THE BEE-KEEPERS' REVIEW. 



323 



Until brood rearing begins towards spring 

 very little change of air is needed; after 

 this, more is necessary. The sub-earth ven- 

 tilating fad has probably about had its run. 



I have often thought that a side hill would 

 be my choice for a location for a bee house 

 if I could have such choice. But I am one 

 among very many who must of necessity do 

 without the hill. After using it for many 

 years I should have but few changes to sug- 

 gest in my home bee house. 



I would not even dispense with the cement 

 floor and the kitchen with its facilities for 

 warming the bees in winter. 



East Townsend, Ohio. Oct. 4, 1892. 



No More Revolutionizing Inventions Ex- 

 pected. — Bee-Keepers Must Practice 

 Economy and Common Sense. 



E. L. TAYLOR. 



^ACH writer is 

 Ij asked for the 

 best article he ever 

 wiote! Whew! Mil- 

 ton composed his 

 ni u'nificent " Para- 

 Hi-eLost," and hav- 

 luy gained experi- 

 ence, sat down to 

 write a masterpiece, 

 and produced the 

 tame "Paradise Re- 

 gained." Horace in 

 describing such a crisis, says (pardon my 

 allusion to the Latin) Parturiunt monies 

 nascetun ridiculus mus, which I freely trans- 

 late: The Rocky mountains are in travail 

 and will give birth to a funny little mouse. 

 Writing under the burden of such a request 

 one can only invoke the muses to sustain 

 him as he attempts to direct his totteririg 

 steps. 



Until a time that is within the memory of 

 many still living the hive was a sealed book, 

 but thanks to the love of investigation and 

 to the ingenuity of Langstroth, the seals 

 were broken and its pages opened with a 

 touch of the fingers of every reader. 

 Against the barriers of fixed natural combs 

 the waves of progress had broken for ages, 

 but at length they were overthrown and 

 movable combs came in. This was a revo- 

 lution in itself, but it was more, it was the 

 parent of revolutions. It created a neces- 



sity for the honey extractor and comb foun- 

 dation and showed the way to the present 

 shape of section comb honey. With the 

 necessity there was possibility, and these 

 twain harnessed together are all prevailing. 

 The needed discoveries were made and bee 

 keeping took a respectable position among 

 other rural i)ursuits. A want of some means 

 of controlling queens and drones was felt 

 and perforated zinc was found in its various 

 applications to satisfy it. A multitude of 

 other wants have been supplied by appro- 

 priate devices so that it would seem that the 

 outfit of the business is now well rounded up. 



What is there still to come ? What lack is 

 there ? What want is felt ? 



Some want non-swarming bees, some a 

 non-swarming hive, and some a self-hiver. 

 We would all no doubt like an arrangement 

 by which all the bees of an apiary could be 

 induced to store all their surplus honey in 

 one common pile of section cases. 



Necessity is the mother of invention, but 

 possibility is the father. There may be a 

 want of non-swarming bees or a non-swarm- 

 ing hive, but so long as birds build nests so 

 long will bees swarm. Many appear to 

 think they need a self-hiver, but one cannot 

 well afiford to buy and place in position 200 

 self-hivers to catch GO or 70 prime swarms. 

 That would be too costly and too laborious. 

 Besides, for other reasons than swarming, it 

 is profitable to give personal attention to an 

 apiary during the swarming season as often 

 as once every two or three days. Good 

 queen traps would do the rest and in any 

 case I suspect they would be preferable to 

 any self-hiver. 



There will no doubt be many devices dis- 

 covered from time to time that will relieve 

 the bee keeper in a small way, but search as 

 I will I can discover no great need that can 

 by any possibility be met by any wonderful 

 invention. He who, peering into the mists 

 of the future, proclaims that he discovers an 

 invention approaching that is to create a 

 revolution in apiculture may be set down as 

 a visionary or else he has made some mis- 

 calculation. 



If my conclusions are correct it follows 

 that the chances of success in apiculture will 

 turn upon the man rather than upon any 

 sleight of hand in management or magic of 

 invention, so the editor has done the right 

 thing in calling for the best advice that can 

 be given to bee keepers. 



What a wonderful thing is advice, I have 

 found myself exclaiming as I have been 



