DKOEMhER 1, 1915 



With what was left I built a summer cottage for mv fauiiU 



whole buiUliiii;- did not exceed $20.00, the 

 largest part of which was for the roofing. 

 Even the nails were, for the most jjart, the 

 old nails, of which I picked up and straight- 

 ened out over 67 pounds. 1 did the work 

 all mj-solf with the help of a friend w-ho is 

 also a little-red-hatchet carpenter, and did 

 not lose a single day from the ollice. 



The shack is located on a hill overlooking 

 a beautiful valley, fifteen minutes from 

 town on the interurban line, and is sur- 

 rounded by fine oak-trees of several species; 

 and, besides being a delightful place to 

 spend the sunuuer, it is a good location for 

 bees. We have plenty of white clover some 

 yeare, acres of sweet clover every year; 

 willow, some basswood, dandelion by the 

 acre, and plenty of catnip. Hound's-tongue 

 {Cynoglossum officinale) is simjDly taking 

 the pastures in this section. My wife is my 

 partner; and what I do not think of she 

 certainly does; and when I become discour- 

 aged sl'.e enthuses, and vice versa. 



The first year we started with two colo- 

 nies of bees. One of them we moved from 

 town, and the other was a swarm from a 

 neighboring farm. Something happened to 

 the queen we took from town, and the other 

 colony we evidently managed to death — any 

 way, we started over again the next spring, 

 this time with two queens and two half- 

 fiounds of bees. One of these queens went 

 the way of the first, and we bought another, 



which we succeeded in introducing success- 

 fully. The next spring we again started all 

 over again, this time with two full colonies, 

 which we tried to divide by removing the 

 queens and waiting for queen-cells. One 

 queen we killed outright while trying to 

 clip, and the other took a swarm out while 

 we were looking over the frames. They did 

 not even take time to settle, but evi'dently 

 knew where they were going, as we chased 

 them nearly a mile through the fields with- 

 out finding them. 



We succeeded in making them cjueenless, 

 and then some, as there were no eggs in 

 either hive. After waiting in vain for 

 queen-cells we bought six virgins which we 

 introduced. We were successful with four, 

 and in the mean time caught a fine swarm 

 in a decoy hive.. So we now have the best 

 start that we have ever had, and are once 

 more enthusiastic. We have learned a few 

 things about bees in our three years' experi- 

 ence, and comfort ourselves with the thought 

 of Dr. Miller's eleven years at beekeeping 

 with only two colonies to show for it. We 

 think that we may yet win out. 



We certainly have the love of the pursuit 

 all right, and ai'e long on theory but shoi't 

 on experience. We are acquainted with 

 them all, from Dr. Miller to Doolittle, and 

 from Miss Emma Wilson to Frank C. Pel- 

 let t — also Dr. Bonney. 



Princeton, 111. 



