Feb. 18, 1904. 



THB AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



117 



The G. B. Lewis Co.— After the traveler bound for 

 St. Paul leaves Milwaukee, he sinks back in his comfortable 

 seat bidding farewell to all signs of activity until he shall 

 reach his destination in the morning. As he leaves Water- 

 town Station and crosses the Rock River, he sees on its 

 bank a large building lighted up hy thousands of electric 

 lights, with smoke issuing in dense volumes from its chim- 

 neys. He hears a mighty rumble of machinery above the 

 rush of the train, and in an instant he is past. This great 

 building which the traveler has seen but for a moment, with 

 a large warehouse, office building, and three immense lum- 

 ber yards near by, comprise the plant of the G. B. Lewis Co., 

 one of the two largest in the world, given over to the exclu- 

 sive manufacture of bee-keepers' supplies, known far and 

 wide to the honey-producing population of this country, 

 Europe, and the entire world, and yet never heard of by 

 many at their own door, who are still strangers to the busy 

 bee. - 



Five floors compose the main factory. A miniature 

 railroad runs into the ground floor, transporting the lumber 

 in its early stages from the yards to the planers. In this 

 department the wood is partially prepared, being planed for 

 hives, polished for sections, and by means of an electric 

 elevator is carried to the Boors above, where operations are 

 completed later on. 



On the next floor below is found the iron-working 

 department where the boring is done, saws are kept in shape 

 by help hired for this purpose alone, and where special 

 machines are constructed. 



On the third floor is found the bee-hive department, 

 where hundreds of saws sing from early morning till late at 

 night. Here the hive-parts are made. 



On the next floor above, the long basswood strips are sawed into 

 correct lengths, and girls seated at benches sort these into different 

 grades. The sections are also manufactured, crated and marked here, 

 and finally sent down a long chute to wagons below, where they are 

 put into storage or loaded on trains. In this portion of the factory 

 are also made the woven wood and wire boxes in which bee-supplies 

 are packed. This method of packing has characterized the Lewis 

 shipments for years. 



The fifth and top floor is given up exclusively to the packing 

 department, 20,U00 square feet of floor being used for this purpose. 

 On this floor is also found the library of the G. B. Lewis Co., where 

 every book known to the bee-student is for sale. Here comb founda- 

 tion by the ton is packed into neat boxes, ready for shipment, and 

 every other device that the bee-keepers can possibly want is on hand 

 in large quantities. 



This large industry did not spring up in a night. It represents 

 the efforts, the study, the labor, and the persistence of over a quarter 

 of a century. Thirty years ago the late Mr. G. B. Lewis, then a young 

 man, engaged with his brother, Robert E. Lewis, in the business of 

 making sash, doors, and blinds. In those days bee-keeping was not a 

 specialty. A farmer here and there kept bees, and made, after a 

 homely fashion, his own hives and other appliances. Occasionally 

 one would come to the shop of the Lewis Bros, and have a few hives 

 made, and from this small acorn of crude carpentry grew the mighty 

 oak of Perfection in the machine-made bee-supplies turned out by the 

 Lewis Company to-day. 



In 1878, Mr. Chas. E. Parks came into the business, Mr. Robert 

 Lewis having retired eight years before. In 1S90 the business was 

 incorporated, and ever since has been known as the G. B. Lewis Com- 

 pany. Mr. Parlts proved a most valuable acquisition to the firm, and 

 remained actively interested until his death, in 1895. He was a man 

 of great ambition, a mechanic of the highest type, and by his inven- 

 tive genius greatly improved the methods of manufacture. He was 

 also the originator of many new machines, and finally invented what 

 is now the well-known Parks' patent woven wood and wire shipping 



and packing box. Owing to his successful efforts in this latter ven- 

 ture, he was sought by promoters throughout the United States, as 

 well as England and France. 



The plant is situafed in the garden spot of Wisconsin. Sur- 

 rounded by Nature in its most beautiful form it rests — peaceful with- 

 out, though most active within — on the west shore of the river, and 

 with its tall smoke-stack and piles upon piles of lumber, presents a 

 most picturesque sight. Adjacent to the factory the beautiful Rock 

 River dam rushes and rumbles in summer-time to the aid of the great 

 engine, until its rumble, growing fainter and fainter, loses itself in 

 the distant fields beyond where it mingles with the hum of the bees 

 that profit by its toil. Conveniently located is this large industry, 

 easily accessible to the lumber regions of northern Wisconsin and 

 Minnesota. In the year 1903, 800 cars of basswood, elm, poplar and 

 pine were shipped into Watertown and switched onto the G. B. Lewis 

 Company's private tracks. To the average layman this seems enough 

 wood to supply sufficiently the bee-keepers of a continent. 



To arrive approximately at the business that is done by this Com- 

 pany in a fair season, the following facts covering the year just passed 

 may be of interest: 50 car-load orders alone, and 10,000 smaller orders 

 as well were entered and shipped; 10 tons of comb foundation, thou- 

 sands of hives, and 15.000,000 sections were sold. The sections alone, 

 if placed unfolded in a straight line, would more than reach from Chi- 

 cago to San Francisco. 



This concern now occupies in the business world a place of promi- 

 nence envied by many, and enjoys a reputation justly earned. Its 

 success is largely due to the modern and liberal methods employed by 

 Its officers, who exemplify the old adage, that " Liberality begets lib- 

 erality." At the helm of this institution is found Mr. Geo. C. Lewis, 

 its president, who has bad the active management of the business for 

 years. Mr. Lewis, whose portrait appears in this issue, is the son of 

 the late G. B. Lewis. He is a young man of rare business sagacity, 

 energetic, of high integrity, and thoroughly alive to the best interests 

 of his company and its customers. Geo. C. Lewis is well known, and 

 occupies a position of prominence among the leading manufactiu'ers 

 of bee-supplies. 



The Lewis Company gives employment to over 100 

 people, and now, while the flowers and buds have not 

 yet arrived, and the bees are still sleeping, and the 

 ground is covered with snow, all hands are working, 

 toiling, sweating. Day and night must they labor, office 

 and factory alike, and voices are even now heard calling, 

 loudest of all the jobber, the wholesaler next, and even 

 the murmur of the bee-keeper himself is heard in the 

 distance, increasing as spring approaches till it drowns 

 out the noise of his swarming bees. 



Having been in this hive of industry, we can per- 

 sonally testify to its greatness and superior qualities in 

 every way. G. B. Lewis are, and have been for years, 

 among our regular advertisers. Their goods and honor- 

 able dealing testify to their popularity as well as relia- 

 bility. «^^«_^^ 



The Adulterators of Honey in California are 

 likely to " hear something drop" very soon. The San 

 Francisco Examiner, of recent date, contained the fol- 

 lowing in reference to this matter: 



"The food inspectors of the Board of Health have 

 been informed that much adulterated honey is being sold 

 in this city. Acting on this information they have, un- 

 der the direction of Dr. Hassler, chief food inspector,' 

 purchased a number of samples of honey from many 

 different dealers. These have been turned over to the 

 industrial chemist for analysis, with the result that the 

 suspicions of adulteration have been confirmed. 



'" In a few days,' said Dr. Hassler yesterday after- 

 noon, ' we shall make arrests. The experiments have 

 not yet been completed, but we know already as a fact 

 that glucose is being used freely to adulterate honey.' " 



