TJAiEi n.'mMRicmn bek journkil. 



569 



Uoe-K('0('iK'rs' Associatinn. a writer on 

 the subject of bees, and yet this man 

 never saw n, queen, nor a queen-cell, 

 and he could not tell brood from 

 honej'. He never examines the brood- 

 nest to see its condition, unless the 

 bees die. His theory is, to put surplus 

 apartments on all the hives, strong in 

 bees or weak, and " let them rip," on 

 Nature's way. 



He is looking for swarms — he tliinks 

 more of a swarm than of tlio produc- 

 tion of honey. Ho said that it was 

 alwminable how they swarmed last 

 season (meaning astonisliing), but this 

 summer he and his wife have sat out 

 under the trees all day watching for 

 swarms. To hear this party talk, one 

 would naturally think tliat lie was 

 scientilii'. 



I asked him to open a hive, to let me 

 see the inside. He went to the house, 

 and got a pail of water, a butcher- 

 knife, hammer and hatchet, and 

 ligiited tlie smoker, whieli was some- 

 thing like a lish-horn, which he said 

 he gave 25 cents for. Then he went 

 to the house again, and was gone a 

 long time; when he appeared, he had 

 liis winter overcoat on, a pair of 

 leather mittens, and his jjants tied to 

 his lioot-lcgs with a string ; over his 

 bat was a long, white mosquito-netting 

 — he looked like Hancho's ghost. 



In his hand was a V(ul of the same 

 material, which ho iiaiided to me, tell- 

 ing me how to put it on, so as to cover 

 my hands. I smiled, and did as he 

 directed. Then he took a ball of 

 twine and ticil the netting below my 

 hands, around my body. He went 

 forward almost on tip-to(! to the hive, 

 put tlie smoker to his moulli on the 

 netting, and blew all the smoke he 

 could in at tlu; entrance, wliicli took 

 about five minutes. 



I sat down on another hive, and 

 watched with keen interest. He re- 

 moved the " bonnet" (as he calls the 

 hive-cover), and then thi^ surplus case 

 (Heddon's). With the chisel and 

 hammer he ])ried up tin; honey-board, 

 which came up witii a snap, and 

 bounded oil' on the ground. He then 

 blew more smoke, and said to me, 

 "Look and see the inside of tlie hive;" 

 but I ask(Hl him where, as he had not 

 removed a frame. His reply was, 

 '•Oh, my! I never move them." But 

 I insist(Ml that he lift one frauK! out at 

 least, to let me see. Hi! said that he 

 was afraid it would destroy the colony. 



After awhile he tried to pry out a 

 frame, but it would not move, as they 

 were glued so fast that the ends ot the 

 top-liars split and broke olV, so he 

 quit. 



Now, the fun came in ; the bees got 

 very mad, and such a time in replac- 

 ing the honey-board! He said, "Let 

 us go in until the bees quiet down." 



have 



bee- 

 wilh 



.So we went in, and I left him. I 

 suppose by this time the bees have 

 quieted down. 



Now this man stdls (piitc a lot of 

 honey — ho says about ifCJOO worth a 

 year ; but lu^ does not leiiiove the 

 honey until after it freezes in the fall. 

 1 take it that lie is afraid of the bees, 

 and dare not go near them until cold 

 weatlun- drives the bees down into the 

 hive. If this is modern bee-keeping, I 

 want iioiK! of il ; but W) out of 10(1 

 bee-keepers are just like this one, 

 througli the country where I 

 been. 



I met with another class of 

 keeiiers who were dissatisfuul 

 natural life — who want something of 

 (doser fellowship — some more special 

 duty to give (hem ardor for the possi- 

 ble consequences of their work. They 

 are earnest men, and tluu-e is no end 

 to their ell'orts to, rniprove, to imjiart ; 

 and when oiu^ end is reached, and its 

 diliiciiltics surmounted, another will 

 cpiickly |)reseiit itself to the aspiring 

 spirit ; and, before it is reached, another 

 dilliculty must be met. 



He will) is doing the best he can in 

 bee-keeping, is .always improving ; his 

 best of yesterday is out-done to-day, 

 .and his best to-day will be out-done 

 to-moiTow. It is this steady progress, 

 no matter from what point it starts, 

 that forms the elements of all great- 

 ness and goodness. They think il ad- 

 visable to put one's heart into whatso- 

 ever work one may have to perform ; 

 but I think it wisdom to think well 

 before putting one's time or money in. 



They are thi^ bee-keeiiers who think 

 existence is not worth having, unless 

 one is struggling with something and 

 trying to overcome it, and they gen- 

 erally are the men who, if they ex- 

 press a fact in bee-))apers, an anti- 

 quated beo-keep(!r will arisi' and say 

 that they must be mistaken. 



NORTH CAROLINA. 



A Itainltlc ill llie WcNlerii Pari 

 4>r iliiN i^iale. 



WrlUcn for llic American DeeJcmmal 



liV H. C. ORIFPITII. 



In eonipany with a bee-kee|)iiig 

 friend, wi^ started for llic iiioiintaiiis of 

 Western North Carolina, crossing the 

 historic waters of Catawba river, 12 

 miles west of Cliarlolte. We took in 

 all the bee-frieuils on our route. 



The lirst of any importance was a 

 gentleman near Newton, (!alavvba 

 county, who has 1-15 colonies in several 

 apiaries — soiiielhing to our surprise. 

 He had read but one text-book on api- 

 culture, does not read any bee-papers, 

 never had a smoker — u.ses a bunch of 



rags to smoke with — yet without any 

 of the modern improvcmenis, ho 

 secured a good crop of honey last year 

 — nearly a ton. He uses the adjusta- 

 ble hive, as patented by Mitchell. 



In passing through (iastoii, Liiiiolii, 

 (Jatawba and Uurke counties, we found 

 bees scarce—tons of honey going to 

 waste for the lack of bees to giilher it. 

 The above hive, American and (iolden, 

 are the only ones in use thai have 

 frames. The people of Burke county 

 are so badly " bitten " by the (iolden 

 bee-hive that they will not soon re- 

 iHiver from its scourge. 



We passed through Hickory — a nice 

 little town, situated on a hill i>\erlook- 

 ing the South Mountain range. It is a 

 beautiful town, and nicely situated for 

 the bee-business, having two railroads 

 crossing at right angles. Leaving this 

 place, we next struck the town of Con- 

 nelly's Springs — a watering place of 

 some note ; taking in the water, and 

 the surroundings, we pronounced it 

 also a good place for bees, judging 

 from what we saw. Sour-wood, sumac 

 — two varieties abound — land is cheap. 

 We were told that sour-wood some- 

 times yields honey in great profusion, 

 even dropping from the blooiii, if 

 struck on the hand. 



Our next drive was to Morgantown, 

 the county-scat of Burke county — 

 mostly noteil for (iolden bee-hives — 

 this was the head-quarters for the 

 agent some years ago. But few bees 

 are kept around Morgantown. One 

 man took considerable stock in the 

 (iolden hive, and now has 3 colonies, 

 the result of patent vifuders. 



Our next call was at (lien Alpine 

 Station. This little town, situated on 

 the railroad, is surrounded by the head 

 waters of Soulli Fork riveron one side, 

 and South Mountains on the other, 

 giving a splendid outlet for a boe- 

 fariii, but still we found no bees to 

 gather up the wasting neetai'. At this 

 place we were told that houey-dew fell 

 last winter until the leaves on the 

 ground were wet. 



(ilen Alpine was as far as we could 

 go, on account of continuous rain. We 

 had gone iirepared to hunt bees in the 

 mouiitains.but were hindered by cloudy 

 and rainy weather. 1 have no "axe 

 to grind," nor. am I a land agent, but 

 it seems to me that if some of our 

 Northern bee-men would go lo these 

 cheap lands, they certainly would bet^ 

 ter their (condition. There are large 

 districts of iinoecupied land that can 

 be bought cheap — at one dollar to live 

 dollars pel' acre — that would yield 

 tons of honey, and grajies, apjilcs and 

 other small fruits in great atnindance. 



On the evening of July 31 we started 

 homeward by another route, scattering 

 copies of bee-papers as ojiportiinity 

 presented, until our supply was ex- 



