214 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 







Vi 



Fig. 1. — One of R. F. Holtermann's apiaries of twelve-frame hives. 



of stores, and so I moved about half of 

 them six miles from home into a fruit belt 

 for fnxit bloom. After fruit bloom I moved 

 them to another location where I could get 

 a large quantity of wild-raspberry honey. 

 In this way they all got enough honey with- 

 out feeding to carry them through and to 

 keep up brood-rearing. 



By means of the auto the moving is done 

 quickly and easily, as I have a full equip- 

 ment for doing all this kind of work. We 

 usually close up ninety colonies the night 

 before; and the next day, after I haul a 

 load, my man stays at the yard to open the 

 hives, and is generally waiting for me when 

 I return with the next load. I find that it 

 takes me just 45 minutes to cover the twelve 

 miles, including loading and unloading, car- 

 i"ying thirty colonies to the load, fifteen to 

 each floor. I have a skeleton floor that I 

 use in moving bees. It is 18 inches above 

 the platform, and is held up by the stakes. 

 On the rear stakes is a cross-board with 

 notches cut in for the floor boards to fit in. 



I also find the auto a great convenience 

 in selling honey at retail, as I live twelve 

 miles from Albany, the nearest market. I 

 have sold in three hours, from my auto on 

 the public market, as much as 103 five- 



IDOund pails of honey besides that which 

 was put up in pint jars and in five, six, and 

 twelve ounce bottles. 



It is certainly a jjretty sight to see the 

 auto loaded with seven or eight hundred 

 pounds of honey in bottles, and in my spe- 

 cial red and gold lithogTaphed pails; and I 

 generally have a good-sized crowd of ad- 

 mirers. I get 12 cents a pound in five- 

 pounds pails; 10 cents for the five and six 

 ounce bottles; 25 cents for the pint jars, 

 and 20 cents for the twelve-ounce bottles. 

 At those prices there is money in bees. 

 Beekeeping is my sole occupation; and from 

 300 colonies I make a good living and save 

 some besides. 



Delmar, N. Y. 



THE TWELVE-FRAME POWER EXTRACTOR 



BY R. F. HOLTERMANN 



Some of my friends claim that I am too 

 coi^servative. On the other hand, there are 

 those who state that I risk too much; and 

 the reason they give for this statement is 

 that they can point to certain fixtures or im- 

 plements about the bee-houses which I am 

 not using. These accusations prove to my 



