The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1917-05-12
SPEEDING UP The BEES
By Frederic j. Haskin. Director
TIE TOPEKA STATE JOURNAL
INFORMATION BUREAU
Washington. ID. c.

which is expected to increase the pro-
duction of honey in the United States
by a hundred million pounds this year.
incidentally. It will give a great per-
manent stimulus to the industry on
keeping bees, which offers one OF the
81 eatest neglected opportunities Ill the.
United States
The honey bee is sure and mex
pensive means of gathering an i'm
mense food crop which can not be
reached in any other way. Almost
every plant blossom contains a certain
amount of sugar. This sugar is dis
tributed in such small quantities that
no mechanical method of obtaining IL
is practical; yet it's total amount is
enormous For example. on the gov
eminent farm here are sixty colonies
of bees, which can easily be increased
to a hundred, without putting strain
on the food supply. The apiary is To-
Gated in a suburb of Washington and
is surrounded by shade trees, vacant
lots golf courses and a few small
farms and orchards. The cruising
radius" of a honey bee is about two
miles. A hundred colonies of bees will
gather in a year about twenty-seven
tons of honey. That is, they will carry
to their hives and store drop by drop
over twenty tons of sugar, which could
not be gathered by any other known
process, and they will make about five
tons of this available for human food.
Last year the United States produced
800, 900, 900 pounds of honey, and this
year it is confidently expected to pro-
duce a third more. Mr.. Phillips est1-
mates that twenty times this amount
of honey could be produced in the
United States, with profit to the bee
keeper, for there is a large export de-
mand for theeproduct. This amount
of money would be equal to more than
half OF our annual consumption of
sugar, and would therefore go a long
ord lyiT nd
sugar imports in case of blockade.
This campaign for more honey is
directed primarily, not to the man
who might become a beekeeper. but
to the man who already owns bees. 1t
is also hoped that many will start in
the business, but it is not expected
that they will add much to the produc-
ton of honey this year. There are
now 100000 beekeeperS in the United
States. Teaching these men better
methods and assuring them OF mar
kets are the most important methods
to be followed. Just now letters are
being sent out urging the beekeepers
TO increase the number of colonies I'M
der their control as much as possible
without using all of their honey to
feed the new colonies. In July they
will receive special instructions on
now to harvest honey, and in Septem-
Der on how to care for bees during the
winter, which is the time of heaviest
loss to all beekeepers.
Bookkeeping is neither an expensive
business to start in, nor difficult one
in which to succeed. Mr.. Phillips says
that an intelligent man who will put
some time upon the matter may be-
come a successful beekeeper in one
year Colonies of bees already in
hives may be bought for SIS or Sc each,
and the expert beekeeper always ex-
poets to pay for his colony the first
year, as it will yield him about thirty
pounds of honey. The amateur, of
course, and even the average small
beekeeper of some experience, will not
generally do as well.
There are many successful bee
keepers who make four to five thous-
and dollars year cut OF thousand
colonies, while there are number
of apiaries under one-man control
One of the largest American apiaries
is in Hawaii. and has 1900 colonies. 1t
is owned by a corporation.
The returns on bee-keeping are I'M
doubtedly large for the investment,
when the honey is properly market
ed. Appliances cost but little, and
few acres will afford a home for a
thousand colonies. That is all the
keeper has to supply, for the bee is
the one domestic animal that requires
no expenditure for feed. He ranges
wherever he wishes, and trespasses
with impunity.
Bees may be successfully kept not
only in the country and in the sub
urbs, but in large towns and cities
There is not a city in the United
| States that has not its bee colonies.
Bees are kept and produce fairly well
within half a mile of the battery in
New York City. Washington with it's
numerous parks and spaces is an
ideal city bee range.
More persons are restrained from
|
insects than by any other cause. As
/ a. matter of fact, the experienced bee
handler is seldom stung. Patience,
and quiet way of going about things
are the essentials. The one thing the
bee is sure to resent is uncleanliness.
He will relentlessly sting any person
having an offensive odor.
The universal fear of bees was il
| Illustrated when the government leas
ed the site of its present apiary here.
A committee of citizens called upon
Mr.. Phillips and protested against the
introduction into their midst of thous-
ands of vicious and poisonous insects.
! Mr.. Phillips promised that if the bees
| caused any trouble, he would remove
them. No complaint has ever been
made.
More recently the government api-
airy got a phone call from the home
of a colored citizen in the heart of
| Washington. A large swarm of wild
| bees had taken up their home between
the roof and the ceiling of his house.
and he requested that the bee experts
should come quickly and take them
away.
The sting of the bee is not only not
as dangerous as it is generally consid-
cred, but it literally makes bee-keep-
ing possible. A stingless bee is not to
be desired. for its colonies would have
to be closely guarded, while the sting
hoe &c hi dafn
keepers are wont to place colonies sew
eraI miles from their homes on bits OF
waste land which they can rent from
4 farmers for a few pounds of honey
They visit them perhaps once a week
There are thieves who will climb into
/ a second story window despite the fact
/ that a revolver may be waiting fol
| than and others WIN snacializa liz