THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



105 



For The American Bee Journal. 



House Apiary. 



In the February number of the Ameri- 

 can Bke Jouunai. I charged " Novice " 

 with a want of candor and fair dealing in 

 regard to the liouse apiary question. 



His answer in the February number of 

 Oleanimjs demands of me a few words by 

 way of correction and explanation. He 

 does not attempt to answer any of my 

 charges, but makes a desperate effort to 

 extricate himself from a very awkward 

 position. And, like the man struggling 

 in quick-sand, only sinks the deeper. 



He says, I write in a way that shows 

 that I feel as if I had been wronged. To 

 this I would only say that those who have 

 read Oleaninys and the American Bee 

 Journal the past year, know as well as I 

 do that I have just cause for complaint, 

 and yet I feel that the greater wrong has 

 been done to the cause of bee-culture. 



If every attempt for the advancement 

 and elevation of our profession is to be 

 met with such a spirit, we shall not see 

 the progress that we niiglit reasonablj"^ ex- 

 pect. Every member lias a right to de- 

 mand a candid as well as thorough exam- 

 ination of every question tliat looks to its 

 improvement. 



I believe that scientific and profitable 

 bee-keeping is yet in its infancy, and that 

 it is capable of being developed into one 

 of our greatest national resources. Bee- 

 keepers as a class are industrious, intel- 

 ligent and persevering; and if they work 

 harmoniously to one end, all opposing 

 difficulties will be overcome. 



Novice next says, " Had I told Mr. Coe 

 in plain terms, just what I thought, when 

 he was a guest at our house and when I 

 was a guest at his own, there would prob- 

 ably have been no misunderstanding." 



Why was it that he did riot tell me just 

 what he thought, when that was the very 

 thing I wanted and asked for? I told him 

 I was then engaged in putting up '■'■trial api- 

 aries'' in difterent parts of the country for 

 the purpose of having the system thorough- 

 ly tested before offering it to the general 

 public, and that I asked for it nothing but 

 the severest criticism — wishing it to stand 

 entirely on its own merits. Why then, 

 I ask again, did he not, for the sake of 

 bee-keepers in general, and his " dear 

 readers " in particular, speak out boldly, 

 and thus prove to them, that they had 

 placed their interests in the hands of a 

 faithful keeper. There was certainly 

 nothing in a letter I wrote him. the day 

 after his visit that could have induced 

 him to make a favorable report without 

 regard to facts. It occurred to me, that as 

 he had been my guest, and I had been 

 " very friendly indeed " and " very liberal 

 in offering the right gratis," that he might 

 be led to speak mijre favorably of my 

 apiary than his relations to his " dear 



readers " would warrant. So I wrote him, 

 reiterating what I had said to him belore, 

 and charged him to say nothing in its 

 favor but what he believed would be fully 

 verified by practical tests. Yet, in the 

 face of all the facts which are fully cor- 

 roborated by all that I have said on the 

 subject, both in Gleanings and the Amer- 

 ican Bee Journal, he has the unblushing 

 affrontery to say " Prof. Cook did tell me 

 that he feared I had not given Mr. Coe the 

 credit he deserved; but in justice to my 

 readers, who certainly should have facts, 

 without any regard to the friendly way in 

 which Mr. Coe had treated me, I can but 

 think that my report of that visit did him 

 more than justice, and hence my present 

 inconsistency." 



If his inconsistency, to say nothing of 

 willful misrepresentation, is not yet fully 

 apparent, I think it will be after reading 

 the report that did vie more than justice, 

 which can be found in July number of 

 Gleanings. I extract from it as follows: 



" On the 10th (June) we paid a visit to 

 Mr. Coe, the patentee of the house apiary. 

 The building is very pretty and tasty, 

 and the bees going out and in through the 

 sides with the square of different colors 

 painted over each entrance, gives an affect 

 on a grass lawn, that to our eye is decidedly 

 ornamental. On looking into the interior 

 the visitor is even more delighted, for ar- 

 ranged on broad shelves on either side, 

 are observatory hives, having a glass over 

 the outside comb, that gives a view of all 

 the workings of the hive. The frames 

 are close fitting sides. Mr. Dean who 

 accompanied us, was so disgusted in his 

 attempts to open and close a hive without 

 killing bees that he denounces the house 

 altogether unless it be for box honey." 



Now Novice knew very well that the par- 

 ticular hive used had nothing whatever 

 to do with the merits of the house, as it is 

 adapted to the use of almost any style of 

 hive. The fact is, that before the report 

 was written, he had resolved to appropri- 

 ate to his own use the property of another, 

 without the owner's consent. Very soon 

 after visiting my house apiary he built 

 one himself The walls of his house are 

 a series of dead air spaces made of paper. 

 Of whom did he get that idea? He says 

 he got his idea of a house apiary from Mr. 

 Moon. When Novice decided to appro- 

 priate to his own use, without my permis- 

 sion, what had cost me much study, labor 

 and money, it was quite necessary for him 

 to make a plea in justification of his 

 course. 



The following are a few of the more 

 prominent points: " Similar houses have 

 been in use for years." " Mr. Dean de- 

 nounces the house." " Coe's apiary seems 

 to embody a mass of complicated fixtures 

 that would be worse than useless to us." 

 " We think Mr. Coe's claim much too 

 stronic." " Since I have mentioned the 



