rii£J BEE-KEEPERS' REVIEW. 



25 



"I do not particularly desire to induce 

 anyone to embark in bee-keeping, for to my 

 mind the field is sufficiently occupied already, 

 but to those who during all the years of dis- 

 couratrement have held ou to their bees, and 

 have not yet lost faith in bee-ktepiny, I 

 would like to give a little encouragement, 

 for I firmly believe that whnt has been may 

 be again, and if so, we may look for abuu- 

 d.int harvests in > ur sj eeial line. Dr. Mil- 

 ler has given us a very good article ou page 

 2'.)4 December J'rogressiye and I honor one 

 that can still have practical faith in his 

 chosen pursuit after years of discourage- 

 ment. And let me tell you that such men 

 are the ones that succeed in the end. At 

 my home apiary, while I always get enough 

 to keep the bees breeding well, I seldom 

 have any surplus, and often have little 

 enough to winter on. This is what has forced 

 me to keep from three to five out-apiaries, 

 the nearest not less than eight miles from 

 home. At my out-apiaries I always have 

 some surplus and plenty to winter on, and 

 generally enough to help out the home apiary. 

 Still, meagre as is the flow here at home, as 

 a rule, I have on several occasions secured a 

 tine lot of surplus, and the strangest part of 

 it to me was the fact that the fiowers did not 

 appear to be more abundant than usual, but 

 then ivere overpowing with nectar, and it is 

 this fact that makes me so sanguine that 

 good yields of honey may be looked for in 

 the near future. There must be a change 

 for the better, as it could hardly be worse. 



That there will be good old-fashioned 

 seasons again, for us of the middle western 

 states, I no more doubt than I do my own 

 existence ; and, as in other lines of business, 

 when, owing to low prices, bad seasons, and 

 gloomy outlook, so many are turning their 

 attention to other things, now is the very 

 time to hold on. Give more attention than 

 ever to every detail : see that all things are 

 in the best possible order, and be ready to 

 take advantage of the opportunities for 

 success, as they present themselves. " 



There are two points in the above that are 

 especially worthy of attention. Too many 

 bees in one locality (the home-apiary) do 

 not always furnish a snrjjlus, while the out- 

 apiaries with fewer colonies do ; but of still 

 greater interest is the fact that when a sur- 

 plus was secured at the home-apiary, the 

 fowers Here no more abiaidant than usual. 



Let a Paper Stand Upon its Merits. 

 At the end of the year we often see in 

 papers appeals to subscribers to renew their 

 subscriptions, and sometimes they sound 

 more like begging letters than anything else; 

 but at last I have read one that has some 

 sound sense in it, so much that I shall copy 

 a portion of it. It is from the American 

 Bee Journal. 



"The (]uestion of renewal of sul)Scription 

 to the American Bee -Journal may come up 



for consideration or discussion with some, 

 and various reasons may be suggested 

 against it, such as scarcity of money, an in- 

 clination to try some other paper, an idea 

 that enough has been learned already, that 

 it takes too much time to read, that 

 too many papers are taken now, etc. Be- 

 fore deciding not to renew your subscription 

 to the Bee Journal, ask yourself how less 

 than two cents a week can be better expend- 

 ed, even if money is scarce, and if it is not 

 almost as certain to make or save you more 

 than its very small cost in a wliole year. 



Before you decide to try some new bee- 

 paper, or let some ageut induce you to do so, 

 get a sample copy of the proposed new pa- 

 per, and give it a careful, considerate com- 

 parison with the American Bee Journal, and 

 we will cheerfully abide by your conclusion. 

 Neither a bee-keeper nor his family can read 

 all the time and prosper, but in the present 

 age of rapid improvements and rapid 

 changes, no bee-keeper can expect to succeed 

 without carefully reading at least one good, 

 reliable, enterprising bee-peper. If too 

 many papers are taken, simply give the 

 American Bee Journal the consideration it 

 deserves before letting it discontinue. 



We ask for no charity. We appreciate 

 and admit that the paper giving most actual 

 value for the price, is the one that should be 

 patronized, and clearly, on this principle, 

 we make our plea, and with confidence in 

 the intelligence and appreciation of our con- 

 stantly growing family of readers. We 

 have no fears as to the result. We simply 

 promise that there shall be no weakening nor 

 retarding tendencies in the conducting of 

 this paper. If expenditure, thorough and 

 unremitting etfort can make it better, more 

 instructive and interesting, such it will and 

 shall be made, " 



I can say amen to all of the above. If the 

 words " Bee Keepers Review" were substi- 

 tuted for the '' American Bee .Journal " I 

 could still say amen. Why do you subscribe 

 for a bee journal? Isn't it for the imfor- 

 mation that it brings you ? Because it will 

 help you to raise more honey, or else to 

 raise it with less labor? The journal that 

 does this the most thoroughly is the journal 

 you want. It is not a question of how many 

 pages, how often does it come, etc, but 

 what imformation does it bring when it 

 conies f Measured by this rule, the smaller 

 journal may really be the more valuable. 

 Like Bro. York, I wish my journal to be 

 judged by its merit. If it doesn't bring you 

 one dollar's worth of information, drop it 

 for some journ-'l that does ; and while I may 

 wish that I was as smart as the other editor 

 I shall admire your decision. If, on the 

 other hand, you have found the Review 

 worth its suljscriptiou price, I shall api)re- 

 ciate a renewal, and it is only upon this 

 ground I ask it. 



