THE BEE-KEEPERS' REVIEW 



83 



like a wide, thick screw driver with a 

 rounding' point. It is very nicely 

 shaped for getting- between the top of a 

 hive and the super, or between frames. 

 There is a little tack-puller and ham- 



mer in its make-up, as you will see, if 

 j'ou look close. These will come in 

 handy if a frame should come apart. 



The other tool is that of a double 

 bee-brush. With it both sides of the 

 comb may be brushed at the same time. 

 The whole thing- is so simple that the 

 only wonder is that it was not thought 

 of before this. First there is a long 

 loop of spring-metal, something like an 

 ox-bow, or hair pin. Upon the inner 

 sides of the spring are fastened two op- 

 posing brushes of long bristles. A 



liiiiiiiffiafiiiiiifflifiiiiifii ^ 



FERRY S BEl-I iSRUSH ^ 



slight pressure upon the spring, as it 

 is held in the hand, brings the brushes 

 in contact with both sides of a comb, 

 when a downward sweep or two will 

 free the comb of bees. Without having 

 used either of these tools, I can only 

 say that they have a decidedly practi- 

 cal look. Another thing must not be 

 overlooked, and it is of much impor- 

 tance, and that is that each has a chain 

 attached, and to the end of the chain is 

 fastened an eyelet that may be slipped 

 over a button, thus enabling the oper- 

 ator to always know where his tools 

 are without having to hunt for them. 



Price of the hive opener, 25 cts. ; of 

 the bee-brush, 50 cts. Address H. S. 

 Ferry, 253 South 9th ave. Mt. Vernon, 

 N. Y. 



Specialty Versus Mixed Bee-Keeping. 



A month or two ago there was an 

 article in the Review from Mr. Strohs- 

 chein of Wisconsin, in which he 

 argued for the keeping of bees by 

 farmers, to which I replied at some 

 length. Mr. S. has sent another short 

 article from which I take the following 

 extract: — 



"In my former article it was not my 

 intention to down the specialist, but I 

 do not agree with the editor in thinking 

 that the man who is keeping bees in 

 connection with some other pursuit, 

 should either give up the bees or the 

 other business. Many live in locations 

 where, from some reason or another, 

 out-apiaries would not be profitable, 

 yet they have been perfectly' successful 

 with one apiary managed in connec- 

 tion with some other pursuit. Now, 

 should these men sell out, and go to 

 some other location where they can 

 make bee-keeping their sole occupa- 

 tion ? If they did, then the nectar in 

 their old field might be wasted, unless, 

 according to the editor's theory, some 

 other specialist came in and saved it. 

 This, however, is one of those things 

 that work out nicer in theory than in 

 practice. I am not one of those who 

 think that every farmer ought to keep 

 bees, but when there is a field where 

 nectar is being wasted, I say, let some 

 one save it, no matter whether he is a 

 specialist, or has some other occupa- 

 tion. Now, friend H. , don't you think 

 this is fair ? Really, it does not con- 

 flict with your plea for specialism, 

 does it ?" 



Of course there are men who have 

 made a success of keeping bees in con- 

 nection with other pursuits. They prob- 

 ably engaged in something else first, 

 then added bee-keeping, and finally 

 the bees outgrew the other business, 

 and it was dropped. I will admit that 

 there are cases in which it may be 

 advisable to keep bees in connection 

 with some other pursuit, I have always 

 admitted that, at the same time it 

 seems as though it were self-evident 

 that only the specialist can hope to 

 reach the highest success, and that, as 

 a rule, it is folly for a man to add 



