122 



an average of about 100 colonies. Two 

 years ago last July my wife, who had been 

 of very great help to me during all these 

 years, had a shock of paralysis, which left 

 hei- helpless; and in order that I might be 

 the main one in caring for her I now have 

 onl}^ five colonies — just enough for a little 

 relaxation from the many cares resting 

 upon me. 



In closing allow we to say that, while I 

 had many more colonies from 1877 till 1900 

 than 1 had during the first-named year, yet 

 in no one .year after 1877 did the income 

 from the bees equal the amount I secured 

 in that year, although some years it vei"y 

 nearly reached it. Reason : Not till 1888 

 did I sell a single pound of white comb 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



honey for less than 25 cts. a pound, and in 

 1874 ray whole crop of comb honey brought 

 28V2 cts., the dark being included with the 

 wliite. Several years during the 80's and 

 early 'f!0's, ten to eleven cents was the aver- 

 age, and in 1899 the average, when footing 

 up for the whole crop of comb honey, was 

 a little less than 9 cents a pound. Further- 

 more, since 1900 basswood has failed to give 

 the ei'op it formerly did, through failing to 

 secrete nectar some years, and because all 

 that was available for lumber was cut off, 

 owing to this lumber bringing $30 to $35 

 per 1000 feet. Better basswood lumber 

 could be bought in the '70's at from $8.00 

 to $10.00. 



Borodino, N. Y. 



THE COST OF RUNNING AN AUTOMOBILE 



BY A. W. SMITH 



Your editorial statement, page 789, Oct. 

 15, that it costs ten cents a mile to run an 

 automobile for outyard work, must refer to 

 a $2000 or $3000 truck. Allow me to give 

 an idea of what it costs me to run my little 

 old knockabout Ford. Last March I bought 

 an old touring-ear. With saw and ax T 

 chopped and sawed off the rear seat with its 

 part of the body, and put on a home-made 

 box, just the size to hold a certain number 

 of hives. 



Well, my speedometer shows I've run this 

 machine a little over .3000 miles to date. Do 

 you suppose it cost me $300 or more to do 

 it ? I know it has not cost me a fourth of 

 that amount. We do all our exti-acting at 

 home, hence we have given the machine 

 plenty of hard work. For instance, one 

 da', we drove it 90 miles, stripped hives, 

 brushing btes from combs, and 45 of those 

 miles the old auto carried such loads as we 

 should not put on. Do not for a moment 

 think it cost me $9.00 to do this. Call it a 

 fourth that amount, giving discount for 

 cash, and you will be nearly right. 



To do that with a horse would likely 

 cause some depreciation. Formerly, when 

 using horses it took from two to tliree hours 

 to drive over, and an hour longer to drive 

 back if heavily loaded, and the driver had 

 about done a day's work if it was a hot 

 summer day. Again, one does not care to 

 drive a sweaty horse into a yard of 125 

 hives, but he can run an auto right up to 

 their front doors. If my old Ford ever was 

 stung I never heard her complain or prance 

 about and kick over the ti'aces as some 

 hoi-ses do in a similar position. 



Then see the fun one has in sailing through 



the air at a 25-to-35-mile clip. Repeatedly 

 I have made above twelve miles with the 

 machine in 25 to 30 minutes, and on arrival 

 was readj' to get at my work. It is not 

 eveiy beekeeper's horse that can make 20 

 miles per hour, and keep it up night and 

 day if necessary, even with the level roads 

 we have here. 



I would say for a beekeeper, buy a 

 runabout ; knock off the back hood or cover ; 

 put on a box to suit the taste, then put on 

 steps or mud-guards, one or two long tool- 

 boxes, and " go it." If the beekeeper does 

 not know the steering-wheel from the dif- 

 ferential, I would advise him to buy a new 

 car and run that carefully until he doe.' 

 know something about an auto. If he has 

 a friend (good and tnie) who understands 

 autos, and Avishes to buy a used car, he 

 might get that friend to go with him and 

 examine such a machine. Even then it is 

 well to keep close enough to see the seller is 

 not asked how much is in it for the expert. 



Some might like to know the course I 

 pursued. Through the winter months I 

 would go through garages and sales places 

 looking for used cars; but although there 

 have been hundreds of thousands of ma- 

 chines built of the make I wanted, there 

 seemed to be very few offered for sale, and 

 not a single one could I find for less than 

 $300 and up to $400. At the same time I 

 could find a great manj' of the formerly 

 high-cost cars at $200 to $250. The more 

 I could not find the car at my price, the 

 more 1 wanted one. 



Finally T made up my mind it was a Ford 

 or none. The big oars that carried 4-inch 

 and 4V2-i"cli *^ires were heavy, and it might 



