THE BEE-KEEPERS' REVIEW. 



317 



Queens may be reared almost as well dur- 

 ing a time of scarcity as at any other time, 

 but we eauuot all become breeders of queeus 

 for the market. A glance at the advertising 

 columns of our journals should show that 

 the business of selling queens has very 

 nearly reached its full development, and a 

 begmner would have very little chance. 



There are some places no doubt where it 

 will pay to raise bees for sale during poor 

 seasons, but there are many places where 

 poor seasons cause bees to be sold for much 

 less than it would cost to raise them. 



The foregoing article is written from the 

 standpoint of a specialist whose living has 

 been made entirely from bee keeping. To 

 those who have some other business to help 

 them out, he can only advise, don't neglect 

 the bees. Get rid of them entirely if you 

 will, but if you are going to keep bees at all 

 take care of them. The next turn of For- 

 tune's wheel may bring up a good sized dish 

 of honey to be emptied right in your apiary. 

 Be ready for it when it comes. Taking good 

 care of bees during poor seasons is like in- 

 surance. It may come hard sometimes to 

 pay the premiums, but on the whole it pays. 



Dayton, 111., Nov. 17, 1891. 



Specialty Not Always Best. — Keeping Out of 



Debt. — Planting for Honey,— Going to 



the Flowers. — Caution Needed. 



N' 



K. O. AIKIN. 



OW, Mr. Edi- 

 tor, you have 

 touched a burning, 

 living question, 

 one that is not con- 

 lined to bee keepers 

 alone. The farmer 

 says, " What shall 

 I do ?" The same 

 cry comes from the 

 wage laborer ; and 

 so it is all along 

 the line, " Our biz 

 dou I I'a,. .'■ No, specialty won't always 

 work. You, Mr. Editor, say you " have al- 

 ways plead for specialty." What is your 

 "specialty':"' Producing honey? (except 

 when you fail) or running a bee paper? Or 

 is it "convention work?" Perhaps 'tis in 

 writing books ? You seem to have a special 

 liking for going the "rounds of the fairs." 

 You just added the Review to your list of 



specialties in time to " keep the babies from 

 starving." You see it doesn't pay to have 

 the " eggs all in one basket." 



Who is it that fares the best at all times 

 and in all places? Is it not. the "all around 

 sort of man," the one who can "turn his 

 hand to almost any kind of work?" It 

 pay a to be an " expert " in at least one or 

 two lines. It also pays to be able to make a 

 reasonable success in several lines. 



I have had but one entire failure in getting 

 a crop of honey, in fifteen years of experi- 

 ence. However, I had other interests, so I 

 was not entirely " left." But that very year 

 that I failed of getting a crop, I said, in the 

 spring, "this year I will give all my atten- 

 tion to the bees," so I leased other interests, 

 and by close attention to the apiary had the 

 hives "packed with bees," but they just 

 "camped out" in the shade, and most of 

 them starved to death the following winter 

 while I "rustled " for my own living. 



I have never depended entirely on one 

 thing, except for two years, and then I 

 labored for wages ; my employer having 

 accumulated abundant means, so that he 

 could pay his bills, crop or no crop ; his 

 moans being accumulated in various ways, 

 and not all from one line of business. 



There is one line in which it will pay, 

 ninety-nine times out of one hundred, to be 

 a specialist, and that is keeping out of debt. 

 Never! never ! ! NEVER ! ! ! go in debt. 



But you will say, there are times that we 

 must go in debt ; (I have thought so, too, 

 but experience has taught me different). 

 " We depended on a crop of honey and didn't 

 get it ; what else can we do ?" If bees are 

 worth .fo.OO per colony and you have .<;.")0.00 

 to invest, buy only ten colonies instead of 

 twenty, and mortgage the whole lot for the 

 other !3>.50.00. If §.")0.00 is your whole capi- 

 tal, then don't buy even ten colonies. Al- 

 ways keep a reserve fund to fall back on in 

 case of failure. Have not less than a year's 

 provision ahead. 



Again I want to say, a poor man, or the 

 man of small means, can't afford to " carry 

 his eggs all in one basket." He can't afford 

 to invest his all in bees, (or any other one 

 thing), and live up the income as fast as it 

 does come. Just one crop failure and he is 

 "flat." 



I think, as a rule, an apiary carefully man- 

 aged will pay running expenses, especially 

 if we take Doolittle's advice and don't put 

 any more into the business until something 



