206 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Mar. 15. 



queen and put it in a brood-chaniV)er on the old 

 stand, with empty combs, except one comb of 

 honey in which a queen-cell is grafted, on this 

 a queen-excluder, and then a second story with 

 the brood-frames and queen-cells, and then the 

 surplus cases. The queens above will be de- 

 stroyed before or after hatching, and the young 

 queen below remains reigning. Won't the bees 

 sometimes desert that single cell ? 



A NEW STUPEFIER Is described in Lcipzujer 

 Bienenzettung. It is kept by supply -dealers, 

 put up in little bottles, and. under the rather 

 inappropriate name of "laughing-gas," consists 

 of solid white crystals the size of coffee grains. 

 Its fumes act like magic in immediately pro- 

 ducing apparent death, and, as magically, life 

 is restored, with no trace of effect, except that 

 all memory of the past is gone, allowing change 

 of queen, change of locality, uniting, etc. But 

 disastrous results weeks, and even months 

 afterward, are charged to its account. 



Get heady for a big crop. If you'ie ready 

 for it and it doesn't conu\ there's no great haim 

 done. If you're not ready and it does come, 

 then there is harm done. You'll get all in a 

 stew right in the middle of harvest, and, in- 

 stead of being just running over with gratitude 

 for having such a big crop, you'll grumble at 

 the supply-dealers because they don't start your 

 supplies on the road about two hours before 

 you mail your order, snap up your wife when 

 she asks you to stop long enough for dinner, 

 and make yourself such a nuisance generally 

 that you'll' want to get away from yourself. 

 Get ready in time. 



gENEI^^Ii Ct)Rr(E^P0NDENCE. 



BIOGRAPHICAL. 



WHO IS KAMBLEK? 



The subject of this sketch was born in the 

 town of Hai-tford, New York, Dec. 30, 1839. His 

 grandfather came from the State of Massachu- 

 setts, and was one of those hardy Puritan pio- 

 neers who settled in that region near the close of 

 the last c(Mitury, and there carved comfortable 

 homes from the virgin forest. He was a man 

 of high nativ(» qualities and Yankee shrewd- 

 ness, and from him John H. st^ems to have in- 

 herited his full share. AsJohn was an only son 

 he was given good educational opi)oi'tunities, 

 spending some time at a neighboring academy, 

 and at the Fort Edward Collegiate Institute. 



In 1868 he married Miss Libbie C. Edwards, 

 who died in 1881. leaving no children. She was 

 an estimable lady, and her death was a great 

 loss to the community. 



For many years Mr. Martin followed agricul- 

 tural pursuits on his father's farm; but owing 

 to a somewhat frail constitution, and the death 

 of his wife, followed, in 18S;:i, by the death of 

 both his parents, ho gave up the farm entirely; 

 and bee culture, which had formerly been a 

 side issue, was given all his time and at-tention. 



His gi'andfather was the first to introduce 

 into that section the Weeks (jatent hive, which 

 at that time was a great improvement. By ob- 

 serving his grundfathei-'s bees and methods, he 

 early b(icame intci-ested in the bees, and hence 

 he can hardly tell when his career as an apia- 

 rist began. As early as 1874 we find him with 

 .5.5 colonies of bees, and a contributor to (Clean- 

 ings. Since that time his apicultural cai'eer 

 has been plainly indexed by his contributions 

 to this paper. Since he has devot(;d all his time 

 to the bees, it has been his method to keep fi-om 



200 to 30U colonies, running them for extracted 

 honey, and doing all the work himself, except 

 during the exti'acting season. At present his 

 colonies are somewhat reduced, owing to the 

 past successive poor season^ and bad winters. 

 One season his crop was 16,000 lbs. of honey, and 

 his average for the past 12 or 15 years has been 

 about 7000 lbs. of extracted honey pei' year. 

 Since the advent of the Heddon hive he has 

 adojited it and its methods, and the chaff hives 

 and outdoor wintering are being discarded. 



Mr. Martin is a thorough student of the bee, 

 as the many bee-books, old and new, and bound 

 volumes of the bee-periodicals to be found in 

 his bookcase, all show. He is also a superior 

 workman in wood, and very ingenious in the 

 invention and application of apiarian imple- 

 ments. The old homestead, wher-e he now re- 

 sides with kind friends, is a most beautiful 

 spot. Abroad turnpike leads up from the vil- 

 lage, and for some distance there are, on either 



THE RAMBLER. 



side of the road, rows of thrifty basswoods, 

 planted years ago by Mr. Martin's own hand. 

 The house is a tyi)ical Eastern homestead, large 

 and square and white, among venerable maples. 

 Just beyond the house is the apiary with its high 

 lattice fence and arbor of grapevines, while all 

 around are the high hills and broad valleys of 

 an excellent honey location. 



In person Mr. Martin is quite tall and slen- 

 der; there is not an ounce of spare; flesh about 

 him. In manner he is very modest and quiet, 

 yet continually, through his eyes and in his 

 words, one sees the humor of the man. He has 

 great love of the quaint and humorous side of 

 humanity, yet his humor never offends by its 

 coarseness nor galls by its acidity. The series of 

 articles written during the last two years, un- 

 der th(> Honi (le pfHNic " Rambler," has made 

 him well known to all the readers of Glean- 

 ings. His method of combining the entertain- 

 ing and the instructive in a manner to make it 

 read by all is very characteristic. 



Mr. Martin is a true Christian — very zealous 

 in Christian work, and is a li^.uling member and 



