1885 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



BOOMHOWEB'S APIARY. 



THE HOME AND APIARY OF ONE OF OUR A B C 

 SCHOLARS OF EIGHT YEARS' EXPERIENCE. 



E take pleasure in presentinor to you 

 in the accompanying picture a 

 glimpse of a bee-keeper's home, and 

 the arrangement of his bee-hives. 

 As friend Boomhower has sent us 

 no 'explanation, we shall have to pick it out 

 ourselves, for what I see. The very large 

 hive where friend B. stands at work, we 

 should think must be a chaff tenement hive. 

 The engravers, not understanding bees, 

 have probablv omitted seveial details that a 

 l»ec-kfcper \V(mld liavc got in liad lie done 



he receives pay accordingly. He is the 

 architect of his own fortune. 



I suppose the view was taken before the 

 children got home from school, so you see 

 none of these little prattlers about, and none 

 near friend B.'s elbow, saying, ''Pa, pa, may 

 1 have this?'' etc. Did you ever think how 

 much a man. can accomplish by working 

 steadily day after day, week after week, and 

 year after year? If bee culture does not 

 occupy all his time, or if he decides not to 

 invest too much in bees in the start, he can 

 at the same time have his garden, raise 

 small fruits and berries, and have a great 

 many other revenues besides that from his 

 bet'-liivps. It is true, lie has to battle for 



FRIl.M) ItdOMllOWl KS API iRV, C.AM.rPVIM.E, N. Y. 



the work. The small hives are evidently 

 for queen-rearing. tSome sort of instrument 

 stands near the trees, which we hope friend 

 B. will explain in some future letter. "N'ery 

 likely the picture was taken some June aft- 

 ernoon. Mrs. B. has tiuislied her work, 

 dinner things are waslied and ])ut away, and 

 while she sits at the window with her mag- 

 azine she looks out occasionally to where 

 her husband is at work. Is not a bee-keep- 

 er's life in many respects a pleasant one? 

 He is his own employer, and has otdy himself 

 and his Creator to please. The "blue ex- 

 panse above is the roof of his workshop, the 

 free air of heaven is all round about him, he 

 is near his home — in fact, in his own door- 

 yard all the long hours of the day. If he 

 works from early dawn until late at njght. 



success, and who does not anywhere? In 

 all these things there is a sort of survival of 

 the tittest going on ; but a really industrious 

 man, who plans his work and exhibits judg- 

 ment and wisdom in the bestowal of his 

 enero'ies, rarely fails to gain at least the 

 comforts of life. And then, dear friends, 

 where he can make a living on his own 

 premises he has one very great advantage 

 over those who work for daily wages. No 

 strikes, no shutting down of factories affect 

 him— at least, not directly. If he keeps in- 

 formed in regard to the rural industries of 

 the day, he usually has plenty to do ; and if 

 times are dull, and the income is necessarily 

 small, he mUvSt cut down expenses, and cut 

 off luxuries. To tell the truth, I believe 

 that thousands of people arc happier while 



