FEBRUARY 1, 1915 



however, that, whenever I ran across any 

 thing in the Eural New-Yorker (the only 

 paper father took in those days), about 

 them 1 read it witli more interest than I did 

 the " story page." 



The season of 1868 was an extra season 

 for bees — so much so that colonies filled 

 their hives, clustered out, and built combs 

 under the benches the hives stood on, some 

 colonies storing from five to twenty pounds 

 there. This made bee-talk very common 

 in this localit}', and caused my old love for 

 the bees to burn brightly again, so that the 

 spring of 1869 found me with two colonies 

 of ray own as the starting-point of my real 

 beekeeping. 



Wisliing to know all the minutiae of this 

 interesting pursuit I procured all of the 

 bee-books of that day, and subscribed for 

 the bee-papers. And to these books and 

 papers I have always credited very much 

 of the success, Avhatever it may have been, 

 that has come to me in all of the years since 

 the season of 1868. 



As my ambition led me toward the practi- 

 cal side of beekeeping, " Quinby's Myster- 

 ies of Beekeeping Explained " captivated 

 me beyond all of the othei-s; and after all 

 these years the turning to the index of that 

 old book brings to mind pretty much all 

 that the hands, now moldering in the dust, 

 wrote nearly three-fourths of a century ago. 



To tell the truth, beginning with 1870, 

 beekeeping for the next thirty years was 

 little less than " one round of endless pleas- 

 ure." I dreamed of bees nights, and thought 

 of them during my waking hours to an al- 

 most absorbing extent ; and to-day I am still 

 a student, believing that there are many 

 unexplored regions (which I should like to 

 explore would circumstances permit), and 

 much room for still deeper thought, even on 

 the practical part of this pursuit. 



Resides the books and papers, Elisha 

 Oallup, a writer on practical beekeeping 

 during the seventies and early eighties, 

 helped me very much through his private 

 letters. I still have a stack of these some 

 three or four inches high. His great pa- 

 tience with me and my questions has been 

 the "mainspring" which has "moved me 

 out " in answering the questions regarding 

 beekeeping sent in to me. Many and many 

 have been the nights during the past forty 

 years in which I have been up long after I 

 ought to have been in bed, answering ques- 

 tions as best I could in order that I might 

 pay the debt I owe E. Gallup; for he 

 would never take one cent further than 

 postage for all the help he gave me. He, 

 too, has passed to " his long home." 



In 1870 I wrote my first article for pub- 



lication, sending it to the Apiculturist and 

 Home C'lrcle, published in Mexico, Mo. This 

 article was written over three times before 

 I dared let it go, as I feared that it would 

 never be published. But the editor saw fit 

 to publish the matter, and since then I have 

 been " scribbling away," honestly trying to 

 help some one a little, in order that, in a 

 small waj', I might compensate for the great 

 amount of knowledge I have gained from 

 tlie writings of others. 



The two colonies bought in 1869 had 

 increased so that I started the spring of 

 1877 with 67 colonies; and from an old 

 diary of that year I find the following: 



I have a chance to rent the old farm which I have 

 been working on shares for father the past 11 years, 

 and so I start out this year with nothing but the 67 

 colonies of beee to depend upon, this first day of 

 April, 1877. It looks a little venturesome, but I 

 liope it will come out all right. 



Under date of May 27 I find this: 



.ipple bloom, which has given a good yield of nec- 

 tar, and given the bees a good supply to last till 

 clover bloom, has also given quite a start in the 

 boxes that are on the best colonies. 



Again, date June 13: 



Have decided to work two colonies for extracted, 

 and 65 for box honey. 



August 3 : 



^^^lite clover began to secrete nectar June 17, and 

 nn the 20th the most of the colonies were well at 

 work in the section boxes. Basswood opened July 

 14, and lasted till the 28th, which, with teasel since 

 the 20th, yielded abundantly. Now the teasel ha4S 

 failed, and I can work only early in the morning and 

 after sunset, taking off honey on account of robbers. 



August 31 : 



Buckwheat began to yield nectar the 16th of this 

 month and closed the 28th, which is, without doubt, 

 the last surplus for the year 1877. 



October 1 : 



The result of this season with the bees sums up 

 as follows as to honey : 



Box honey (white), 8761; box honey (dark), 

 1523; extracted, 893. Total, 11,177. The average 

 yield from the 65 worked for box honey was 158 

 pounds. Average yield from the two worked for 

 extracted honey, 446 lbs. Average from the 67 colo- 

 nies of both Ijox and extracted honey, 166% lbs. 

 The best colony worked for extracted honey gave 566 

 lbs. Best yield per day was from July 21 to 24, 

 being 66 lbs., or 22 lbs. per day. Three colonies 

 worked for box honey gave 896 lbs.; the best, 309; 

 second, 301; third, 286. Several others did nearly 

 ;is well, but no record was kept. 



November 29 : 



Honey all sold. Received for what I could spare, 

 .$2492.28. Have now concluded that I can " run 

 alone " with the bees, so have disposed of my interest 

 in the old farm and .start out as a specialist in api- 

 culture. Since starting in 1869 the bees have paid 

 me a little over $6000 above all I have paid out for 

 ihem. 



After 1877 I increased the bees till I had 

 about 250 colonies; but in 1880 father be- 

 came helpless and I had to give so much of 

 my time to him for the next four years, or 

 till he died, that the number was reduced to 



