1901 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



679 



glaci to present hitTi, not in his everyday work 

 clothes, but in his go visiting dress. Per- 

 haps there is no bee-keeper better known 

 within 100 miles of S\n Antonio than Mr. 

 Davidson, for he has traveled over a great 

 deal of the territory, buying and selling honey 

 as well as selling bee keepers' supplies. He 

 had never visited Mr. Toepperwein, and so 

 we together made arrangtmtrnts to call on him 

 at Leon Springs. 



G. F. DAVIDSON. 



But, who is Mr. Toepperwein ? He is a young 

 man fully six feet high, a giant in strength, 

 full of enthusiasm, ambitious and honest. He 

 has been in the bee bus-iness a number of 

 years, but during the last year or two he has 

 been devoting his whole attention to bees. 



At the time of my visit he had only a small 

 number of colonies; but since leaving there I 

 understand he has, with his partner, Mr. A. 

 Y Walton, come into possession of over 400 

 colonies, and in the very near future will have 



nearly 1000. The two have formed a partner- 

 ship to take the business of the A. I. Root Co., 

 and have opened a store at San Antonio for 

 buying and selling honey, as well as for 

 handling the Root goods. With them will be 

 associated Mr. G. F. Davidson, and the trio 

 expect to do a good business. So much for 

 Mr. Toepperwein and his business connec- 

 tions. 



It had been raining at Leon Springs, and it 

 was not possible, therefore, to use the camera 

 to any extent ; but as soon as the drops had 

 ceased to fall, and the clouds had cleared 

 away a little, I asked Mr. Toepperwein and 

 Mr. Davidson to step out into the bee-yard, as 

 I desired to take pictures of them. Mr. Toep- 

 perwein came first on the docket. I asked 

 him to stand near one of his favorite colonies 

 in his apiary, stretch himself up to his full 

 height, put on his blandest smile, and to as- 

 sume for the time being that his best girl was 

 looking at him, as I expected to turn on him 

 all the eyes of the great Gl,Eanings family.* 

 He did so, and the camera records the result. 

 The picture is a fairly good one, and shows 

 hini to be just what he is, one of nature's no- 

 blemen, a perfect specimen of rustic health, 

 capable of any amount of hard honest work, 

 and good enough to win the heart of any 

 "best girl." His partner, Mr. Walton, I saw 

 for only a few moments ; but from what I can 

 learn the two are well matched. 



Just as I had finished taking the picture we 

 heard the rumbling of distant thunder. Some 

 more black Medina clouds were hanging 

 ominously low. Over in the distance we had 

 heard the patter of big drops. I told Mr. 

 Davidson to fix himself up quickly — I wished 

 ro get a shot at him. There was no time to 

 think — no time to do any thing; but I poised 

 the camera as best I could, pressed the bulb, 

 and then we three started on a run for Toep- 

 perwein 's bee hive shop, in between the big 

 drops that were beginning to come thick and 

 fast. On arriving home I was sorry to find 

 that the picture was " no good " — at least so 

 poor I did not like to disgrace my friend 

 Davidson, and I accordingly asked him to sit 

 for a picture and send me one, which he did, 

 which and we reproduce. 



A NEW UNCAPPING-BOX. 



How to Extemporize one Out of Old Hive Bodies ; 

 Something about the Most Extensive Bee- 

 keeper in the World. 



BY HARRY HOWi;. 



Take a good tight hive and nail a cover to 

 the bottom ; then wax the track, and you 

 have a fair capping-tank. For the box to cut 

 the cappings into, take another and tack a 

 piece of wire cloth over the bottom. Bring 

 the edges of the cloth up inside of the hive- 

 body some two inches or so, and tack a strip 

 over it all the way around. This will leave it 



* To be honest I don't know that he has any " best 

 girl;" but I thought if he hadn't any, that possibly, 

 perhaps, I might find one for him, or, better still, 

 one who, attracted by his good look?, would find him. 



