THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



93 



stand that I use a division -board in building up 

 a young swarm.) 



In the article that Mr. Price got those excep- 

 tions from, I invited people to try my method 

 of managing bees, by strengthening them up 

 early, so that they will not need feeding; at 

 least, that was the intention of the invitation. 

 Now, would Mr. Price have mc pay for the 

 right to use a feeder, and for one sample feeder, 

 to'feed five cents' worth of feed? That would 

 be odd, sure enough! If any one manages his 

 bees so that they are all, or nearly all, destitute 

 of stores, I call it wrong management; and if 

 you allow your bees to manage themselves, you 

 will have, in such a season as this, any quantity 

 of swarms that will need feeding. Such people 

 need a feedo r. 



Right here, 1 will venture to make another of 

 Gallup's assertions, (as our friend Puckett calls 

 them,) and that is, that I never yet saw the 

 season that bees, properly managed, were kept 

 at a loss. 



Friend Price, if you will read the article in 

 the August number in this manner, commenc- 

 ing at "Now for my method: Make your swarms 

 early, and strengthen them up and equalise them 

 with brood from your strongest stocks in the 

 breeding season, and while they are gathering 

 honey." (The full stop comes in after honey, 

 and not after stocks. Then, after the word honey, 

 comes,) "How many will try this method, and 

 report through the Bee Journal," &c, you 

 will get at what I intended to say in that arti- 

 cle. Any person who manages his bees so that 

 they require much feeding, either in summer or 

 in winter, will be dissatisfied in the long run, 

 and a great many will retire from the business, 

 (especially after such a season as this has been,) 

 and say that bee-keeping does not pay. 



Mr. H. D. Miner claims that he has been led 

 astray, &c. Now, friend, it is not my intention 

 to lead any one astray; but this I will tell you: 

 That question requires a long article by itself, 

 and I shall endeavor to give it to the readers of 

 the Bee Journal this winter, in time for next 

 season's operations. Time, patience, and perse- 

 verance will accomplish all things. 



Mr. H. B. King misquotes and applies a 

 wrong meaning to my article replying to Mr. 

 Alley. Previous to the appearance of Mr. Al- 

 ley's article in the Bee Journal, I had given 

 a description of the hive which I use in prefer- 

 ence to all others that I have ever tried, and 

 also a description of the working of the hive; 

 and it certainly looked like trying to quiz me, 

 to ask what kind of hive I would recommend, 

 after reading those articles. So I answered as 

 I did; and now I am called upon for an expla- 

 nation, which I give as follows: 



In the first place, I make three classes of be- 

 ginners. One class keeps a few swarms, and 

 lets them stand where they are placed. If they 

 swarm, they hive the swarms perchance, or let 

 them go off to the woods. They never go near 

 them again, summer or winter. Occasionally 

 they consign a swarm to the brimstone pit, after 

 cold weather sets in, so that the bees cannot get 

 out to sting; and that is about the extent of 

 their bee-keeping. To such I say, by all means ■ 

 use hollow basswood for hives. 



The second class read some work on bees, or 

 have some neighbor that is making bee-keeping 

 pay. These get np a great excitement, and go 

 into bee-keeping with all the enthusiasm imagin- 

 able. They are going to get rich in tlie business, 

 6cc. They hire Gallup, or some other putty- 

 head, to give them instructions, show them 

 about their hees, &c. He (meaning that putty- 

 head of a Gallup) gives them all the instructions 

 he possihly can. They pay little attention to 

 what he says. If he tells them what to do, they 

 do just the contrary, and for an excuse, say, 

 "Why, I understood you to tell me so." Sonic 

 time along in the winter, Gallup sees them, and 

 the first salutation is, "How come on the beesf 

 Did you fix them up as I told you to do?" 

 "Oh no; I thought I would take some pains 

 with my bees this winter, so I set them all in a 

 row, and built a good box around them, filled 

 it with straw, and stopped up all the holes in 

 the hives to keep them warm, and to keep them 

 in the hive;" Or if they are in box-hives, and 

 Gallup tells tells them how to winter them in 

 the cellar, by turning them bottom up, all open, 

 they put on the bottom board, contrary to direc- 

 tions. Then, every time any one goes into the 

 cellar with a light, the bees are disturbed, crawl 

 out all over the cellar, and die. In fact they get 

 the dysentery, and all, or nearly all, die off be- 

 fore spring, and the survivors, if any, are worth- 

 less for the next season. This class want a frame 

 hive; of course they do. To this class I can 

 recommend a hive of the form of the American. 

 Recollect that I did not recommend the Ameri- 

 can hive, but only the form; or, in other words, 

 a hive tall in proportion to its size. This class 

 usually lose their enthusiasm, and don't talk 

 bee the second season; and Avhen they meet Gal- 

 lup, they act as though they felt ashamed, and 

 Gallup certainly does not blame them. (Friend 

 King, there is really a good reason why the hees 

 did not build worker-comb. If you used the 

 American hive, and if you are good at guessing, 

 you have probably found out the reason, with- 

 out my telling you.) The above picture is not 

 overdrawn. 



Now we come to the third class. They are 

 anxious for information; and if you give them 

 information, they are careful to remember it, 

 and put it in practice. If they meet with a fail- 

 ure, they learn something nevertheless by that 

 failure, and avoid it the next time. This class 

 persevere, and in a very short time demonstrate 

 to their neighbors that bee-keeping is a profit- 

 able and pleasant pursuit. It is a pleasure to 

 give instruction to this class. They are gene- 

 ral^ very sociable, good company, good citi- 

 zens, an honor to their country, and to the com- 

 munity in which their lot is cast. To this class 

 I can with confidence recommend the Lang- 

 si rot h hive. If you live far enough south, you 

 will be satisfied with the shallow form; hut if 

 you live as far north as this, you will be better 

 satisfied with it in the form in which I use it. 

 If you live in Lower Canada, away north of 

 Vermont, where I was born, make it in a still 

 more compact form, and give it two inches 

 more in depth of comb. The shallow form has 

 eight or eight and a half inches depth of comb. 

 I use ten or ten and a half inches. In Lower 



