THE AMERICAN BEE-KEEPER. 



39 



before I had time to put my ideas on 

 paper, and that saved you from the 

 worst blowing up you ever had. After 

 dinner I was struck with an idea, and 

 I told my wife I believed I could fix 

 that thing so that it would work all 

 right, and I fixed it according to my 

 ideas, and it became in my hands a 

 perfect little jewel. When I put it to 

 actual work the next June I saw that 

 it needed two more little alterations 

 and then it became perfect. I use 

 full sheets of foundation, and I put 

 such sheets into 8,000 sections this 

 season, and not one of them came 

 down. Every one of them was placed 

 exactly in the center and 1 can easily 

 place 300 in an hour and do my own 

 handling, and I could not have done 

 my work this season without it, and 

 while I do not believe it was quite 

 worth its weight in gold to me, I do 

 believe it was worth its weight in 

 silver, for my bees pressed me very 

 hard and I was scarcely able to keep 

 up with them as it was. I set out 100 

 hives in the spring and secured 6,000 

 pounds of nice comb honey, which I 

 sold all in Watertown for 12 cents a 

 pound and got my cases back. Some 

 of my hives gave me a hundred pounds 

 and more, of comb honey. I do not 

 extract as there is no sale for such 

 honey in Watertown. I got an increase 

 of 34 swarms, which, with the other 

 hundred, are all safely housed, 



I shall want Mime supplies this 

 winter, and will send my order soon. 

 I guess you do not often receive as 

 long a business letter as this, but, "IE 

 you haven't time to read it, throw it 

 into the waste basket.'' 



Yours truly, Chas. C, Hardy. 



Burr's Mills, N. Y., Dec, 12. 



Mr. Editor: — In looking back some 

 twenty-seven years, and then looking 

 at our present bee-keeping journals, 

 what a remarkable advance ! Well do 

 I remember my first "bee gum," 

 when a boy after reading Langstroth's 

 and Quinby's works. I bought my 

 first swarm in an old board gum. How 

 well I remember, as if it were yester- 

 ■ day, my first attempt at transferring 

 from that same old gum. I had com- 

 pleted a Langstroth-Quinby hive, and 

 wished to transfer to movable combs. 

 We then had few if any smokers, and 

 what I used, was, I think, Quinby 

 made, wrapping some tine tobacco in 

 cotton wadding and blowing the smoke 

 by mouth into the hive. After this I 

 took the old gum into the garrett, 

 took a chisel and pried off the side, 

 cut out combs and tied them in the 

 frames with cotton string. When com- 

 pleted I felt " as proud as a King." 



From that time until now I have 

 been learning from our journals and I 

 think all have been doing the same. 



Last season was one of the poorest I 

 have experienced since keeping bees 

 here in N. Y. State. The winter was 

 open, and bees bred fast and early, 

 and everything looked encouraging 

 for good returns, but alas, the only 

 money made was in June, after which 

 cold rains and little honey left us in 

 poor shape for winter. I had to feed 

 one-half my colonies. I felt sorry, as 

 I had taken a deep interest in half- 

 story hives and was in shape to test 

 them, as a means of getting more white 

 comb honey, by contracting, a la Hed- 

 don. From my experience this last 

 season I think the two systems run to- 

 gether will be the most profitable. 

 The coming season I shall run them 

 in this way, Bees in ten combed L. 



