VOL. VI. 



DECEMBER, 1896. 



NO. 12. 



My Early Experiences. 



BY .lOIIX V. <;ates. 



Perhaps there is no bee keeper who 

 has followed the business for a score 

 or more of years but that has at times 

 looked back to the time when he was 

 a novice and smiles as he recalls many 

 of his early ideas and experiences. 

 How my senses were quickened as I 

 first beheld the patent hive which 

 caused my first downfall in bee busi- 

 ness. What visions of success and 

 lockers overflowing with gold rumin- 

 ated in my upper story as I fancied 

 the goddess of success had chosen me 

 as her special idol in this special 

 branch of husbandry. Ah ! Yes ! 

 Moth proof, non-swarming, self-divid- 

 ing if needs be, with sieves, zinc ap- 

 pliances without number, doors that 

 would open nicely (when the hives 

 were new) displaying a number of 

 rooms with windows in them, and all 

 one had to do to increase his colonies 

 was to take one of these rooms out, 

 put it in another hive and insert an 

 empty one in its place. Of course I 

 did not know the necessity of having 

 a queen in each domicile, and the in- 

 ventor perhaps had never thought of 

 it himself even if he knew in the first 

 place, but there was my vision of suc- 



cess before me. All painted and let- 

 tered beautifully. Just too good for 

 any earthly use, says I, but how little 

 I knew that such was the case. 



Of course I bought the right to use 

 it and bought a lot of hives at f4.00 

 each. I hired a man that had handled 

 bees some to drive my bees from the 

 old box hives into the new success. 

 Well, if I should tell you how I did 

 it you would laugh, but I fail to des- 

 cribe it. 1 cannot do it. All I can 

 say is that we did get them into the 

 new abode, and you must imagine how 

 the feat classed me at once as an ex- 

 pert among my neighbors. AVell, with 

 all ruy hobnobing with these hives, 

 with all my anxious care, the bees died. 



I bought a lot of box hives again, 

 and soon another patent right man 

 heard of my loss and came to see me. 

 The other patent man kept away. The 

 new man said it was a shame for any 

 man to sell me such hives as those, for 

 they had killed my bees, and that he 

 would like to have seen me first and 

 sold me a hive which was just as sure 

 of success as a tax collector. Well, I 

 wanted such a hive and the upshot 

 was I bought $44.00 worth of him. 

 Just eleven hives. Now a man that 

 gets cheated once will feel good over 



