192 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



palace I drove a swarm of bees ; it was 

 about five feet long, three feet deep and 

 three feet wide. Room enough in it for a 

 dozen or more good swarms. From it I 

 never got a pound of honey, and in the 

 winter lost what bees it contained. 



In 1860, a patent vender came along 

 with a ' patent bee-house.' My neighbor 

 bought a right to use it and proposed to 

 me that he would stock it with bees if I 

 would pay for the making of the house, 

 to which I agreed. It cost $50. I forget 

 the name of the patentee, but it was con- 

 structed to receive twelve hives, and upon 

 the top and back of these it was arranged 

 for the placing of small glass boxes. It 

 was a beatfty in its way. We got it stocked 

 with bees, but ere the next season ended, 

 the moths ruled supreme, and we lost all 

 but three hives ; these I moved into an out- 

 house during the war for security, and 

 from these three my neighbor and myself 

 got a start at the close of the war, having 

 lost all those left standing out. The house 

 we decided to be a humbug, and de- 

 molished it. 



The next year I conceived an idea of a 

 bee house of my own. It consisted of a 

 series of drawers, eight deep, and ar- 

 ranged for four swarms of bees. Each 

 drawer was 12x13 and 4 inches deep, on 

 top of each was a square hole 3x3 for a 

 passage way. In the rear a glass with 

 cover, for observation. For this I paid 

 $30. I placed on the top of it two hives 

 with a view of allowing the bees to make 

 their way down into it, one at each end. 

 They had made their way down to about 

 the third drawer, and I had been promis- 

 ing myself for several days to smoke them 

 down, but ere I did so, some ' Johnny 

 rebs ' came at night and saved me that 

 trouble, in part, by carry one of the hives 

 away, which I tracked, the following 

 morning, to the rear of Gen. Forest's 

 headquarters, where I found the hive de- 

 molished and robbed of its contents. 

 The bees had been gathered up by a 

 friend, who informed me that the queen 

 was killed. He showed me her carcass, 

 that was the first queen I ever saw. My 

 friend offered me the bees, but I declined 

 taking them. The other hive I immedi- 

 ately put smoke to and forced the bees 

 down into the drawers, but during the 

 season the moths also took them, and as 

 was my custom, when the moth got into 

 my bees, I consigned the whole to the 

 flames. 



The war was now raging, and all the 

 mills and work-shops were suspended ; I 

 could not get lumber or have hives made, 

 so I had to resort to boxes and empty 

 kegs. I had one swarm to come oft 

 which I tried to hive in an empty ten gal- 

 lon whisky keg, but it was no go; then 

 procured a wine keg of the same size, and 

 the way they took to it was fun, I tell you 

 — never before or since had I bees to enter 



a hive so readily as they did that wine 

 keg. 



When the war closed, I had three hives 

 in hand, two being a part of my ' patent 

 bee-house' and the other the wine keg, 

 which had bursted all its hoops, and was 

 held together alone by the propolis put 

 on it by the bees. One of these I gave to 

 my neighbor. The others I transferred to 

 movable frame hives hj driving. One of 

 these hives I had made very fancy, with 

 an 8x10 glass on three sides. Shortly 

 after my transfer I saw in my hive, with 

 the glass in it, the first living queen I ever 

 beheld, but it was only a momentary 

 glimpse. I now had movable frame 

 hives, but no more knew how to handle 

 them than a baboon, and as to removing 

 the top and lifting one of these frames 

 out, I would just as soon have thought of 

 putting my head in a seething cauldron. 

 I forgot to add that after driving, I dis- 

 sected the old hives and found the three 

 classes of cells, viz.: worker, drone, and 

 queen. 



After awhile another patent right man 

 came with a movable frame hive ; but I 

 cried humbug, saying I knew the bees 

 would pay no attention to those frames, 

 that they would as soon, if not sooner, 

 build their combs crosswise on them as to 

 follow them; for in my glass hive I had 

 seen that they did it. 



Shortly after, still another came. This 

 one, now my partner, had the American, 

 but I never had anything to say to him on 

 the subject. In fact, did not make his 

 acquaintance until last year. I fell back 

 on the old box hive, and came to the con- 

 clusion that all else were humbugs, until 

 last spring. In the month of April I 

 drove into the country to spend a day 

 with a friend. He had on his place about 

 thirty Langstroth hives, seeing which, 

 led us into a conversation about bees. I 

 briefly recited to him my experience, and 

 told him that I had never seen but one 

 living queen. He soon got a couple of 

 veils, handing me one, and taking one 

 himself, he opened a hive and very soon 

 pointed out an Italian queen. My old 

 enthusiasm became again aroused. 



When I got home I had three movable 

 frame hives made after my own idea, 

 which I have since become convinced 

 was very erroneous. Also provided my- 

 self with veils. My friend came, in a few 

 days after, and transferred the bees from 

 one of my box hives to my movable frame 

 hive ; after which I put them all, eleven 

 in number, into the same kind. 



I then obtained the works of Langstroth, 

 Quinby, Hunter, King, and the four bee 

 publications, of which I now have com- 

 plete files. 



I did not stop at transferring, but im- 

 mediately proceeded to Italianize all my 

 own stocks, as well as some of those of my 

 neighbors." 



