The Globe-republican., 1898-04-21

The Beekeeper's Interests.
From Farmers Review stenographic
report Of Illinois Farmers Institute
In the course of an address on this
subject, Hon. ]. A. Stone, secretary Of
the Illinois Beekeepers' association.
said:
It matters not what pursuit in life
we wish to enter, the first question
that confronts US is, will 1t pay!
1t Is an axiom that no business In this
world will pay unless 1t is properly
managed and that the time will finally
come when it will prove unsuccessful
financially. Take wheat growing, for
example. which has not been profitable
for q number of years in this state. and
yet there are many farmers who have
paid for their farms out Of q crop OF
wheat. One of the great faults among
farmers is to all raise the same thing
and get overcrowded. The interests OF
the beekeepers arc not so for the rea-
son that the wild flowers are disap-
pearing, and there is not the bee pas
turage to feed upon that there used to
be- Then again. many are afraid OF
bees II person is not brave enough
to stand an occasional sting. 1t would
be better for him never to engage In
bee culture.
With many barriers in the way. the
interests of the beekeeper are over
looked to the loss of everybody. The
first objection, that the wild flowers
are disappearing, can easily be over
come. No sane man ever thinks OF
keeping any kind of animals without
in some way providing food for those
animals, but when it comes to bees.
because they have wings their owners
will say: If you cannot sponge on my
neighbours fields, you can starve." Will
it pay to raise some kind Of pasture
kor them? We know it will pay largely.
Not long since of of piece Of alsike
clover we obtained only fifty pounds
of honey per acre, and only 10 cents per
pound for the honey. That would pay
for the land at IS an acre and the hay
and seed could be marketed in addi-
ton. While in charge OF the Illinois
honey exhibit at the Worlds Fair. we
were one day conversing with dairy
man who said that his cows. on alsike
clover, produced more butter than his
,neighbor's cows. We quizzed him and
said: Perhaps you have better cows.
He said in reply: They are the same
COWS I have had on other pasture and
they did not produce as we'll then"
said: Are you beekeeper?" He said:
mo: but my neighbor's bees swarm on
my pasture"
The beginner in the bee business
should get some good book on beekeep-
ing. such as the "A. B. C. in Bee Gull
ture," and should take good bee pa
per. Then. with a small number Of
hives there are number of good
few years you will have all the bees
you desire, and the knowledge neces-
sary to care for them. We claim for
the bee industry what can be said OF
no other. 1t does not take from any
other thing that which would make it
more valuable by retaining the same.
but on the contrary adds to the value.
For example, when bees go into the
orchard in full bloom, to gather what
nature has placed there, they carry the
fertilizing dust from blossom to BIOS
som, causing fruit to grow where there
would have been none without some
agent to carry the pollen. as nature
seems to abhor Standardization, and
all the busy bee carries OF as a re-
ward for his valuable services is not
needed and Is of no use to either fruit
,or tree, and was placed there for him
to carry away.
| Il would be well to say in this con-
,nection that We do not look for seed
i'm the first crop Of red clover, but We
have observed since having Italian bees
that in. seasons that are dry and the
blossoms not so large, Italian bees work
on them sufficiently to cause a guam
tity of seed in the first crop. Alsike
clover produces its big crop of seed the
first crop because bees work so heav-
fly upon it. Can this be said Of any
other industry, that, by taking part
Of the things We have named, the re-
mainder is made greater? A beekeeper
friend living in the northern part of
our county said to me during a walk
through his alsike clover fields. Il will
get three crops from those fields:
| will get crop of honey. a crop Of hay
and a crop of seed" Beekeeping will
enable US to save what is otherwise
going to waste, and with no loss ex-
cept the time for their care. DR.. Want
says. Honey is a physiological sweet.
In other words, its constituents are
such It is absorbed into the blood with
out undergoing chemical change" Such
| is not the fact in regard to sugar.
Honey is an inverted sugar. and is
rapidly absorbed into the system with
sut being acted upon by the gastric
Juices. 1t ia not only delicious sweet.
but a healthy and delicious form of
| food as we'll. 1t is also recommended