1901 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



823 



double-deckers for every one and for all lo- 

 calities. After having- traveled over the 

 country as I have, and studied the various 

 conditions of climate, and stj'les and condi- 

 tion of hives, my conclusion is that it is both 

 foolish and silly to advocate any particular 

 fad or plan as being- practicable alike to 

 every section of country; but I do feel that 

 the two-story idea has not been exploited as 

 much as it ought to be in some localities. 

 If it works at all it will produce some great 

 results, both in the reduction of swarming 

 and in the harvesting of big crops. — Ed.] 



PUTTING UP COMB HONEY IN AN ATTRACTIVE 

 SHAPE. 



A very Neat and Pretty Selling.case. 



BV BENJAMIN FRANKLIN. 



3/r. Roof. — I send you a photo of a style 

 of box I call my border package. Years 

 ago I had a nice crop of honey from the 

 silver maple, the first in over 30 

 3^ears. Last j^ear I did not get 

 much of an^' kind. This year I 

 am getting a fine crop from the 

 silver maple. The raspberry and 

 silver maple come in bloom about 

 the same time, but the bees work 

 on the silver inaple, so I don't get 

 any raspberry honey but what is 

 flavored with the silver maple. 

 These mountains are covered with 

 it. Two years ago I could not sup- 

 ply the demand for this style of 

 package, for it was just the thing 

 to carry back to the city. What I 

 claim as original of this box is the 

 handle. I tried wire, tape, and oth- 

 er things ; but I came across some 

 picture-frame wire cord that just 

 filled the bill. I get different col- 

 ors and put up nice Danz. plain 

 sections 4X5Xl^'s, that will weigh 

 nearly 1 lb. I can sell them like 

 hot cakes. All I have to do is to 

 raise a box, as you can see in the 

 picture. I have some pink paper 

 around the box to lift them out. I 

 have also paper in the bottom with 

 strips to raise them up from the 

 bottom, like your shipping-case. 

 The holes in the ends are glassed. 

 Where we raised corn and pota- 

 toes it was washed away in the 

 freshet last spring. The water 

 came into the bee-yard, and we 

 had to raise the bees up out of the 

 water ; but there is not so much 

 loss but that there is some gain. 

 The water filled in above, and 

 washed out below, so it left a fall 

 of 3 ft. or over, so I put in a water- 

 wheel and turn out the molding- 

 and hole by water power. The 

 wheel is 100 ft. or over from the 

 bee-house. I run the power to the 

 lathe with a wire clothes-line. 



It is no trouble to sell nice honey 



put up in these boxes. You can see I look 

 rough and ready to sell honey, and tell 

 them all about it. I sold these five pack- 

 ages at one place, and five more to the next 

 house, all New Yorkers. 



Griffin Corners, N. Y., July 31. 



[Mr. Benjamin Franklin is a bee-keeper 

 whom I met, or, rather, did not meet, on 

 my first bicycle-tour through New York in 

 1890. I had just bought one of the latest 

 safety bicycles, then just out, and was mak- 

 ing a tour on the wheel — quite a novelty 

 then — through the hill country of the Em- 

 pire State. While cycling on one of those 

 days I heard how one bicyclist had been 

 robbed along the way, and I had been 

 warned to look ovit in going over a certain 

 route, and I did. Along one of the lonely 

 i-oads a man hailed me to stop; but remem- 

 bering what I had heard I put on all the 

 steam I had. The supposed robber chased 

 after me; but I turned a deaf ear, and ped- 

 dled with all my might to gain the top of 



