106 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



the house apiary in Gleanings, more 

 than a dozen have come to light." "I did 

 admire and do now his liouse apiary but 

 declined then and should now, one like it 

 for real use." "We are not able to dis- 

 cover any thing in Coe's apiary that has 

 not been in use." "Mr. Coe gave us no 

 instructions for building our house 

 apiary." 



Why all this special pleading? Well 

 may Novice exclaim, "hence my present 

 inconsistency." 



" Oh what a tangled web we weave 

 When first we practice to deceive." 



As a proof of his great le^^ard for his 

 " dear readers " (I am one of them) Novice 

 says,"I do dislike to see hard earned money 

 go without bringing a fair equivalent." He 

 evedintjy refers to the dead air spaces and 

 otlier fixtures of his house apiary. He 

 also says, " It is very probable that in my 

 dislike of patents, I am looking with 

 prejudiced eyes." That certainly can't 

 refer to me for I never received a dollar 

 for a patent, never dealt in patents, not 

 even metal corners. 



Again Novice says, " When one sets 

 out to defend himself he is pretty sure to 

 do as I have done in the above lines — 

 made it appear that Mr. Coe is all wrong 

 and that 1 am all right." 



True, he has done it up pretty well, 

 and " made it appear," and yet one more 

 item might make it apjiear still plainer. 



I wrote an article for last November 

 number of Gleanings. It was not refused 

 as it might have Ijecn with some show of 

 justice, but a part of it, only, was pub- 

 lished — changing its whole form and 

 meaning. I am so opposed to occuying 

 our journals with personal affairs, that I 

 would have endured in silence even this 

 gross injustice, if it had been permitted to 

 drop tliere, but it was followed up till I 

 was obliged to speak. 



The article was as follows: 



Deak Novice: — On page 131, Glean- 

 ings for October, R. H. Mellen asks of 

 you information regarding house "apiaries, 

 and in your answer you take occasion to 

 say that Coe's apiary seems to embody a- 

 mass of complicated fixtures that would 

 be worse than useless to you, and on an- 

 other page — same number — you very flip- 

 pantly remark, " We fear we have been a 

 little rough on friend Cue's apiary on 

 page 131." Now if your answer to Mr. 

 Mellen is a candid, straightforward one, 

 intended to forward the best interests of 

 our fraternity, I will not call it in ques- 

 tion. 



I desire for my apiary the severest crit- 

 icism, and the most thorough practical 

 tests, but it is desirable that they should 

 be made in good faith, and with a view to 

 the improvement of our profession. The 

 "expensive ventilators" spoken of, if made 

 of wood, would not cost more than two or 

 three dollars, and the painted entrances 



not to exceed fifty cents. More expensive 

 ones could be used but they would be no 

 better except for tjie looks. The house 

 itself may be built of any form or dimen- 

 sions, and any style of hive can be used 

 in it though I prefer the close fitting 

 frames, without box, or the simplicity 

 with some modifications. For common 

 use, and particularly for box-honey, the 

 form of the building should be rectangu- 

 lar, that form is more convenient and 

 very much cheaper than the octagon. When 

 the extractor is to be used, and one chooses 

 to add the extra expense, the rectangle 

 and hexagon combined is the most desir- 

 able. A house 9 X 15 feet will accommo- 

 date fifty hives and give ample space for 

 eighty IJ^ pound surplus frames to each 

 hive, and for handling the hives to advan- 

 tage. Such a house built according to my 

 plans will cost at least a third less than a 

 building of the same dimensions built in 

 the usual way, and less than fifty good out- 

 door hives. 



As to my claims in The American Bee 

 Journal being '■^much too strong,'' I can 

 only say, that the matter is in the hands ol 

 the bee-keepers of the country, and 1 have 

 no doubt they will decide it properly. If 

 the claims are sustained — as I have no 

 doubt they will be — it will work an entire 

 change in the mode of bee culture, and 

 save millions of dollars every year that 

 are now wasted ; and will also open up an 

 avenue of healtliful and remunerative em- 

 pLoyment for the ladies! 



Montclair, N. J., Oct. 12, '75. 



Only the latter part of this article was 

 published commencing with " I desire for 

 my apiary tlie severest criticism" There 

 are several other points in Novice's article 

 that demand a notice but I will pass them, 

 as I have already occupied too much of 

 your valuable space. J. S. COE. 



For the American Bee Journal. 

 Stray Thoughts. 



Well, the season is over and I did not 

 reach the 30,000 lbs. I have taken 30,375 

 lbs. and increased the 150 stands to 317. 

 This is doing quite well to begin with the 

 season half gone. 1 give all fair warning 

 now though, that next year / will excel 

 any bee-keeper in America. That is, I in- 

 tend to take more honey from 200 stands 

 of bees than any one else will from that 

 number. All take fair warning and be 

 prepared. 



Although the bee-keepers of tiie U. S. 

 are advancing rapidly in the Science of 

 Apiculture, yet I think there are many 

 things to be learned j^et. One leading 

 idea is that of 



the puopeh time to divide swarms. 

 The i)opuIar theory is in the beginning 

 of the season. But where both honey and 

 increase are desired, I think this a great 



