748 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Oct. 15. 



ERNEST'S NOTES OF TEAVEL AMONG THE 

 BEE-KEEPERS OF YORK STATE. 



ON THE BICYCLE. 



I left the reader at Mr. T5. Van Wie's, and 

 had just mounted the wheel. It was a beauti- 

 ful morning, cool and bracing, and I felt in ex- 

 cellent trim for a day's wlunding. When we 

 bicyclers start out for a day's run we at first 

 exp(M'ience a little W(>ariiH>ss on the first two or 

 three miles; and it seems as if it would be im- 

 possible to travel all day; but very soon the 

 "second wind" comes on, as the wheelmen 

 style it. I had just ridden far enough to wear 

 off this first tired feeling, and to feel an exhilara- 

 tion that comes after a five-mile ride. Yes, I 

 felt as if I could go all day. and more too. The 

 hills did not tire me, and the coasting down hill 

 —oh, how lovely on that bright morning! I 

 had gone about ten miles when 1 met a livery- 

 man just coming down a big hill. I had ridden 

 part way up it, and then dismounted. My face 

 was, I suppose, somewhat fiushed from the glow 

 of the exercise; and the aforesaid man of horses, 

 mistaking it for weariness and exhaustion, said, 

 somewhat jeeringly, " Well, young man, I 

 wouldn't travel across tlie country in that way 

 for all the bicycles you can giv(^ me;" and with 

 a crack of the whip he passed with a flourish, 

 down the hill, as if he had said something very 

 smart. I leisurely walked u]) the hill in the op- 

 posite direction; and on an-iving at the top I 

 again betook myself to the saddle for another 

 delightful coast. 



" No, old chap. I would not exchange my ve- 

 hicle for your old rattlety-bang, for a good 

 deal." 



Noiselessly I sped down the hill. The pano- 

 rama of scenery; a deep valley here, and a hill 

 on the other side; the winding and twisting of 

 the road, a wayside spring, a litth^ brooklet, — 

 all of these added to the charm of that bicycle 

 ride. Just ahead of me I notic<'d a man hitch- 

 ing up a light rig with two handsome bay 

 horses. Tliey seemed to be full of spirits. The 

 owner, seeing me coining at a distance. I judge 

 decided to let me catch up, or nearly so, and 

 then thought he would rini away from me. For 

 a mile or two he did. I did not ])ropose to make 

 a fool of myself chasing aftei' him. I stuck to 

 my usual gate, and before long I came within a 

 short distance of his tired and panting horses. 

 He evidently regarded it as a race, by the way 

 he kept looking back to see if I were catching 

 u]). I pretended not to so regard it. I saw his 

 horses were beginning to lag; and when a fa- 

 vorable opportunity presented, that is. a clear 

 piece of road — I very ipodestly asked him if I 

 might have the priviIeg^ of passing, as I was in 

 a hurry. "Oh! certainly," said he, and he 

 turned his hors(>s to one side, foi' I saw that he 

 was quite willing that I should believe he was 

 not trying to run a rac(> with me. The road 

 was a turnpike, and for the most pari it was 

 good wheeling. In a few minut(>s more my 

 friend with his two horses was out of sight. 



All along my route I iiKjuired very diligently 

 as to whether the I'oad ahead had any sandy 

 si)ots. The terror of all wheelmen Is sand, and 

 I should prefer to go four times as far around 

 on clay rather than to attempt a short run 

 over the sand. Just liefore reacliing Middle- 

 burgh I struck a little piece of sand. Follow- 

 ing along some paths along the road I managed 

 to get along very well. In a few minutes more 



I was in Middleburgh, where I arrived about 



II o'clock. On intiuiry I leai'iied that Mr. Wes- 

 ley I)ibl)le and Mr. N. 1). West, bee-men, whom 

 Mr. Van Wi(^ recommendcnl me to call upon, 

 lived a short distance out and directly upon 

 my route. I asked a hotel clerk if l" might 



have a drink of water. He pointed to a water- 

 tank outside of a bar. T hesitated somewhat; 

 but l3eing thii'sty I took a small diaught of wa- 

 ter, without waiting to take any thing else. 



I should remar'k right here, that, in making 

 tours across the country, wheelmen, like horses, 

 get thirsty; but we are obliged to be very care- 

 ful and not drink too much water while in a 

 sweat. I felt man'y times as if I shoiild like to 

 drink a whole quart; but I nevei- took more 

 than two or three mouthfuls; and after a 

 while, on these limited I'ations of water every 

 ten miles or so, the thirst would subside; and 

 it is ne<>dless to say that I felt better for it. 

 Temperance in all things — yes, even with wa- 

 ter — is advisable and prudent. Well. I mount- 

 ed the wh(H'l, and in a few moments more a 

 bee-keeper's home was pointed out to me — that 

 of Mr. Wesley Dibble. I wheeled up alongside 

 of the house, dismounted, and inquired if that 

 was the place where Mr. I), lived. An affirm- 

 ative answei' came from th(> gentleman himself. 

 The pumiJ had gotten out of order: and, the 

 water being low, he had withdrawn it; and, 

 having repaired it, he was about to put it back 

 in. 1 ariived in time to help him put it down, 

 when he conducted me to the apiary in the 

 rear of the house. It was a very pretty yard, 

 and contained 70 or 80 eight-fi'ame hives, of a 

 pattern almost identical with the Dovetailed 

 hive. Like all other progressive liee-keepers 

 of this section he used fixed frames. If I re- 

 member correctly they were closed-end, and 

 suspended, something like Mr. Tunicliff's that 

 I explain(>d on |)age 641. Two or three years 

 ago he bought 50 Ileddon hives, but he has dis- 

 carded them all now. I might say in this con- 

 nection, that I heard of another bee-keeper 

 who had ])urclias(^d some 4.5, and had likewise 

 discarded them. Both avei'red that it was too 

 much trouble to handle so many frames, and 

 they finally went back to the regular Lang- 

 stroth. 



AUTOMATIC SW ARMING A SUCCESS. 



But what interested me particularly at Mr. 

 Dibble's was his automatic swarming-arrange- 

 ment. It was his own invention, having con- 

 ceived th(» idea some two or three years ago. 

 During the past season he has been using it 

 successfully in his two out-apiaries. A colony 

 that he thinks is about to swarm is fixed with 

 perforated zinc tubes, and an empty twin hive 

 is set beside it. When the swarm issues, the 

 queen passes along the tin tube into the empty 

 hive where the returning swarm meets her, 

 S(>ttl(^s down, and biiilds u)) a now home. The 

 plan works so successfully with Mr. Dibble^ that 

 he always swarms bees in this way, and is ena- 

 bled to dispense with the services of a man in 

 each yard, or a bounty of 25 or 50 cents for each 

 swarm hived. 



" Why," said I, " your arrangement is very 

 similar'to Mr. Alley's." 



"Yes, it is similar," said he; "but it is my 

 own invention, and I had been working along 

 this lin(> a year or two befor'e Mr. Alley or Mr. 

 F. D. Lacey made their inventions public." 



The ever-ready Kodak was pulled out, and 

 I took sevi^ral views of the swai'ming-arrange- 

 ment. and also of a handy tool-house for bee- 

 keepers. Both of these I will illustrate and de- 

 scribe more minutely later, when the engrav- 

 ings are made. 



Mr. Dibble is considerable of a genius. He 

 has constructed a horse-power and hive-making 

 macliinery, whereby he makes all his appli- 

 ances. Tliat he is a good mechanic, is evidenced 

 by his tine work. After taking dinner with my 

 friend I buckled on the Kodak, oiled u]). and 

 betook myself to the road again. Mr. N. D. 

 West, owning some 400 colonies, lived a couple 

 of miles beyond. A short spin of a few min- 



