176 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Mar. 



advertisement, to the effect that they had 

 come down to 25 cts. a year, and also that 

 they would send both Gleanings and 

 the Magazine for $1.10 we felt somewhat 

 anxious about the matter. If we refused to 

 accept the advertisement, v/e were open to 

 the charge of being afraid of our own pock- 

 et-books : if we received it, and the journal 

 were published for only a few months, then 

 we shoidd be censured, just as you are cen- 

 suring me now. Is it not true, that the on- 

 ly thing we can do is to act according to the 

 best of our judgment and wisdom V In re- 

 gard to the Bee-keeper's Magazine, I am hap- 

 py to say that the editors are very nice 

 young men ; and, so far as we can tell, they 

 are quite able to send out their journal sev- 

 eral years, without getting more for it than 

 the value of the paper u])ou which it is 

 printed, if they choose to do so. I believe 

 them to be honest and straightforward ; but 

 I wish to be distinctly understood that I can 

 not be in any way responsible for the success or 

 failure of their new undertaking. Under the 

 circumstances I am sorry to bid adieu to an 

 old customer, but I do not see how I can do 

 otherwise, conscientiously, friend R. Here 

 is the other letter: 



Mr. Root :—l see by Gleaninos that Mr. Horn 

 has authorized you to collect all claims against 

 him. He is in debt to me some, but I'd rather have 

 the letter he wrote me than his note for two years. 

 As he says we can add 10 per cent for the use of 

 the money, which would be unlawful in New York. 

 6 per cent being the interest here, he could cheat 

 us on the note, and with a good deal more honor, 

 than be can as it is. Mr. Root, I want to show you 

 how 1 got caught by him through you. I wrote you 

 last spring, asking you if I could buy bees and 

 queens by the pound, and turn them into the 

 hives on my old combs (my bees having died the 

 winter before), and make a success of it. Instead 

 of answering my letter you sent me a postal card 

 referring me to your A B G book, which vexed me 

 at the time, I having heard you are a square man 

 to deal with. I intended to buy the bees of you. 

 I wanted ten pounds, bees and queens, so you see 

 if you had answered direct, saying yes or no, I 

 should not have been caught by Horn. 



Perry. N. Y., Feb. 3, 1887. James R. Wright. 



I confess that I was obliged to smile a 

 little in reading the above, even though I 

 am very, very sorry for our friend's losses. 

 It looks to me sometliing this way : He 

 came to our store to trade, and found us so 

 full of business that we had not time to 

 treat him as courteously as we should have 

 done, therefore he goes and tiades at anoth- 

 er store, and then blames me because he got 

 into trouble. I am very sorry indeed that 

 we are obliged to refer so many questioners 

 to our price list and the ABC book ; but so 

 many times the clerks have given answers 

 to inquiries that were not at all what I 

 wished, that I have repeatedly directed 

 them to refer such inquirers to the ABC 

 book, where I have answered such questions 

 carefully and deliberately. There have 

 been so many inquiries every spring in re- 

 gard to buying bees to put iii hives left by 

 the bees that have died, that I gave a page 

 or two to the consideration of the matter, 

 in the ABC book. The questions to be 



answered are something like this: How 

 many bees shall I purchase with tlie queen V 

 Shall I buy them in April, May. or June V 

 Is it necessary that they have a brood -coml)? 

 Will they make a full colony the lirst year V 

 Shall I be likely to get any honey from 

 them V Now, suppose I were to dictate to 

 our shorthand writer this wliole story to 

 many different inquirers, each spring. VVhy, 

 I would almost rather give tliem a book 

 apiece than undertake to do it. T miaht 

 have some leaflets printed, so ;is to cover the 

 ground, to give away, and I b-'lieve I will 

 have it done this very spring' I am very 

 sorry indeed to appear disobliring. and I be- 

 lieve that those who have read (TLE.\NrNGs 

 during these past years know that I do not 

 mean to be; but, my friends, ilieie is a limit 

 to the mental and physical strengtii of even 

 a big strong man, and I am neither the one 

 nor the other. 



HIVE-MAKING IN " THE HIBST STILE." 



FRIEND stover's SIT(ir,KSTI()N. 



fRIEND ROOT:— Being a mechanic. 1 have been 

 considerably interested in the engraving on 

 p. 378, ABC book. I also noticed your reply 

 in GijEANings, to a query concerning the 

 hexagonal beehive, saying Ihe inventor tiied 

 to see what he could make. I herewith send .\ou a 

 drawing of a proposed chaff hive, or hives, to be of 

 the standard size. 



(V) CHAFf . 



n 



stover's tenement hive, adapted to THE LAWN 

 OR FLOWER-GARDEN. 



The spire is to be 6 ft. high, covered with tapered 

 shingles 2Vi inches wide. The staff on the spire is to 

 have a flag, not shown in the cut. It will have all 

 the brackets that are shown in your catalogue. I ex- 

 pect to set it in my lawn along the street, in order 

 to attract attention and make people "talk bees," 

 which is the onlj' advantage 1 claim for it. I have 

 been employed by neighbors to make chaff' hives; 

 and the higher the bee-fever gets, the more hives 1 

 can sell. I purchased two colonies last summer, 

 more for the purpose of studying the nature of 

 bees, than for gain. I am getting to be very much 

 interested since studying the subject There is no 

 telling where T shall stop. What do you think of 

 the hive? Levi Stover. 



Brookville, Mont. Co., O.. Feb., 1HS7. 



I think, friend S., that it tills the bill 

 pretty well, for all the advantages you claim 

 for it, but you are very modest. Most of 

 the patent-right bee-men would claim that 



