1897. 



THE AMERICAN BEE KEEPER. 



ed out the full sections about as fast 

 as they were finished and placed empty 

 ones in place of the full ones that 

 were taken out. At the end of the 

 honej flow a portion of the last sec- 

 tions put in are only partly drawn out. 

 Now, all that are not full enough for 

 market are run through the extractor, 

 excepting the portion not containing 

 honey enough to pay for extracting. 

 Then all are placed out where the bees 

 can clean them out. Now that I have 

 learned their full value I am ready to 

 say with B. Taylor that I consider 

 these combs my best stock in trade for 

 another season. 



I have tried the V shaped starters 

 in sections cut wide and long, and 

 fastened at top and bottom, all with 

 good results. I have had these sec- 

 tions filled with honey before they 

 hardly touched those with smaller 

 starters nearer the center of the super. 



By the way, 1 have just found the 

 most inconvenient and out of the way 

 place to get stung. It was right on 

 the end of my nose. It gives me a 

 very nice appearance. 



Yours truly, S. M. Keeler. 



Ccenango Bridge, N.Y., Dec. 20, '96. 



Ed. Am. Bee Keeper, Dear Sir, — 

 I recently received a sample copy of 

 your magazine and also a catalogue 

 from the W. T. Falconer M'f'g Co. of 

 articles pertaining to bee keeping. 

 The catalogue is the most complete I 

 have yet seen. My experience in this 

 line of goods and ray knowledge of 

 bee culture is rather limited, and I 

 class myself as an amateur, but as you 

 kindly invite correspondence I will 

 give an outline of my meager acquaint- 

 ■ance with the honey bee, which may 

 interest some of your many readers. 



That all who read this article may un- 

 derstand why the writer is such a drone 

 himself, doing nothing for a livlihood 

 excepting watching a few swarms of 

 bees, I prefer to explain, for I hardly 

 think I have been long so classed. 



I had the honor of serving my 

 country in the late war in the First 

 Maine Cavalry, which contained as 

 high a percentage of workers as any 

 company connected with the Army of 

 the Potomac, and the writer distinctly 

 remembers participating in many en- 

 gagements which proved more deadly 

 and certainly more permanently dis- 

 abling than the several encounters 

 had the past season while engaged 

 with my present antagonists, the 

 honey bees. 



Last spring I purchased five swarms 

 of bees and I hardly know which has 

 been the most interesting subject, bees 

 or National politics. I am inclined to 

 think that taken on a bee line, politics 

 are, but the bees are not to be grinned 

 at. I now have seven colonies, five of 

 which have produced 200 lbs. of comb 

 honey, which I have sold at my house 

 at 20 and 25 cts. per pound on a gold 

 basis, which more than paid the origi- 

 nal cost of the whole lot, supplies in- 

 cluded. They are now peacefully at 

 rest in my cellar on suspended shelves, 

 with screens of wire on top of frames 

 elevated f inch to allow the bees to 

 pass over the frames. The hive cov- 

 ers stuffed with straw take up mois- 

 ture. If they survive, also your hum- 

 ble servant, next spring shortly suc- 

 ceeding inauguration with home Pro- 

 tection I will place them on their 

 stands where they are expected to 

 multiply more than 16 to 1. 



Yours truly, Chas. E. McCoy. 



Bangor, Maine, Dec. 7, 1896. 



