GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



Heartseafe, rnbuicinuni persicaria. Photo by J. INI. 

 Bufhanan, Franklin, Tenn. 



ed, " I ate your grass, I drank your slop, 

 but I'll be dommed if I ate you bug ! " I 

 tiud that 1 aoi getting off my subject. 



When I had secured queens ready for the 

 market I was confronted with the problem 

 of advertising — a subject which I have 

 since found very interesting and deep. I 

 tried small spaces in bee journals, and ex- 

 pected a deluge of orders ; but in this I was 

 again disappointed. I was unknown; and 

 if it had not been for the fact that I se- 

 cured some advertising space in exchange 

 for bee notes in a farm paper I would have 

 come out of th(3 little end of the horn. At 

 a time when I was a little discouraged, the 

 late Charles F. Muth visited at our home. 

 He looked over my outfit ; and before he 

 left he said, " Walter, for the present I can 

 use all tlie queen bees that you can pro- 

 duce." His kind and gratifying Avords can 

 never be forgotten. 



Well, I found myself so fascinated with 

 the bee business that 1 had promised myself 

 that, if I were rewarded with a first-class 

 apiary, and established in the queen-rearing 

 business, I would never ask for anything 

 further, especially if these things were 

 gained by the sweat of my own brow. Now, 

 things were different again. I began to 

 have a longing to go into the supply busi- 

 ness. 



BoiiPset, I'.Ujiatcrium iifrfijliatxnii . Piioin 1.- ■'• 'li 

 Buchanan, Franklin, Ttnn. 



1 Spent one winter with the A. I. Root 

 Co., and the more I learned about it the 

 more it seemed to fascinate me; and the 

 very odor of pine lumber and beeswax 

 seemingly intoxicated me. I had met many 

 beekeepers, and I thought them as a class 

 the best people on earth. I have never chang- 

 ed my mind on this point. My opportu- 

 nities at home wei'e good, but I was wor- 

 ried about getting in the supply business. 

 I had seen good men fail after starting 

 with considerable means while others pros- 

 pered ; but I felt that I could succeed if I 

 only had the opportunities, but there seem- 

 ed to be no openings. However, the dark- 

 est hour is just before day, and I had even 

 looked over the map deciding that, if I had 

 my choice, I would locate in Indianapolis. 

 I had occasion to visit friends in Indian- 

 apolis, and just naturally hunted up the 

 local bee-supply dealer, Mr. Frank L. 

 Dougherty. 



After cordially sl]aking hands in tlie at- 

 titude of the bee fraternity he confided to 

 me that he had been promoted to more 

 extensive interests, and that his supply 

 business was for sale. This brought me to 

 a fever again, and I learned that another 

 man was negotiating for the business — a 

 man with much moj-e means than I could 



