June 2, 1904. 



THfc AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



389 



apiary of 5."i coUmies, of which ht- was very fond, and to which he hud 

 decided to pay cai'eful attention, making it his sole occupation, lie 

 invented what is linown as " The Tuclier Hive," which has proved tu 

 lie an excellent article in the safe Ueepinjf of bees. 



He was a constant reader of the American Bee Journal—" The Old 

 Reliable," as he called it— and no one of its readers appreciated it 

 more. He often spolce of it. 



While we miss him sorely, especially since he was a comparatively 

 young man— only 43 years of age— yet we are comforted to know he 



THE LATE J. W. TUCKER. 



was prepared to go, as during the last few days he said, " I am going 

 down to the station every day, for my train is soon coming in, and 

 then I'll go to my Lord." 



We intend to carry on the business as he would have done had he 

 remained. Tours truly, 



Mrs. J. W. Tucker. 



Surely, Mrs. Tucker will have the heartfelt sympathy of the read- 

 ers of the old American Bee Journal in her sorrow and loneliness. 





Contributed Articles 



] 



Not All In Hives— More in the Man. 



BY G. M. DOOLITTLE. 



A LETTER lies before me. Among other things it con- 

 tains I find these words : 



" I have come into possession of two colonies of bees in liox- 

 hives. I am thinking of using these as a beginning in bee-keeping. I 

 shall want some new hives this season, and I am anxious to start with 

 the right kind of a hive so I may meet with success. A neighbor of 

 ray brother's where I visited last fall claims to have invented .a hive 

 that is ahead of anything in the world. Says he secures lots of hun.'y 

 with this hive, while those not using it get very little surplus. He 

 wants to sell uie some hives. Ho you think there could be one so •.' I'y 

 much superior to any other in the world < What would you adviM in 

 the matter!" 



As I receive many letters quite similar to this one, I 

 thought a few words bearing on thi.s subject might not lie 

 amiss in the American Bee Journal. From the above , as 

 well as from many who are clamoring for the best hivr, it 

 would seen that all one had to do was to get that man's cwn 

 hive, or the Danzenbaker, Root, Hoffman, Gallup, Lstik- 

 stroth, Heddon, or some other " best " hive (for they :ire 

 all "best" in the eyes of some), to meet with certain -.ic- \ 



cess in apiculture. No matter how poorly attended to, if 

 we only have the best hive we certainly shall have honey to 

 sell and give away ! So the hive advocated is purchased, 

 left with some man keeping bees in a slipshod way to hive 

 swarms in at a dollar a swarm, after which the " best " hive, 

 bees and all are deposited in some out-of-the-way fence- 

 corner, where the bees will not sting the children, to stay 

 and take care of themselves. 



From the many failures in the bee-business with would- 

 be beginners, and the shipwreck ending in disaster of so 

 many who start out joyously when embarking in the busi- 

 ness, it would seem as if they depended simply on using or 

 having their bees in good hives. While a good hive has 

 very viitch to do with the results of bee-keeping, the inati 

 who manages affairs has much more to do with the success 

 or failure of the enterprise. 



Do any of our horsemen buy choice animals and put 

 them in the best stable, and then let them take care of them- 

 selves ? Do any of our poultry breeders buy poultry stock 

 and after making tiice pens for them, pay no further atten- 

 tion ? No; they spare no pains to have them properly cared 

 for, and give them every chance in their power that looks 

 or tends toward success. Yet, if we are to judge from what 

 has been done in the past, these same men, should they em- 

 bark in the bee-business, will expect a large income from 

 bees if they only have them in a good hive, if they pay no 

 attention to them for six months, more than a few 

 times to look at the bees going out and in at the entrance. 

 About as well provide good quarters for the choice stock, 

 and then let them shirk for themselves, expecting a profit 

 from them. Men do not do this way with the stock, and 

 why should they with the bees? The idea that bees " work 

 for nothing and board themselves " must be banished from 

 our thoughts before we secure much profit from them. 



I know there are some advocating at the present 

 time, that to best succeed we must keep more bees. And 

 others are apparently advocating that the seeing of these 

 " more bees " three or four times a year is all that is neces- 

 sary. It is barely possible that these may yet live to see 

 their mistake. To me, successful bee-keeping is not on the 

 let-alone plan, nor the whole of it of a " play " nature, only 

 as the enthusiast sees play and fun along the line of work 

 in the apiary. 



Successful apiculture means work for a man with brains 

 enough to know that he must leave no stone unturned that 

 tends toward success. A good hive in the hands of such a 

 man is a power which rolls up tons of honey, and shows the 

 masses that there is money in the bee-business. Such a 

 man will have his bees in readiness for the honey harvest 

 when it comes, and do things in just the right time to 

 secure the best results. 



I am often asked, " What advantages have the hives of 

 the present over those of a half century ago?" Much in 

 every way, in the hands of a skillful apiarist; but none at all 

 with the man who takes no advantage of the benefits which 

 the movable-frame system brings within his reach. 



What are movable frames good for if they are never to 

 be handled ? if we never look after the welfare of our colo- 

 nies by the way of seeing that they have stores for winter 

 and in early spring? if we never look after the goodness 

 and prolificness of the queen inside? if we never use any of 

 the means they provide us with for making our swarms, 

 without watching all summer for them to issue in the good 

 old way ? or by giving stores, from those having more than 

 an abundance, to the needy, and by the superseding of in- 

 ferior queens with those from the most improved stock that 

 can be procured ? And yet we have many would-be bee- 

 keepers who never take a frame out of a hive once a year, 

 and wonder why they don't succeed as does their energetic 

 neighbor who takes advantage of all these things. Is it 

 any wonder that we have plenty of candidates for blasted 

 hopes ? 



I do not want it understood that Doolittle is advocating 

 that a person is to keep constantly overhauling his hives, 

 in season and out of season, in order to make bee-keeping a 

 success. No, not that. What I mean is, that when a gain 

 is to be made by looking inside of a hive, do it, and at just 

 the time it is needed. Look after the stores in the spring 

 just at the right time before any colony restricts brood- 

 rearing through shortness of the same. Put on the sections 

 in just the right time according to the honey harvest and 

 the strength of the colony, both of which are to be ascer- 

 tained by the ?«a« through his thorough knowledge of his 

 location and the inside workings of the bees in the hives. 

 Make the swarms in just the right time, through the know- 

 ing of when each colony is ready. And so on Qown through 

 the list, with all the work in the apiary ; and do not keep 



