256 



AMERICAN BEE JOURJMAi.. 



the intending purchaser, more conclu- 

 sive evidence of the quality of his crop. 

 So it is with honey. In exhibiting it we 

 should never lose sight of the fact, that 

 magnitude and merit are alike indispen- 

 sable if we are to secure, to the fullest, 

 the object sought. 



The foregoing essay was read at the 

 Michigan State Convention, and follow- 

 ing is an extract from the note to the 

 Secretary, which accompanied it, and 

 which is referred to by Mr. McKnight, 

 in his article on page 224 : 



I have sent by concurrent post two 

 photographs of exhibits made by me at 

 the Industrial Exhibition, held at To- 

 ronto — one in 1888. and the other in 

 1889. I do this to show you that I 

 practice what I preach, as far as honey 

 exhibits are concerned. They are but 

 faint shadows of the substance, because 

 the light in exhibition buildings is not 

 conducive to good photography : still, I 

 think I have known of some exhibits no 

 better than these being published to the 

 world. The exhibit of 1888 was about 

 16 feet in length, and occupied the en- 

 tire surface of the table. It had. there- 

 fore, two faces, one only of which is 

 shown. That of 1889 was about 20 

 feet long, and occupied but half the 

 width of the table. It had, therefore, 

 but one face. 



The exhibit of 1888 brought me $78 

 in cash prizes, and a silver medal. That 

 of 1889 brought me S98 in cash prizes, 

 and two medals. I believe this to be the 

 largest sum in cash prizes ever received 

 by one person for a single exhibit of 

 honey. The credit is not mine, however. 

 It belongs to the Toronto management, 

 whose prize-list made this possible. 



R. McKnight. 



Owen Sound. Ont., Dec. 20, 1890. 



Bee-Keeping anfl Small Frnit. 



O. H. SWEZEY. 



Bee-keeping is rather too uncertain to 

 bo made an exclusive business, and there 

 are few who profitably devote their 

 whole time and attention to it. But 

 what shall we combine with bee-keeping? 

 What pursuit is most suitable to fill up 

 the spare time, and to depend upon for a 

 livelihood in case the season is a poor 

 one for the bees ? 



This will depend upon how a person is 

 situated, and what he is capable of doing. 

 The majority of bee-keepers, I think, 



are farmers, and, of course, have the 

 products of the soil as a reserve in case 

 the honey crop is a failure. This seems 

 to be about the best combination. 



But by those living near large towns or 

 cities, and having only a small tract of 

 land — five or ten acres, perhaps — "small- 

 fruit raising in connection with bee- 

 keeping," may be made a profitable in- 

 dustry. Of course, this combination has 

 its disadvantages ; but it is difficult to 

 choose a ijursuit which does not conflict 

 with bee-keeping, in some way or 

 another. 



Usually, the small-fruit^ business re- 

 quires the most attention about the same 

 time that the bees do. In the Spring the 

 berry patch requires attention — pruning 

 the raspberries, setting new plants, cul- 

 tivating, hoeing, etc. ; the bees also need 

 •to be looked after to see that they have 

 plenty of stores, and are prepared for 

 the honey harvest. But the fruit-raiser 

 will probably get along all right until 

 strawberries commence to ripen. The 

 bees begin swarming about the same 

 time, and if it is a good season for both 

 bees and small fruits, he will have his 

 hands more than full. If he is engaged 

 in the business to any extent, he will 

 need an assistant to oversee the work in 

 the berry patch while he attends to the 

 bees. 



Of course, the berry boxes should be 

 nailed up during leisure time in the Win- 

 ter, and hives, supers, sections, etc., 

 should also be prepared for the busy 

 season. It would also save much val- 

 uable time to have the berries contracted 

 for, instead of peddling them. By hav- 

 ing a regular contract for the berries, 

 the bee-keeper can market them early in 

 the morning before the swarms come out. 



Of late years bee-keeping has been 

 unremunerative about two years out of 

 three, and fruits also fail sometimes ; so 

 that the two are not liable to interfere 

 with each other so very much, except 

 about one season out of three. 



Raspberries are remarkable as honpy- 

 plants. It would almost pay to raise 

 them for honey alone. I think it is the 

 universal opinion that raspberry honey 

 is unsurpassed in flavor or color. Some 

 describe it as amber color, others as 

 straw color. I should say it was a very 

 light amber.* 



The bees, becoming accustomed to 

 going to the raspberry patch for honey, 

 are apt to come around when berries are 

 ripe, if there is a dearth in the honey- 

 flow, and the berries are allowed to be- 

 come over-ripe. They sometimes do con- 

 siderable damage to the red raspberries, 

 besides frightening timid pickers from 



