1893 



GLEANINGS IN REE CULTURE. 



935 



APIARIAN EXHIBITS AT THE WORLD'S FAIR. 



DR. MASON DESCRIBES ROOT 8 AND OTHER 

 EXHIBITS. 



Friend Root;— It is more than probable that 

 the thousands of readers of Gi,kanin(3S who 

 have not been at the World's Fair wonld like to 

 know something about your exhibit of supplies, 

 etc.: and I doubt not there are a goodly num- 

 ber of those who read Gleanings wlio have 

 been here and could not find your exhibit. I 

 have met several such myself; and your own 

 sister. Mrs. Holmes, came very near not finding 

 it, although she had been within a few feet 

 of it. 



I was sitting on a box by the Ohio honey- 

 exhibit, writing or figuring, and a lillle bit of 

 woman, with two girls, brushed by me, and in a 

 few minutes came back; and as they passed me 

 again I heard the remark, *'.'! guess Amos hasn't 

 got any honey here. I don't see any with his 

 name." 



Hearing the name "Amos," which is quite a 

 familiar one to me, I looked up and asked, 

 " What are you looking for? " and. lo and be- 

 hold I I had found a sister of A. I. Root, and two 

 of his little nieces, or they had found me, I 

 hardly know which. The " worser half," Mr. 

 Holmes, was waiting down stairs, and it didn't 

 take the little girls long to " raise " him, and 

 tiien we had a good look at things, and a good 

 but brief visit. 



The honey-exhibits, and the exhibits of sup- 

 plies, were in the gallery at the east end of Ag- 

 ricultural Building, in the south part of the 

 gallery, and your exhibit at the south end of 

 the honey-exhibits. When first put up last 

 May by Dr. Miller, it was back in a corner by 

 itself, where but few saw it, and so much was 

 said (and fault found by your fiiends and bee- 

 keepers) about its location, that, after consider- 

 able corr'^spondence with Ernest, as Dr. Miller 

 was to busy to attend to it, I came in July, and 

 after three days of " wire-pulling " succeeded in 

 getting permission from "the powers that be,*' 

 to move the exhibit out in line with the honey- 

 exhibits. 



As put up by Dr. Miller, the exhibit was in a 

 glass case 8 feei wide and 14 long, and about 

 TVj high. I have sent you a photo of the case 

 and exhibit as it was after being moved. I 

 made the case about two feet higher than it 

 was at first, and put in the smaller glass as 

 shown at the top, at the right and left ends, the 

 front ones being removed for taking a photo. 

 Making the case higher, and putting in the ad- 

 ditional glass, made the case of about the same 

 height as the honey-cases, and added much to 

 its attractiveness. If I remember correctly, you 

 tried to secure more space for your exhibit, but 

 failed to get it. which will account for its small- 

 ness and crowded appearance. 



When I moved the exhibit I "jayhawked," or 

 took enough additional space to exhibit the ex- 

 tractors outside of and to the left of the case. 



Perhaps the photo shows plainly enough 

 what you had on exhibition; but a brief de- 

 scription, as I now call it to mind, may be of 

 added interest. 



Near the center may be seen a full-grown 

 Dovetailed chalf hive, with the telescopic cover 

 removed. A perforated zinc honey-board is 

 held in an upright position in the back of the 

 hive by two D. section -cases. I removed one of 

 the frames and put a full sheet of foundation in 

 it and placed it in a glass hive containing a 

 strong colony of bees I had on exhibition. It 

 was left then over night, and then placed as 

 shown in the chaff hive, so as to show what the 

 bees do with foundation. It attracted much at- 



tention. A Crane smoker stands on the right 

 back corner of the hive, and one on the left 

 corner. In front of the chatf hive may be seen 

 two dovetailed supers with section-holders fill- 

 ed with sections. One of the supers is placed 

 bottom side up, so as to show its arrangement. 

 These supers belong in the chaff hive. On 

 these supers may be seen a Bingham and two 

 Crane smokers, two ABC books, two sections 

 of honey. Porter bee-escapes, foundation-fasten- 

 ers, wire-imbedders, etc. 



At my solicitation you sent a straw bee- hive, 

 said to have come from Germany, and to be 

 over a hundred years old. This is back of and 

 above the chafif hive, and on it is one of your 

 twenty-cent bee-hats and a bee-veil, and in 

 front stands one of your"fixin's" to raise the 

 quilt so bees can pass over the top-bars of the 

 frames in winter. 



At the right of the straw hive are two T 

 supers with sections, one right side up and the 

 other bottom side up, with some of the sec ions 

 removed. At the right of these is a Miller 

 feeder, large enough to cover the whole top of a 

 hive. 



In front of and below the feeder are some 

 shipping-crates, with sections of honey in ihem; 

 but I don't believe the honey was made by ma- 

 chinery, if it was produced at the " Home of 

 the Honey-bees." At the left of and also below 

 the shipping-crates, is shown brood and thin 

 foundation; and below and in front of this are 

 some Dovetailed hives with supers and section- 

 holders, sections with starters, and separators, 

 all complete; and on them are sections of honey, 

 bee- escapes, queen-cell protectors, slate tablets, 

 wire-imbeddais, comb-fasteners, samples of thin 

 foundation, etc. On the left front corner of the 

 lowest right-hand hive hangs one of the most 

 handy little honey-strainers 1 ever used; and on 

 the right-hand corner hangs a neat pair of 

 ladies' rubber gloves. Between these hives and 

 the chatf hive are shown one of your large saw- 

 mandrels, a Langdon non-swarmer, or self- 

 hiver (I don't know which it is, or whether it is 

 either), a shipping-box, and smokers. 



In front of and below the left T super is a 

 Swiss wax-extr:ictor, so arranged as to show all 

 parts of it. At the left of and next to the chaff 

 hive are shown Clark smokers, and small saw- 

 mandrels, and above these a dovetailed super 

 with section-holders and sections, starters and 

 separators, all ready for business. At the left 

 of these, and at the front, is another Dovetailed 

 hive with super and gable cover, with a D. sec- 

 tion-holder and a yucca brush on top. By the 

 way, each of the D. section-holders shows a sec- 

 tion of honey in front. 



Above and back of this hive is one of your 

 twelve-inch foundation-mills; above this a ten- 

 inch mill with a sheet of foundation in front of 

 it; and above and back of this is a six-inch mill 

 for thin foundation. This also has a strip of 

 foundation in front of it. 



At the left of these, and in the front of the 

 case, is a dovetailed winter case, with hive in- 

 side. The telescopic cover is removed so as to 

 show the super, etc., and on it are some sections 

 of comb honey. Back of and above this hive, I 

 believe, is a ten-frame hive with super and a 

 gable cover, and on this is another bee-hat and 

 veil. If every bee-keeper had one of these hats, 

 it seems to me he, or she, would never want to 

 wear any other in the bee-yard in warm weath- 

 er. They are light and cool. I have two old 

 ones at home, and shall take the two shown in 

 your case home with me, and then I'll haves 

 some nice clean ones for visitors. 



Back of and at the right of the hat is an ob- 

 servatory hive with one frame, very neatly and 

 substantially made. Attheextreme left, at the 

 bottom, may be seen three packages, compos- 



