IS 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Jan. 1 



ERNEST'S NOTES OF TRAVEL. 



OVEK THE MOrXTAIXS AGAIN. 



I promised, some time ago. to s^ive you a view 

 of O. R. Coe's liotel and mountain surroundings 

 at Windliam. In response to tliis. you see he lias 

 loaned me an electrotype showing his place. 

 The engraving hardly does justice to it. In 

 fact, no effort of man can adequately represent, 

 on paper, mountain scenery as it is. Windham 

 is a very pretty mountain town, tree from ma- 

 laria, as a matter of course. At the lime of our 

 visit, one or two parties from Florida were 

 stopping here to get the malaria out of their 

 systems: and it was coming out. too. with a ven- 

 geance. 



as well as the apiary, are in the rear, just back 

 of the buildings, and therefore they do not 

 show in the picture. You will remember that 

 this is the apiary where the bees die every win- 

 ter, although box-hive bee-keepers all round 

 about are successful in wintering. ]Mr. H. H. 

 Harrington, otherwise known as " Neighboi- 

 H.."' told me he thought he could solve th<" 

 trouble. Said he. " In box hives you will notice 

 that the combs always radiate from a common 

 center, something like the spokes of a wheel: 

 and there is a central passageway through the 

 mass. In thisopeningthe bees clusterand radiate 

 from the center to the outer edges of the hives, 

 as they run short of stores. In the movable- 

 frame hive, the modern bee-keejjer spoils all 

 this: and in Mr. Coe's case the bees were 



]!. (OE S MOrXTAIX HOME. 



I should have been glad to spend a week at 

 this delightful place: but I iiad to hurry away 

 after I had been there a couple of days. Ilong- 

 ed for the privilege of climbing up the moun- 

 tain in the rear of the hotel. While I was there, 

 several ladies, unbeknown to anybody, had 

 made the climb, and. for a wonder, had got 

 back safely without getting lost. It is hardly 

 wise for strangers to attempt to go up the 

 mountains unless accompanied by a guide, es- 

 pecially if there be no footpath or roadway. 

 Indeed, our friend Coe, just the day before we 

 arrived, had himself, after a residence of many 

 years in this region, got lost on the mountains. 

 He had taken a party of tonrists up sightsee- 

 ing: and after directing them to go up a famil- 

 iar pathway, he himself concluded to take a 

 short cut across through the woods. He lost 

 his bearings, and for two or three hours he 

 wandered about not knowing which way was 

 north. He climbed a tall tree, looked over, and 

 then learned where he was. On reaching the 

 company they were much alarmed because of 

 his long absence: and. not daring to attempt 

 to go home without a guide, they began to feel 

 themselves in a predicament indeed. May be 

 they feared the bears. 



THE MOUXTAIX BEAKS. 



Yes. there are bears on these mountains, but 

 they are harmless, and will run from the genus 

 homo before the latter can even recover his 

 consternation. They are I'arely seen except 

 during winter, when they are kind enough to 

 come down and carry oft a sheep or a pig or two 

 for the farmer — a kindness which th(^ latter for 

 some reason or other does not appreciate. 



WHY BOX HIVES AVIEE WIXTER BEES SOME- 

 TIMES AVHEN FRAME HIVES WIEL XOT. 



Mr. Coe's honey-house and winter repository. 



obliged to pass up and over the combs, and 

 consequently the bees in box hives would sur- 

 vive while "those in his modern hives would 

 die." 



This same matter has been brought up before. 

 I believe. I am glad to give it here, as it sug- 

 gests a very probable cause of Mr. Coe's winter 

 troubles. I myself have never dissected box 

 hives enough to know just how combs are built: 

 but Mr. Coe can tell if this be true. My im- 

 pression is that they are built just about as Mr. 

 H. says. 



A VISIT TO THE DADAXTS. 



Well. now. I am going to jump from the east- 

 <'rn part of York State clear over to the valley 

 of the Mississippi, and I can do it on paper, I 

 am happy to say. in a good d(^al less time than 

 I can do it wheeling it across the real territory. 



At the close of the convention at Keokuk, we 

 were invited by the business men to ride over 

 and visit the Dadants. ample conveyances be- 

 ing pi'ovided for the occasion. We crossed the 

 immense railroad bridge at this point, some- 

 thing over— I don't dare tell now: and after 

 crossing we reached the suburbs of Hamilton, a 

 town of 1.500 inhabitants. The p(>culiarity of it 

 is. that it is a very long town. I think you can 

 ride on one road for a couple of miles without 

 getting out of its suburbs. After a very pleas- 

 ant drive over beautiful roads we finally reach- 

 ed the home of the Dadauts. At several points 

 along the route I wished for the Kodak, which 

 I did not have on this trip. With this little in- 

 strument I could have shown you a line extend- 

 ing perhaps a mile long (it might have been 

 only half that), of teams carrying bee-keepers 

 to the largest foundation-factory in the world. 



On arriving at the Dadants" we hopped out 

 and were freely invited to go anywhere and 



