1895 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



657 



cially interested — the lirld, the man, and the 

 work. 



The location has been partly described. It is 

 a land of beautiful valleys traversed by cool 

 spring brooks, the natural home of the brook 

 trout, and abounding in cool leafy woods in 

 which the thrifty basswoods are plentifully 

 distributed. The Taylor apiary is beautifully 

 situated in one of these valleys, on sloping 

 ground at the foot of the bluff, where it catches 

 the first beams of the morning sun, and is nat- 

 urally sheltered from winds. 



Now as to the man and his methods. Mr. 

 Taylor is more than a bi'( -keeper. He is a fine 

 mechanic and an inventor. He has a nice shop 

 containing machinery (constiuct'd by himself) 

 for making every conceivable appliance used 



» T K. 



'\ 



C. TAYLOR. 



in bee-keeping. All his work, whether it be 

 building a house or a bee-feeder, is thorough 

 and exact. No time is lost in his apiary 

 through having fixtures that won't fit. I 

 did not see an imperfect joint nor a warped 

 cover on the place; and when Bro. Taylor 

 makes any claim or describes any appliance in 

 the bee-journals you may be sure it is just as 

 he says it is. My expectations were fully met. 

 He informed me that each appliance he uses 

 was adopted after many experiments, until 

 finally he has selected what he considers the 

 best after many practical tests, and he has the 

 things themselves to show each step by which 

 he has arrived at present conclusions. Having 

 time, and proper tools and machinery, this was 

 much easier for him to do than it would be for 

 many. Very few bee-keepers can attempt to 

 do what he has done in the mechanical depart- 

 ment, but must adopt, as best they can, the 

 methods of others. 



Mr. Taylor has never made an effort to estab- 

 lish a supply business. He seems to have little 

 or no desire to do a large business, therefore 

 his well-equipped shop and beautiful machinery 

 stand idle a large part of the time. 



The hive adopted is the same in nearly every 

 respect as his shallow-depth sectional hives, 

 except in the depth of the frame. The one he 

 prefers is only a little shallower than the ordi- 

 nary Langstroth frame. He prefers what 

 would be considered a small hive, and gets very 

 large swarms from them too, as I can testify 

 from what I saw. I was fortunate in being 

 there just in the swarming-season. In honey 

 production he can show a record above the 

 average; but that may be, and probably is, 

 largely due to a good location. He is not so 

 particular as some in regard to pure races of 

 bees; but his colonies show the mark of health 

 and vigor — the result, evidently, of properly 

 brc d queens. 



I was much interested in the following: His 

 house-apiary, bee-cellar, readily movable self- 

 spacing frames, interchangeable hive-body, 

 bee-escape, section-holders, solar wax-extractor, 

 feeders, and swarm -catcher. The latter ap- 

 pears to be his pet hobby at present; but for 

 myself I am so well pleased with my method of 

 working with clipped queens that I am not 

 much interested in swarm-catchers. His is 

 intended to be placed on the hive the moment 

 you notice the swarm beginning to come off. 



One thing I saw was quite instructive. I was 

 shown a lot of hives containing nice clean 

 combs of white honey from which the bees had 

 died during the past winter, although they had 

 been properly cared for. The cause assigned 

 was that, on account of dry weather last fall, 

 they had gone into winter quarters with old 

 bees instead of young ones. The result was, 

 they died off from old age just as we all shall 

 if we don't die sooner from some other cause. 



Mr. Taylor is assisted in his work by his 

 youngest son Jewell, whom he expects to suc- 

 ceed him in that work— his other son, living 

 near by, preferring fruit culture. 



Mr. Taylor is an expert in gardening and 

 fruit-growing, and gave me a few valuable 

 hints along that line. I was told that, some 

 years ago. he tested one hundred varieties of 

 native wild plums on his grounds. These were 

 brought from different parts of the Northwest. 

 Out of this number he has selected one that he 

 considers very superior. How few would take 

 the time, and have patience, to conduct.such an 

 experiment! After all, where do you find more 

 all-around handy men than among the bee- 

 keepers? 



In closing, I will say that I was so kindly 

 treated during my stay, and enjoyed myself so 

 well, that I feel just as though I wanted to go 

 again some time. 



Browntown, Wis. 



