APRIL 1, 1913 



Woodward's auto truck loaded with 105 supers and combs, ready for a trip to one of the outyards. 



AUrO TRUCK FOR MIGRATORY BEEKEEPING 



D. L. WOODWARD 



Last season was my first experience with 

 an auto, and I have enjoj'ed it very much, 

 although I have found it quite expensive 

 on account of using pneumatic tires and a 

 hig'h-i3owered car. My machine is a foreign 

 Fiat, 45 horse power and 130-inch wheel 

 base. Most owners of automobiles claim 

 big' mileage for their cars; but all I have 

 ever been able to get out of my car is six 

 miles to the gallon of gasoline. I bought 

 it second-hand, buying just the chassis. 

 After buying it I had a detachable touring 

 body built for it. Then I built a delivery 

 body, also detachable, and a truck platform 

 with stakes, as shown in the picture. 



The platform is 70 inches wide, 96 long, 

 and is built of oak and ash, a vei'y strong 

 construction, but heavier than necessary. 



Let me say right here to prospective buy- 

 ers of auto trucks that I do not consider 

 any touring car suitable for a truck. In the 

 first place, it is geared too high; and in the 

 second place the gears are not heavj^ enough 

 to bear the strain that a truck must stand. 

 [ have had the misfortune to strip my differ- 

 ential gears twice during the season, so I 

 know whei'eof I speak. I do not believe 



there is any pleasure-car built with heavier 

 transmission and gears than the Fiat. 



I would not advise any one to try to get 

 along without horses in addition to the 

 auto, as there are times when the horses 

 come in very handy, especially in the spring 

 and fall. 



For six weeks last spring I was tied up 

 on account of the muddy condition of the 

 roads. If one lives on a State road, that 

 disagreeable feature is done away with. I 

 believe that an auto truck is a great con- 

 venience and a great saver of time; but if 

 one can not afford to keep a pair of horses 

 also, I would choose the horses for the 

 heavy work, and keep a light car which 

 would be inexpensive to maintain, for light 

 work, such as marketing honey and run- 

 ning to the outyards. 



The ordinary beekeeper would have very 

 little use for a truck unless he practiced mi- 

 gratory beekeeping as I do. 



I run two outyards — one five and the 

 other ten miles from my home yard. I take 

 all my honey home to extract, and carry the 

 bees home to winter them. Then about July 

 20 I move them all on the Helderberg Moun- 

 tains for buckwheat honey, a distance of 

 ten miles. Last spring my bees were short 



