 



But why multiply examples to 

 prove the harmony existing between 

 the various rural pursuits V After all, 

 it depends upon the man, whether he 

 shall devote himself to this or that, 

 whether he shall combine two or 

 more, or whether he shall, in sleepful 

 inactivity, allow all the grand oppor- 

 tunities for culture and profit to pass 

 by unobserved or unheeded. 



Eugene Secor. 



After the reading of the essay the 

 discussion was as follows : 



James Heddon— What other busi- 

 ness has Mr. Secor V 



Eugene Secor— 1 am a real estate 

 agent. 



James Heddon— The reason I asked 

 is, because he is a favorite poet of 

 mine, and I feej an interest in him. 

 He speaks of mental culture ; how ac- 

 quaintance with different pursuits 

 broadens one's ideas, and he is cor- 

 rect; but it does not necessarily fol- 

 low that, to secure breadth of culture, 

 a man must follow different pursuits 

 for the sake of making money ; he 

 may follow one pursuit for a living, 

 and others simply for recreation. 



A. I. Root— In poor seasons, like 

 the past, it seems to me that some- 

 thing besides bees would be an ad- 

 vantage ; don't have all the eggs in 

 one basket. 



H. R. Boardman— The best thing I 

 ever found to go with bee-keeping is 

 bee-keepivg. 



A. J. Cook— Some of our best bee- 

 keepers conduct other business. We 

 need bees all over the country, and I 

 think it wrong to discourage small 



James Heddon— Mr. Root spoke of 

 the foolishness of "having all the 

 eggs in one basket." lam what might 

 be called a specialist. Now let me 

 tell what the past poor season did for 

 me. I had 20,000 pounds of honey on 

 my hands that I had kept over, and 

 prices went up, and up, and it en- 

 abled me to clean it all out at a good 

 price. Then again, if we lose money 

 by " having all our eggs in one bas- 

 ket" in a poor season, how about the 

 greater profits during the good sea- 

 sons V Taking one year with another, 

 the advantages are all with specialty. 



N. N. Betsinger— We can never de- 

 velop when our attention is called 

 away by side-issues ; as we attempt to 

 rise "in one kind of business, the other 

 pulls us down. 



Prof. Cook— I think we should try 

 to so manage that the labor with our 

 bees will be least during the busiest 

 time of farm work, and rice versa. 



James Heddon— That is the very 

 thing that myself and students have 

 given the most thought and study — 

 how to secure the most honey with 

 the least labor ; hovp to have hives, 

 fixtures, honey-house, grounds, etc.. 



