1895 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



185 



5. Instead of bee-keepers running: from ten 

 down to eight, as formerly, the tendency now 

 seems to be from tlie small size to the large. <!. 

 The double eight-frame hive of Ki frames is too 

 large since 12 frames seem to afford the maxi- 

 mum capacity for most localities. 7. Supply- 

 dealers (pity the poor fellows) will probably do 

 a lot of growling, because it will be a nuisance 

 to keep so many sizes of hives in stock, (to say 

 nothing of styles), each size necessitating spe- 

 cial covers, special supers, special bottom-bars, 

 and special honey-boards. How nice it would 

 be, dear brother supply-dealers (let us draw nigh 

 and weep) if every bee keeper could use one 

 size of hive, one kind of frame, one kind of 

 every thing. But, no. There are too many 

 notions that are at variance — too many locali- 

 ties with different resources; too many things 

 in general, to make us all think and believe 

 alike. 



THAT BICYCLE-KIDE FROM TOLEDO TO MEDINA 

 —HOW IT WAS DONE. 



The following is an editorial that appeared 

 in the American Bee-keeper and will explain 

 itself: 



When we read of the long- runs made bj' the 

 Roots, A. I. and Ernest, on their wheels we almost 

 turn green with envy. Such muscles, such endur- 

 ance, are almost phenomenal— at least, so it seems 

 to the writer when he reads in January 1.5th Glean- 

 ings where Ernest scored 109 miles lu 9 hours, and 

 the writer is a "century rider "too— in fact, the 

 captain of a " century club;" but he doesn't take 

 109-mlle spins in 9 hours for fun very oflcn. Say, Er- 

 nest, did you measure that run with a cyclometer, or 

 trust to the word of a " native " ? or did you have a 

 .30-lnch cyclometer on a SSinch wheel ? Honest, 

 now. 



I did not suppose that I had made an extra- 

 ordinary ride, or I would have mentioned soine 

 of the circumstances under which it was made. 

 The lowest road record for 100 miles is some- 

 thing over five hours, I believe; and for the track 

 for the same distance, considerably lower than 

 that. It is, if I am not mistaken, quite a com- 

 mon thing for good average riders to make a 

 century on good roads in eight hours, and yet 

 my time was a trifle over this. 



Bro. Merrill lives in quite a hilly State, and 

 writes from that standpoint. The road from 

 here to Toledo is practically a dead level, for it 

 is not a great way, as you will see by looking at 

 the map, from Lake Erie. There are but few 

 hills, and they do not amount to much Be- 

 sides, about 30 miles of the road is macadamiz- 

 ed; and along the whole distance the road is 

 kept in fairly good order. Now, then, if Bro. 

 Merrill will turn to a good reliable map of Ohio, 

 he will find that a direct bee-line from West To- 

 ledo to Medina is about 93 miles— one map mak- 

 ing it 91 and another 9(). But it was impossible 

 to take a road as direct as that. My route was 

 through (xenoa, Fremont, Clyde, Bellevue, Well- 

 ington, to Medina. Striking a bee-line from 

 Toledo to Monroeville, and from Monroeville 



to Medina, the distance measuri-d by the map 

 before me — not a railroad mai), Imt one of Rand 

 v^ McNally's— makes a total distatree of 100 

 miles. But if you will trace the ditt'erent 

 towns that I went through, you will see that I 

 had to vary from these two lines quite a little. 

 And still more: There are quite a number of 

 right angles that I had to make — due east and 

 then due south, that, of course, would not show 

 on .an ordinary map. You will see, therefore, 

 that the distance. 110 miles, is not far from 

 right. But I did not get those figures from the 

 map, but from the guide-boards, and we have 

 them in Ohio at every corner. These made the 

 distance a trifle over 110 miles. As to time, I 

 carried a watch with me the whole distance, 

 that never failed me, and the time according to 

 it was 9 hours, not including stops for three 

 meals of about one-half hour each. I have 

 been over a large part of this road a good many 

 times, and I do not think I have made any mis- 

 take. Indeed, I have made a far better record 

 than that on a part of the route, but I will not 

 tell it here for fear yon will call it a fish-story. 



At the age of I:.' years I began riding the old- 

 fashioned velocipede — a front driver. Later 

 on, I rode the " good old ordinary;" and when 

 the day of the safety came, like the rest I rode 

 that. As a natural consequence, my muscles 

 have had a better opportunity for development 

 than those of most riders. 



Now, I do not suppose I should be able to 

 keep up with Bro. Merrill and his century 

 company on his rides over his roads. Indeed, 

 while in Wisconsin I tried to make a century in- 

 side of ten hours, just as I had done a number 

 of times on Ohio soil; but I found that 40 miles 

 over the hills and over sand was all I wanted 

 to make, and I was " awfully tired " at that. 



In all my wanderings on the wheel over the 

 country, I never find any roads that I like bet- 

 ter than the hard clay roads within 100 miles 

 of Medina. York State roads, while in many 

 places hard, are too hilly. Wisconsin roads are 

 good in some places, but they are very apt to 

 be sandy or hilly. The Illinois roads are pretty 

 good; but in the western part of the State they 

 are bad. The Indiana roads are good, compar- 

 ing favorably with those of Ohio. 



THE BLIZZAKD IN TEXAS. 



In a private letter dated Feb. 20, Mr. F. A. 

 Lockhart informs us that they have just passed 

 through the worst blizzard that was ever expe- 

 rienced in that part of Texas — the southern 

 part. The mercury ranged there from 2 to 16 

 above zero, between the 8th and 14th. Many 

 birds perished in the storm. The unusual sight 

 of snow six inches deep on the level was wit- 

 nessed, and in places it was drifted ten feet. 

 Mrs. Atchley carried her best breeding colonies 

 into the house, and thus her loss will be light. 

 It was part and parcel of a storm which will 

 become historical. 



