1896 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



851 



over the entrance, resting on a' neatly molded 

 lintel, may be seen an imitation of the old- 

 fashioned German straw hive. The iron cov- 

 ered roof has a dome-shaped center, supplied 

 with swinging windows, admitting central light 

 and ample ventilation; and over this rises a 

 neat flag-staff, somewhat longer than the oth- 

 ers, from which floats "Old (liory." 



The inside is floored with yellow pine; the 

 side windows are large, and so arranged as to 

 show the exhibits to the best advantage— the 

 glass being stained or coated white to check 

 the effect of the direct rays of the sun. Around 

 the sides are placed long tables or shelves on 

 which to place the exhibits, with closet room 

 underneath to safely keep cases, crates, boxes, 

 etc.; a railing, placed at a suitable distance 

 from said tables, prevents visitors from crowd- 

 ing each other against the exhibits; some of 

 the honey and wax exhibits during the last fair 

 were nearly ten feet high, and crowding 

 against it might have caused considerable 

 damage. 



Seats are placed in various parts of the build- 

 ing, where the weary visitor may find rest, or 

 refresh himself at the fountain of pure water 

 just outside of the door. 



In the center of the room stands a large glass 

 case for the exhibit of honey and waxwork. 

 This case is of the same size and shape as those 

 used at the Columbian Exposition, in Chicago, 

 In 1893, for the exhibit of honey and wax. This 

 case, while it permits the exhibit of honey and 

 wax in any manner, shape, or form, protects it 

 against dust and damage resulting from hand- 

 ling by visitors. Next to this case a space is 

 set apart for the purpose of practical demon- 

 stration of the manner of extracting honey; 

 here our city friends are informed by lectures 

 and ocular demonstration that extracted honey 

 is nature's own pure sweet — clean, bright, and 

 pure. 



The central portion of the front side of the 

 building, just under the words "Bees and 

 Honey," is set apart as the superintendent's 

 office, separately inclosed, and furnished with 

 table, chairs, etc., and here the exhibitor may 

 at any time, prior to the opening day, make his 

 entries and receive his entry-cards, correctly 

 entered by a practical bee-keeper familiar with 

 apicultural phrases, avoiding the necessity of 

 going to a remote part of the grounds, and then 

 stand in line before the entry clerk in the sec- 

 retary's office, awaiting your turn to make 

 your entries. 



While we admire this magnificent building 

 wherein to exhibit the '"little busy bees" and 

 the result of their labor, we can not refrain 

 from mentioning that this building is due to a 

 great extent to the untiring energy of Hon. E. 

 Whitcomb, for over ten years the president of 

 the Nebraska Bee- keepers' Association, and to 

 his able assistant Mr. L. D. Stilson, editor of 



the Nebraska Bee-keeper, and secretary of the 

 Nebraska Bee-keepers' Association. 



Mr. Whitcomb has been the superintendent 

 of the bee and honey department of the Ne- 

 braska State Fair for 13 years; and the writer 

 well remembers the remarks he made when, 

 with his own hands, he set some posts in the 

 ground and nailed on some boards, for the Urst 

 separate shelter for the bee and honey exhibit. 

 He said: "We will have something better." 

 His extensive acquaintance with nearly all the 

 State officers, as well as the officers of the Fair 

 Association; his zeal for bee culture in Ne- 

 braska, his indomitable determination, border- 

 ing on to obstinate tenacity that would not 

 take "no" for an answer, has been the founda- 

 tion, cornerstone, and superstructure of this 

 building, to which every Nebraska bee-keeper 

 — yes, every lover of the busy bee — may point 

 with pride. 



Red Oak, Iowa, Oct. 19. 



[Nov. 1st, p. 789. I stated in the biographical 

 sketch that the Hon. E. Whitcomb was a man 

 of influence, and that he had a wav of asking, 

 and receiving what he asked for. No doubt 

 the credit for this magnificent bee and honey 

 building— probably the largest and finest of 

 any thing of the kind in the world— is due 

 to the inuomitable zeal of E. Whitcomb. An- 

 other bee keeper who has no small influence in 

 the State is Mr. L. D. Stilson, the editor of the 

 Nebraska Bec-kceper. Having introduced to 

 you in our Nov. 1st issue Mr. Whitcomb. I now 

 take pleasure in introducing to you Mr. Stilson. 



L. I). STILSON. 



Nebraska is fortunate in having two such able 

 men as the exponents of bee culture — the one 

 the president and the other the secretary of the 

 State Bee keepers' Association. They have 

 long held these positions, and I trust they may 

 continue to hold them, for they are certainly 

 the right m^^n in tlie risht place. The way 

 they are building up the industry in the State, 

 and the way they are advertising the products 

 of the hive, is evidenced in part by this mag- 

 nificent honey-building. I said Nebraska bee- 

 keepers have set a "terrific pace" in the man- 



