1894 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



515 



Rice leaves a wife; his only daughter, Mrs. Roxoy 

 Wilson, of Edinore, Mich.; and one sister, Mrs. A. 

 V. Eastman, and a host of friiMids, to mourn his 

 loss. 



Years ago, away back in NovonilxM- Glkan- 

 INOS for ISTC), appeared an engraving siiowing 

 Mr. Rice's apiary and the honse-apiary; and 

 togethtM' with it was a short paragraph, both 

 of which we have decided to place before our 

 readers at this time. 



It was a pleasant day in October when we— the 

 artist (Mr. Stanhope) and myself— drove up just 

 by tlie rail fence you see in the foreground, and 

 took a peep at the surroundings as you see 

 them above. Friend Rice was found busily engaged 

 making winter passages for tlie bees, which opera- 

 tion he performed with a "sharp stick," and we 

 noted that he got along with it very fast. We soon 

 went into the house-apiary, and, after we had noted 

 the tempting displays of comb honey, we were real 



The house-apiary seen in the background 

 was long since discarded, although we believe 

 he continued to use it as a sort of shop. Tlie 

 hives shown in the foreground he was using up 

 to the time of his death, and were still in excel- 

 lent condition, as was every thing that Mr. 

 Rice had about his bees. He was not a man 

 who believed in letting hives rest on the ground, 

 to rot out the bottoms, nor letting them go un- 

 painted. 



Perhaps many of our readers would like to 

 know the secret of Mr. Rice's success in winter- 

 ing. He always put his bees in the cellar, in 

 the hives you see in the engraving, and always 

 put over the frames a cushion, and over all a 

 cap with a wire-cloth screen on top, for the 

 purpose, as he said, of " letting the bees' sweat 

 pass off." He did not think it necessary to 

 have a large entrance, but, on the contrary. 



A. A. rice's house -apiary, SEVILLE, OHIO. 



glad we came to see him. In the center of the room 

 we found large tin tanks of both linn and clover 

 honey; and as we never like to waste any time we 

 dipped out the lioney, flrst from one can and then 

 the other, while we talked " bees." You must know 

 that friend R. gets all his comb honey in small sec- 

 tions fitted into his large frames, and the sight of 

 these cakes of honey riglit before the glass division- 

 boards clear round the room is pretty, we assume 

 you. May Mrs. R. never lose her genial smile, nor 

 he the robust strength tliat enables him to carry 

 those lieavy hives out of the cellar and back, when- 

 ever a summery day occurs in midwinter; and when 

 he gets old, may he have an easy-chair in the house- 

 apiary, and find it (the house-apiary) a complete 

 success. 



Mrs. Rice has still the same genial smile: 

 but it is a sadder one, through the loss of her 

 life companion. His robust strength did not 

 give way till the silken cord, without any 

 warning, was snapped while he was apparently 

 in his usual health. 



regarded it as very important that the " sweat" 

 should have perfect freedom to escape through 

 the thin cushion. The wire cloth was used, 

 not only to hold the bees in the hives during 

 the winter, but also during such times as when 

 he brought the bees up in his bee-wagon to 

 Medina, to sell them at the Home of the Honey- 

 bees. 



Mr. Rice was one of those bee keepers whose 

 light did not shine very prominently through 

 the bee-journals, but he was one of those quiet, 

 practical ones who make bees pay. He accepted 

 new theories with caution; and when he found 

 he could winter his bees successfully, nothing 

 in the world could induce him to change his 

 plan one iota. A year ago last spring, after we 

 had given the scaled covers a thorough test, 

 with such unsatisfactory results, he said, with 

 a smile, "I thought you would find out your 

 mistake. The sweat has got to pass off, and it 

 can not do it through the sealed cover." 



