FEBRUARY 15, 1915 



interview liitn; for be 

 it remenibeied that 

 Mr. Poppleton was 

 for a number of yea is 

 tbe .greatest migratory 

 beekeeper in tbe workl. 

 While his operations 

 ill this line were not, 

 perhaps, eondneted on 

 as large a scale as 

 those of the Root Co. 

 during li)14, yet be 

 carried on the business 

 on a large scale a long 

 time successfully. 



Occasionally we used 

 to get little items as to 

 what he was doing. 

 Every now and then 

 tiiere would be a pic- 

 ture of his bees on a 

 gasoline-launch; but 

 beyond these and sonic 

 veiT short items about 

 his migratory beekee]i- 

 ing, the bee-world lias 

 not seen much of him. 

 The fact that he be- 

 longs in the list of old 

 Vetera n beekeei>ers 

 alongside of Lang- 

 stroth. Quinby, Tup- 

 pei-. Gallup. Wagner. 

 Heddon, Hutchinson. 

 Miller, and Root 

 makes him all the more 

 interesting. Of this 

 iiuml)er there are only two others besides 

 Mr. Poppleton who are still alive. 



Some forty or more years ago the merits 

 of the Long Idea hive were extolled in the 

 columns of the old American Bee Journal, 

 and, later on, in Gleanings. This hive 

 primarily consisted of a single brood-nest 

 capable of holding 24 American frames, 12 

 inches square outside. It was always used 



■ as a single brood-chamber, never on the 

 storifying or supering-up plan. 



The hive that Mr. Poppleton uses, or did 

 use up to a year ago before he sold out, has 



' a brood-nest or hive-body 40 x 1.3 inches 

 deei>. by 13 wide, inside measure. This will 

 take 24 closed-top American frames, 12x12 

 out.side measure. While these dimensions 

 would seem to afford a rather large bee- 

 space for a 13-inch hive Mr. Poppleton was 

 doubtless figuring on the accumulation of 

 propolis and irregularities of construction ; 

 for it would have to be made at a regular 

 l)laning-niill or by a carpenter, as no supply 

 manufacturer makes it. The cover tele- 



L scopes down over the hive proper, leaving 



Fig. 



O. O. Poppleton manipulating one of hi.s Lon^ 

 at Stuart, Florida. 



Idea hives 



room in the top for a cushion or packing- 

 material if necessary. The body is cleated 

 at the top end and sides to make it conven- 

 ient to handle. In the illustrations accom- 

 panying (Figs. 2 and 3), the general style 

 of the hive Avill be seen, together with the 

 frame, with Mr. Poppleton standing at one 

 side. 



One would think, to look at this hive, that 

 it is about the most unw'ieldy, clumsy, and 

 awkward thing that could possibly be used 

 for migi-atory beekeeping. It would seem 

 to be especially so for a man past 70. I 

 have actually heard many persons say, even 

 in Florida, " I do not see how such an in- 

 telligent man as 0. 0. Poppleton can get 

 along with such a monstrosity." Such re- 

 marks came even from beekeepers not far 

 distant from him. I must confess that I 

 myself could not see any merit in it; but 

 after ha\'ing heard Mr. Poppleton explain 

 the hive and system as he uses it I am not 

 sure but I should like to work with it. In- 

 deed, it may be better for migratory bee- 

 keeping than any hive of smaller dimensions 



