1871.] 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



127 



years old, and to see him among the bees, help- 

 ing his father, would make many a professed bee- 

 keeper ashamed of himself. We were shown 

 many, yes, very many fine colonies and in fine 

 condition, considering the dry weatlicr and early 

 frost in Garrard county. We were shown several 

 fine imported queens. Fine queens were boxed 

 and shipped each day we were there, and orders 

 continued to come in from every quaiter of the 

 United States and from Canada. Let us here 

 state what I evidently believe to be true, that R. 

 M. Argo is one of the most reliabk' and conscien- 

 tious men we ever met or dealt with. Never, no, 

 never would he send out a ciuecn without first 

 seeing her progeny, that he might know that she 

 was purely fertilized. If such were ever the 

 case, it could only be througli some mistake, to 

 which we are all liable sometimes. And I may 

 here say, that some of our largest queen raisers 

 are making entirely too many mistakes of this 

 kind ; and we fear some of them do so willingly. 

 Yes, we believe there are not a few who do not 

 care, so they get your money. We are sorry that 

 this is so ; but when numbers of our Kentucky 

 apiarians tell us that they have each tried Mr, 



, and Mr. , and that three out of five 



of the queens received were hybrids, or produced 

 hybrids, we are justified in making the state- 

 ment we have. And we will further state, that 

 no man who has from three to eight hundred 

 colonies of bees to look after, can do them jus- 

 tice, and rear jn/ re queens for sale.* One hundred 

 and fifty to two hundred colonies are all that one 

 man can manage successfully, and rear queens 

 safely ; and he will then have to employ help 

 during the swarming season. But we will return 

 again to our subject. A fter spending several days 

 with friend Argo and family, very ]>leasantly and 

 pi'ofitably, we took the train for Richmond, (Ky., j 

 to attend the fair, commencing August 81 h. 

 We there met and made the acquaintance of some 

 of Madison county's best beekeepers. Among 

 them were W. C. Peyton, Dr. W. H. Hogan, W. 

 M. Thomas, and T. .1. Gordon, all live apiarians, 

 seeking to attain the topmost round in the ladder 

 of apiarian science. After spending several days, 

 looking at some of the finest stock, and talking 

 bee until everything around began to buzz, we 

 took the stage for Lexington, twenty-five miles 

 distant, and had a glorious hot and dusty ride. On 

 arriving, we took Paddy's trotters, and made for 

 Mr. M. T. Scott's, partner of Dr. John Dlllard, in 

 apiculture. Mr. Scott lives about three-fourths 

 of a mile from the city. We were received very 

 pleasantly, indeed, by Mr. S., took a look 

 throiigh his apiary, and found everything in 

 apple pie order, the apiary consisting of about 

 two hundred colonies. Owing to the death of a 

 neighbor's child, Mr. Scott was not able to show 



* We cannot concur in these views. A bee- 

 keeper, possessing the requisite qualifications, and 

 who has made the necessary arrangements for 

 business, can manage a thousand colonies of bees 

 for queen raising and connected purposes, just 

 as efficiently, though certainly not as easily, as a 

 hundred. Of course, such a man will supply 

 himself at the proper time with the necessary 

 help and other appliances. — [Ed. 



us many of his fine queens. This is one of the 

 apiaries that Kentucky can brag on ; and two 

 more congenial, well posted apiarians cannot be 

 found. Be it remembered, that Dr. Dillard is 

 President of the Apiarian Society. He is not 

 only a big man in size, but he is a giant in intel- 

 lect, both in physic and apiculture. We shall 

 have more to say about him hereafter. Through 

 the kindness of Mr. Scott, we got a good saddle 

 horse and away we went, out to IMr. Burbank's. 

 Mr. B. lives about two miles from the city. We 

 arrived there well soaked with rain ; and a great 

 blessing was the rain to that country at that 

 time, though w(; did get wet. We were received 

 cordially, and by a good fire I soon felt all right 

 again. After" talking with Mr. B. vmtil a late 

 hour, we retired, an(l slept off some of the jolts 

 we had received in a miserable stage coach. 

 Next morning. Mr. B. showed us through his 

 large and well arranged apiary of two hundred, 

 or more colonies. It is, indeed, beautiful to 

 behold, situated as it is, in such lovely grounds, 

 well shaded, to protect b'ltli the colonies and the 

 operator from the extreme heat of the sun. 

 Among other improvements shown us by Mr. B. 

 was his impioved hive, which has some excel- 

 lent points, esi)ecially the ari-angement for ven- 

 tilation. After taking a thorough look, and 

 learning all we could, Mr. B. took us to the city 

 in his rockaway. There we met with Dr. Dil- 

 lard, of whom we have alre^ndy spoken. The 

 Doctor is, indeed, one of Kentucky's big sons, 

 weighing only two hundred and sixty pounds, 

 and he has a soul as large as his body. Should 

 any of my readers ever be so lucky as to meet 

 the Doctor, they will find all we have said to bo 

 true, and more too. Wc went out with him Iq 

 his brother's (where he was boarding , and re- 

 mained over Sabbath. On Monday, we retujned 

 to the city, and it being court day, we there met 

 a large number of Fayette county's best bee- 

 keepers, and with Mi-. Burbank, we talked bee, 

 beehive, and melextr;ictor all the day, for Mr. 

 B. had one of Grey & Winder's extractors on 

 exhibition in the court house yard. 



At foar p. M. we took the train for Cynthiana, 

 Harrison county, the home of Mr. Henry Nesbit. 

 Arriving there, we found that friend Nesbit lived 

 some two miles in the country. We took a 

 carryall and went out, arriving in time for tea 

 (something we always aim to do, so as not to 

 miss our grub), and we indeed fared sumptu- 

 ously, for if any Kentucky lady knows how to 

 fix up things to ear, it is Miss Nesbit, for we 

 must tell you, that friend Henry is a widower ; 

 and though such is the case, j'ou will see no 

 bachelor doings around him. 



We had long wished to visit the apiary of 

 America's bee-king, and were determined to do 

 so this trip. He is, indeed, entitled to the name, 

 and any one that visits his apiary will say as we 

 have said— "behold the ingenuity of man !" His 

 arrangements are perfect in all their parts. The 

 tasteful arrangement of his hives ; the way they 

 are painted and shaded ; his arrangements for 

 raising queens ; his winter quarters for his colo- 

 nies — all, yes, everything is as near perfection as 

 well could be. He showed us through very many 

 colonies, and we saw some as fine queens as man 



