Jan. 1. Ull-2 



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.\t Borodino, New York 



THE apiarist's USE FOR AN AUTOMOBILE. 



" Did you see the editor's request, page 

 709, December 1, that those having auto- 

 mobiles tell something of their experience 

 with them in bee-keei)ing for the benefit of 

 the Gleanings family? If I ana correct, 

 you were one of the i)ioneers in using the 

 auto in connection with our industry; and 

 as I am thinking of purchasing one I should 

 be pleased to have you tell us about it." 



" 1 bought my first automobile in June, 

 190;^ — a Tij^-horse-power Pierce motorette. 

 Automobiles were then in their infancy; 

 yet this little machine could climb any of 

 our hills, carrying a load of 400 to 500 

 jiounds. As it was not intended for any 

 thing but carrying two persons, I made a 

 rack to fit on behind the seat; and with 

 this, and the seat Mrs. D. occupied when 

 both of us went, I could load on 350 lbs. of 

 honey, or as many hives or supers as would 

 stay on when going and coming to or from 

 the out-apiary, five miles away. As I then 

 weighed from 260 to 270 lbs., it wull be seen 

 what a power there was in that little 3>^- 

 horse-i)ower motor. In September, 1905, I 

 sold this motorette, considering it too small 

 for my use with the bees; and as I was so 

 well pleased with the material and work- 

 manship I bought another Pierce car, this 

 having a folding seat in front. This was 

 styled an S-horse-power Stanhope; but to 

 show its power and capacity I will say that 

 I have carried four grown persons and six 

 children in it, besides myself, at Sunday- 

 school picnics, and, at other times, from 600 

 to 800 lbs. of crated section honey, to our 

 railroad four miles away, over a hilly coun- 

 try, when shipping my honey to the New 

 York market. By opening up the front 

 seat I could pile on nearly as many hives 

 and supers as could be drawn by wagon, 

 and take them to and from the out-apiary 

 in less than half the time required to trav- 

 erse the distance with a horse. Those 

 having O LEANINGS for August 1, 1906, can 

 find a picture of me with my load of supers 

 just arriving from the out-apiary. 



" But the great beauty of the automobile 

 for the bee-keeper consists in the driver 

 having jierfect control in all of the essentials 

 of apiary work. With my auto I can drive 

 right into the bee-yard; and with the dis- 

 tance 1 have between the rows of hives, the 

 auto can be brought right up to the back 

 side of any hive; heavy supers, freed from 

 bees by the use of the bee-escapes, set right 

 from the hives to the auto, with a carrying 

 swinging motion, with scarcely a bit of the 

 lifting needed when loading on a wagon, as 

 the auto is of about the same height as the 

 supers on the hive. The motor may mean- 

 while be left running slowly, so that mov- 

 ing on to the next hive is only a matter of 

 touching a lever; and in a very few minutes 

 the load is on, the hives closed up in good 

 shai)e, and we are ofT, without a sting or 

 any worry from the bees whatever. 



"Then the driver of this load of precious 

 sweets is always master of the situation, if 

 he is a capable driver, no matter what he 

 meets on the way home. Once a hog was 

 the cause of frightening my horse, and again 

 a traction engine, so that it was only by a 

 hair's breadth that the load of honey was 

 not demolished. The auto never shies nor 

 gets scared, no matter how many ghosts 

 jump out in unexpected places. 



"Another thing which really gives me 

 lots of comfort is, the flies never bite and 

 torment the auto, as they are sure to a horse 

 during the season for moving honey. This 

 season is always in fly time; and to control 

 the horse when files are very troublesome is 

 not always the easiest thing to do where the 

 road is very rough and stony; and a horse 

 often gets its tail over the lines in the fight 

 to relieve itself from these tormentors. Jt 

 is needless to say that the auto overcomes 

 all of these many difficulties. 



"The auto can be made to go at snail's 

 pace where the load requires the most care- 

 ful driving, and, where good, a fifteen-miles- 

 an-hour jog is just as safe and reasonable as 

 the former. Thus a load can be moved with 

 an auto, without tying or binding when 

 moving, which is always a safe precaution 

 with a horse and wagon. 



"Another thing about the auto which 

 pleases me nearly as much as does driving 

 it right into the middle of the apiary, with- 

 out fear of stings or the unhitching of horses, 

 is this: After finding what this auto would 

 do I built an auto store-room, honey-room, 

 and small workshop combined, with mov- 

 able partitions, painting the same a dark 

 color so as to ripen the honey when stored 

 therein through the heat brought about by 

 the absorption of the rays of the sun. Now. 

 instead of having to carry the honey from 

 the wagon to the honey-room, the auto load 

 of honey is run right into the honey-rooai. 

 This saves a whole lot of lugging which was 

 necessary with each load when returning 

 with the horse-drawn wagon. Again, when 

 marketing with horse-power the crates of 

 honey must be carried from the honey-room 

 to the wagon standing outside, and the load, 

 when completed, securely tied or bound on, 

 owing to the smooth surface of the nicely 

 polished cases. The auto is backed right 

 into the honej'^-room, between the piles of 

 nicely crated honey, when, with the swing- 

 ing motion, the lioney is conveyed from 

 these piles into the auto; and when the load 

 is on, the driver pulls the lever, and he with 

 the load moves right out from the honey- 

 room to the railroad station or car convey- 

 ing it to where it is consigned. 



"To save any tying when carrying polish- 

 ed cases of honey to market, 1 have i)roper- 

 ly shaped i)ieces of lumber put in the auto 

 where needed, to give a very slight tip or 

 pitch toward the center, so that all crates 

 will gravitate toward the middle of the load, 

 which is even better than tying." 



