24 



THE BEE-KEEPERS' REVIEW. 



freig-ht on very many bee hives to 

 amount to this sum. Of course, the 

 buying- of a buzz saw won't make your 

 hives; and if you have very many hives 

 to make you will need some other 

 power than foot-power. I have made 

 hundreds of hives with a foot-power 

 saw, and I know what I am talking- 

 about. Many bee-keepers own a horse, 

 and it is an easy matter to rig up 

 some arrangement so that the horse 

 can furnish the power. My good 

 friend, R. L. Taylor, over at Lapeer, 

 Mich., has a large wheel so arranged 

 that the horse can walk around inside 

 of it, carrying the wheel with it, while 

 a large rope in a groove around the 

 outside of the wheel conveys the power 

 to the counter-shaft of the buzz-saw. 

 Mr. Geo. H. Kirkpatrick, of Rapid 

 City, Mich, has a horse power made 

 by putting a large wheel upon a large 

 upright shaft, the wheel being so high 

 that the horse can walk under it. The 

 horse is hitched to a sweep that pro- 

 jects from the large upright shaft. 

 A chain passes around the large wheel 

 and then around a pulley on a counter 

 shaft. Friend Kirkpatrick not only 

 runs a buzz-saw for hive-making, but 

 also a turning lathe, and a scroll saw, 

 and I don't know what all. Another 

 good friend, away up in the far upper 

 point of the lower peninsula of Mich- 

 igan, Mr. C. F. Smith, of Cheboygan, 

 has a little steam engine that not only 

 warms his shop in winter, but runs 

 his buzz-saw for hive making, also his 

 bone cutter for cutting up bones for 

 his large flock of poultrj-. Another 

 good friend, at Swartz Creek, Mich., 

 Mr. F. D. Bloss, as I described and 

 illustrated in the Review last June, 

 has a windmill that pumps his water, 

 grinds his feed, shells his corn and 

 runs a buzz-saw for hive-making. I 

 could go on and meiition many others, 

 but the foregoing are sufficient as 

 illustrations. As I have already 

 said, unless a man is adapted to such 

 work as this, he better let it alone. 



but he can certainly get his hives and 

 frames cut out at a planing mill, that 

 is, he can if he will divest his mind of 

 the idea that hives must have lock- 

 jointed corners, adjustable, reversible, 

 bottom-boards, peaked-roofed covers, 

 and frames with beveled and notched 

 end-bars. Just a plain box with plain 

 wood frames, and a plain flat cover 

 over them, are all that is needed. 



Bro. Root hopes I will not miscon- 

 strue his motives. I am sure that I 

 do not. I know that he is handicapped 

 in an argument of this kind, but I am 

 sure that he tries to be fair. The only 

 mistake that he made, or the most im- 

 portant, as I look at it, is in thinking 

 that bee-keepers will find it necessary 

 to pay $60 a thousand for suitable 

 lumber for hives, and in overlooking 

 the fact that in making their own hives, 

 bee-keepers save the overhead expenses 

 and profits of the manufacturer. Per- 

 haps it will be said that the bee-keep- 

 ers will also have some overhead ex- 

 penses. Not many. Every bee-keeper 

 has a shop or honey house of some 

 kind. He can't do business without it. 

 It may as well be used for hive-mak- 

 ing in winter as not. Nearly every 

 bee-keeper has a horse. If he is in the 

 business extensively he cannot do with- 

 out one. The horse better do some 

 work than not; the same with his 

 owner. The home-hive-maker has no 

 book-keeper to pay, no advertising bills 

 to figure in. Then there is the profit 

 to the manuf ^icturer, and the freig-ht. 

 I am sure that not only Bro. Root, but 

 any manufacturer, is willing that bee- 

 keepers should consider these things, 

 even if it should result in some of their 

 trade being cut off — there will be a 

 whole lot left. If a man finds it cheaper 

 and better for him to buy his hives of 

 a manufacturer, he would be very 

 foolish to do otherwise, and vice versa. 



AN IMPORTANT SUBJECT. 



Perhaps some will think that I am 

 taking a whole lot of space with this 



