114 



AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



trips to out-apiaries. No horse — at least 

 very few — would undertake to make 

 such time. "But," you say, "such 

 rates of speed must be a severe strain 

 upon the constitution of the rider." 

 Experience in ray case proves that it is 

 not, but, on the contrary, a wonderful 

 tonic to the constitution. The muscles 

 of the leg develop wonderfully. But 

 how is it, you may ask, that a man can 

 travel so much faster than the average 

 horse '? The cushioned tires, ball bear- 

 ings, and the gearing, give him an im- 

 mense advantage over his dumb friend. 



Perhaps some bee-beepers will say, 

 " I would have a bicycle if I thought I 

 could ride it." It is no trick at all to 

 balance one's self. Almost any one can 

 be taught to ride in half an hour's time. 

 Even our friend W. Z. Hutchinson, I am 

 told, mastered the machine in 20 min- 

 utes ; but in order to make speed and 

 cover distance, it takes a little time to 

 develop the muscles, and learn a few 

 nice points in guiding. 



"But," your ask, "doesn't riding 

 seven miles to an out-apiary make you 

 awfully tired — in fact, weary — too much 

 so to do a day's work ?" 



Strange as it may seem, it does not. 

 Riding is one sort of exercise, and work- 

 ing over the hives is another. A differ- 

 ent set of muscles in either case is called 

 into action. Most of the care of our 

 out-apiary last Summer devolved upon 

 the writer personally. I have taken a 

 trip down in the morning, worked all 

 day, and came back in the evening, 

 tired, perhaps, a little, but no more so 

 than any one else who has done an 

 ordinary full-day's work. 



At other times, when I have had a 

 spare hour or two, I would mount the 

 wheel, run down to the apiary, diagnose 

 the colonies, and give such attention 

 as might be needed to this or that col- 

 ony, then return after about two hours' 

 work. 



Now, the point I am getting at is this: 

 A bicycle can be purchased for less than 

 the price of an average good horse. The 

 repairs might be 15 cents a year; oil 

 for lubricating the bearings, perhaps 

 15 cents. Outside of that there is no 

 other expense. Place this balance sheet 

 over against that for the expense of a 

 horse, barn, hay, labor, repairs, etc. 

 Now see how your account will stand. 



A young man can make the trips to 

 his out-yards on the wheel — yes, make 

 nine-tenths of his trips in that way. 



How about hauling the bees home ? 

 As a general thing, a farmer in the 

 vicinity, with his double team, can be 



hired to'do the work for you — that is, 

 hauling — for a crate of honey, or a small 

 consideration in money. He can also 

 be hired to haul home your crop of 

 honey, and bring back all the supplies 

 that you may need. With a little fore- 

 thought all these things can be carried 

 in a few trips. 



In the Spring, for hauling the bees to 

 the out-apiaries, if the services of a 

 farmer are not available at that time, a 

 livery may be hired at about $2 a day. 

 Ten dollars ought to cover all the ex- 

 pense of hauling for at least one yard, 

 and possibly two. Even if it cost 

 twenty, this would be a great deal 

 cheaper than taking care of a horse for 

 one year, to say nothing of the other 

 expense, first cost, interest on the 

 money, and othec risks. 



If you are a bee-keeper and also a 

 farmer, then the horse would be more 

 serviceable. But the point I would urge, 

 in a nutshell, is this : That a young 

 man in a locality where the roads are 

 not sandy, can manage a system of two 

 or three yai'ds cheaper with a good 

 bicycle, supplemented by the aid of a 

 farmer or liveryman, then he could keep 

 a horse, buggy, and all the other para- 

 phernalia connected with the horse 

 business. I have tried the scheme for 

 one year, and I think I know something 

 of what I am talking about. 



In conclusion, let me add that I do not 

 advise the use of a bicycle for elderly 

 men. Ernest R. Root. 



J. H. Larrabee said that from his ex- 

 perience, the bicycle was much prefer- 

 able to the horse in the matter of ex- 

 pense, if nothing else. He expected to 

 place 20 colonies three miles from the 

 college next Spring, and should use the 

 wheel to make trips with, and hire some 

 farmer to do the necessary hauling. 



APICULTUBAL DISCUSSION. 



J. p. Berg asked : Is there any way to 

 prevent bees from building combs 

 crooked, aside from using full sheets of 

 foundation ? He said that some of his 

 had built their combs crosswise, and 

 attached the combs to the separators. 



A. J. Acker had found this to be the 

 result of starters falling down, and said 

 that if too much wax was griped by the 

 fastener, and the wax was left on the 

 top of the section, they would sometimes 

 build two combs in one section. 



Geo. E. Hilton wanted to know what 

 objection there was to using full sheets 

 of foundation. 



