The independent-reporter. [volume] (Skowhegan, Me.) 1909-1955, 1921-11-17
FRED~E. DAVIS OF MADISON DELIVERS
ADDRESS BEFORE STATE ASSOCIATION
Gives Important Rules to Beekeepers-- Vocation
%. is Man-Sized Job

/ storage chambers at the right time.
This would mean a very much larg-
| er patronage for Brother Mason for
some Of us and that early In the sea-
son too, In many cases for supplies.
The work of producing fancy comb
honey. is the work truly of an expert;
| and requires special manipulation.
Yet each must work out his own meth
| dds and salvation as we say. For on
most of the minor points, the greatest
| authorities usually disagree.
Now | wish to make few remarks
relating to our work and Maine bee
keeping In particular. and trust that
no offence may be given to any bee
keeper here or elsewhere, by what I
may say at this time. As have oh.
served, the greatest fault OF our bee
keeping in our state Is lack OF hives
and equipment for proper handling
our bees an dsecuring honey crop.
One OF the largest honey producers
in the west says -he always plans to
have one extra story Of ready drawn
brood combs for use on each colony
of beekeepers.
In addition to this we should have
suitable storage chambers or suppers
for the largest honey crop, for with
out them we can0t afford to give the
necessary cdre and manipulations 80
necessary to make our bees profitable
Then too, plenty Of fixtures makes
unnecessary many OF the manipula-
tions otherwise necessary, or thought
to be necessary to- the best results
xuith haao ~ .1~nx lovo "a
fixtures to carry OUT work successful
1y we are either apt 70 stay in the
class who do not know the condition
of their bees, as to their health and
with the rapidly spreading brood dis
eases, we may become a menace to
other more progressive, brothers in
the business We may be ultra con-
sentative to a certain extent In New
England and our own state, a. re-
CARDS the beekeeping industry. 1t is
sometimes stated and believe with
considerable truth that, we of this
| section build stone walls around our
minds, that we may not become too
progressive and lose this conserva-
tism. But we have with us today q
brother. who has long had this wall
| removed from his mind. refer es-
pecially to Brother Crane. And we
have one among our own number.
Brother Longfellow. president OF this
association who has the wall remov-
ed from around his mind as can
surely testify too. as in one OF his
yards early in the summer he showed
me colonies in four story ten frame
standard hives, nearly or quite solid
full of honey. He does all this by
having plenty of fixtures and equip
ment on hand at the right moment
and without any fussing whatever.
believe, and has even gone so far as
to teach these bees to iuok after their
own affairs largely; as Is possible
with we'll bred and good behaved bees
generally, think.
The slogan OF what is best to go
with the keeping lax Ses, eliminating
from very s,iE4646i beekeeper---
more bees, has Sstl EArried out un-
til we hear Of mlu kseping hundreds
and thousands dtNcoionies lone man
20, 900 colonies eyeh). think It would
be very much more profitable for the
beck eeper of today who wishes to
make this work his vocation. to work
IN bnild nm n market ON demand first
for his nroducf Ana then TO nroduce
the nrodnct "a supnly this market on
demand Az the yery EXPERTS in the
business tell ua. In many instances
they are having to sell at a price low.
er than the cost OF production at the
present time. Then too no true bee
keener without flrst aiding. either
sinelv or associated with others 10
mild nm thAifss Iai1rket .gor demand.
coma bYoDSrIx dfS2p his product On