A MONTHLY JOURNAL 



Devoted to tH[e Interests of Hoqey Producers. 



$L00 A YFAR. 



W. Z, HUTCHINSON, Editor and Proprietor. 



VOL XII, FLINT, MICHIGAN,, DECEMBER 10, 1500 NO, 12. 



Mow THE BEEvS HEr.PED TO 

 B U IIv D A BEAUTIFUL 

 HOME. BY J. E. CRANE. 



I had almost forgotten that I had 

 promised to write you something about 

 the home the 

 honey bees had 

 helped to build, 

 and what shall I 

 say ? The pic- 

 ture shows the 

 outside of the 

 home better than 

 I can describe it. 

 Of the inside I 

 will only say that 

 it is as conven- 

 ient and pleas- 

 ant as it is pleasing from the outside. 



It will be observed that the barn has a 

 wing running out to the right. This is my 

 honey house, where I store my honey 

 and fixtures and do my work. I like 

 this nmch better than where the honey 

 house is in a separate building; as I can 

 load my wagon with clamps or hives on 

 the barn floor; yes, and hitch on my horse 

 already to start, before opening the door. 

 Again, I can bring in a load of honey 

 from out-yards, and at once drive in and 

 close the doors, without any interference 



from robber bees. Or, if it should be 

 raining, it is a great convenience to be 

 under shelter while unloading. Some 

 years, when I have a large crop, I have 

 found the barn floor, after sweeping and 

 cleaning, a most excellent place to pack 

 honey; as my work room would be too 

 clogged to give me room. 



But, how did the bees help to build the 

 home I hear some one ask ? Well, it was 

 very much this way: When young. I was 

 very much of an invalid. The best medi- 

 cal advice was that I should live on a 

 farn; live in the open air. But I could 

 not do the hard, heavy work of the farm, 

 and how was I to make a living without 

 being able to do the work, for I had not 

 the capital to hire it done. Either some 

 branch of farming must be followed that 

 did not require hard work, or some 

 means nmst be used to make enough to 

 pay for extra help. No one in our parts 

 had made a business of bee-keeping in 

 those days, some thirty-five or forty years 

 ago, but some of my neighbors kept bees, 

 and in good years sold some honey. I 

 secured Ouinby'sand Langstroth's works 

 on bees, and studied the subject very 

 carefully. During the civil war there 

 were no journals devoted to bee-keeping. 

 One or two that were started just before 

 were discontinued. The bee-keeping 



