GLKANINGS TN BKE CULTURE 



Eight-frame supers on ten-frame brood-chamliers. 



This look? a linle l^etter as to its form, 

 but gives nearly three times as much trou- 

 ble to fix up as the one with only one piece; 

 and consequently, for the man who has 

 little time, I would say the one-piece is 

 better. 



It ma}' not be out of place to say here 

 that the small tree on the right-hand corner 

 of the picture is a bay-tree, from which 

 bay rum is made. It i.s the principal shade 

 for this apiary. 



Guavama, Porto Rico. 



AN EXPERIENCE WITH A TOWN BEEKEEPER 



BY RUTH C. GIFFORD 



One morning' I was sitting on the edge of 

 our back porcli nailing honey-cases together 

 wlien Mr. K., from the little town of N., 

 drove in. He stopped his horses with a 

 jerk, looked at me very carefulh% and tlien 

 sputtered out, " Say! I got two colonies of 

 i)ees up in my back yard you can have if 

 you will take them out of there." 



"What is the )natter Avith them?" I asked. 



''Well, the blamed things are cross, and 

 I'm afraid of them. Last summer I took 

 the honej' fro.n one, and those bees stung 

 ine through three pair of pants and two 

 coats. My wife had my head tied up in a 

 sun-bonnet with a lo<: of mosquito-netting 

 wrapped around it: but the bees got undiT 

 it, and I had a terrible time. At present 

 they are so cross that they're even stinging 

 to death my chickens and ducks. I wish 

 you would take them away. You can have 

 them for nothing if you get the honey in 

 the top part for me. They are both good 

 strong colonies that will make you a lot of 

 honey. They are in home-made patent 

 hives." 



After thinking it over I told him 1 would 

 take them. But I wondered at I lie time 

 why he laid so much emphasis on the fact 

 (hat they were in horae-7nade patent Iiives. 

 I had never seen any until I saw his, and 

 then I understood very clearly. 



As soon as the flow from buckwheat and 

 second crop was well started I went over to 

 take off the honey for him. With me I 

 took my bee-suit, an extra bonnet, a good 

 smoker, and plenty of saltpeter rags for 

 .smoker fuel. The extra bonnet was for Mr. 

 K., who wanted to " help." 



The bees were at the south side of the 

 barn in the chicken-lot. They weie so clo.'Je 

 to the gate that a woman's dress would 

 brush against one of the hives every time 

 she went to care for the chickens. The lot 

 was fairly large for a town lot, and at the 

 lower side of it was an open meadow. If 

 he had kept his hives close to the fence on 

 (he loAver side, instead of near the gate, his 

 bees would not have bothei'ed people Avho 

 went in or out. They need not have an- 

 noyed anything in the meadow either, be- 



