366 



THE BEE-KEEPERS REVIEW 



Lyons, on Maple 

 street. 'Sly father 

 had the distinttion 

 of setting the first 

 maple trees on this, 

 one of the very fin- 

 est rural streets in 

 the state. 



At twelve years 

 of ag"e my parents 

 moved on a farm 

 near Hubbardston, 

 in Clinton Co., Michi- 

 gan. It was on this 

 farm that my bee- 

 keeping experience 



"We are Going to Be Pa-pa's stenographers when We are Old Enough." began.'ln June. 1876 

 [Pno/o by Tojvtisend.] o .'■'•> 



a swarm of bees was 

 seen to go over; I followed and found them entering a large elm 

 tree. The next day a neighbor helped me to get the swarm from 

 the tree, by felling it and hiveing them as a new swarm, for they 

 had not built any comb to speak of. I am not sure but that state- 

 ment needs revising. It would be nearer the truth had I said that 

 I helped the neighbor, for he had had some experience, I none at 

 that time. I was now 17 years old, with a considerable energy, and 

 without a cent. My first swarm was moved home that night, after 

 the bees had done flying for the day. I have had .bees ever since 

 that eventful day. 



Either the season of 1876 was an exceptionally good one with 

 us. or my first swarm a very large and thrifty one, for they soon 

 filled their hive and I divided them in the middle, giving each a half 

 of the bees, brood and honey. Each half filled their hive before 

 winter and must have been in fairly good shape, as they both win- 

 tered. 



During the first ten years of my bee-keeping, less than 50 swarms 

 were kept. At the end of this period I was married to Sarah L. 

 Foreman, a neighbor girl. Four of our five children are now living, 

 two boys and two girls. 



The boys are both bee-keepers, and the girls say they are going 

 to be pa's stenographers when they get old enough. They are, one 

 ten the other eleven years old. 



Now came a period of about fifteen years when bees v/ere still 

 kept as a side issue, but nearly a hundred swarms were kept in one 

 home yard. During the last few years we have kept "more bees" 

 as the readers know who have followed me in my writings in the 

 past. — E. D. TowNSEND. 



