18«t2 



t;i,i:.\MN(;s in mee rui/ruup:. 



Si) 



yi'iist for. Dr. M.? Ami \\li;ii wdiiUi lir i he ctVi'ci 

 on a mail wlio drank a (|iiail itr so after il was 

 ■•y:oo(l for iisi- "•.' .1. A. Ckkkn. 



Dayton. 111., Jan. r.. 



I ^'o^ lia\ (• hit it (vacllx : ami allliouy;li snmi' 

 limy still lu> iiu-limd to rcsjafd it as a joixiiitr 

 inatti'f. a tiiinir lifxoml i)o>sii)|i' ai'hitnciucnt. 

 we oiilv voice yt)ni' words, ■•\\ail and .sec." 

 Yoiiwili rtMiKMulu'r that, on pa^cs CiS;! and 77:5. 

 Vol. XVI.. we e\i)erimented unite a little witii 

 the extractor on the radial |ilan--tliat is. with 

 combs arrans''d liUe the spukes of a wheel, how 

 we trii'd soini" coml)s of ijnite tiiick honey, said 

 combs liaxiiis b(>en left in a room tiear tlie 

 frei-zinjr- point. Tiiis new scIkmhc of <>xtractor 

 didn't cleati the ceils as perfectly as on(> on the 

 ordinary ph\ii: but. oh niyl it would extract 

 unripened iioney as well as the ordiiuiry ex- 

 tractoi. ^'ou seem to consider the scheme 

 practicable if ytm only had some way to ripen 

 tlie raw nectar. A. \V. Osbmn. of Ciiba; J. F. 

 Mclntyre. of t'aiifornia: Thomas Wm. Cowan, 

 of England: L. (\ Root, of ('oiiiH'cticnt: G. M. 

 Doolittle. of New York, and oilier bee-keepers 

 of iiote and large experience, insist tliat the 

 artilicially ripened honey is as good as thai 

 ripened by tlie bees. Tiie two lirst mentioned, 

 if we are correct. inaK'e it a practice to extract 

 tlie raw lioney. and ripen il in large vats. But 

 tiiey have an advantage in locality that many 

 of us do not possess. Now. tlien, wlio will liave 

 the Itonor to lie tiie tirst lucky ciiap to extract 

 the lirst ton of honey by this new scheme? If 

 this same chap will then ripen it so that the 

 average consumer can not tell it from the hon- 

 ey just as it comes from the hive, the North 

 American Association ought to give him a 

 medal and a chromo. This may seem like a 

 castle in the air, and perhaps that is all there 

 will be to it: but .\\ hen there is (iveii.a gJim- 

 mcriiKj of a possihi'lity of sometliiug big. why 

 not investigate".'] 



JULIUS HOFFMAN'S HOME. 



A .SKinCH OF IT BY .J. 11. NELLIS. 



Reader, are you di.scouraged ? Has bee-keep- 

 ing failed to yield the profit you expected? 

 Have your hard work and well-laid plans mis- 

 carried? and do you lack tin; returns you an- 

 ticipated? Then go with us. in imagination, to 

 the homeof a man. who, unaided except by his 

 strong will, untiring energy, and intelligent 

 action, has, in the space of eighteen years, 

 built up two places: who. in this time, has ac- 

 cumulated the paraijhr-rnalia to carry on his 

 extensive apiaries: who. at this writing, is 

 thoroughly equipped: has nearly reared a 

 bright, intelligent family: has provided for 

 iliem the comforts of a ])leasant and substan- 

 tial home, and who lo-day. through his ripened 

 and extensive experience, will be able to pro- 

 duce a competence to carry him through his 

 declining years, and give; pecuniary aid to his 

 children. This man is none other than .lulius 

 Hoflman. whom we had the pleasure to visit 

 and interview a few days ago. Indeed, to an 

 intelligent bee-keeper who. through practice 

 and experience, has a keen appreciation of ad- 

 vanced methods, a visit to Mr. Hoffman's is a 

 feast long to be rememhered. 



The pleasure of such a visit is greatly in- 

 creased through the hospitality of .Sirs. Hoff- 

 man, and by an hour passed in listening to the 

 beautiful and diOicult music produced by Mr. 

 Hoffman with his violin, assisted by his daugh- 

 ter Hattie up(jii organ or liiano. To assist the 

 reader, friend Root has pioduced from a photo- 

 graph this view of Mr. Hotfmairs home. 



rnfortunati'ly this ;s not the best point from 

 which to see the |)lemises. but it Was used I e- 

 cause it included a immlierof liives. The read- 

 er looks toward the northeast— i. (>., the hoii.so 

 fiiMits the south. The bees shown in the en- 

 graving are not the home ajiiary, but a lot 

 liroiight from out-apiaries, and placed here (>x- 

 pressl_\ to show in tlii^ picture. 'I'lu' man near 

 th(> center, in shirt -sleeves, is Mr. ilolfnian. 

 To his right stands hisdaiighti'r iJ/./.ie. a pret- 

 ty assistant of no nieun value. To the extreme 

 right is Mrs. Hoffman, and in the background 

 may be seen other members of the family. At 

 tli(> left ajipears Mr. lIofTman's faithful man, 

 who has helped for some years. 



liehind the young man, to the left, can be 

 seen the barn, wagon-house, and farm build- 

 ings. To the extreme right, and partially hid- 

 den, is the shop and honey-house, a two-story 

 liiiilding about ??x32 feet. On the upper floor 

 are stored the box honey, and fixtures used in 

 its production. L'ndernealh is a cellar about 

 l!)x2() feet. Thiscellai'is of ordinary construc- 

 tion, about () feet 4 inches deep, and has a 

 ground floor, in wet seasons quite damp and 

 muddy. Over a small space, in the vacant end, 

 watei' stood upon the ground when we visited it. 



The temperature of all the cellars is kept as 

 near 4o° Fall r. as possible. At this time about 

 :U0 colonies are stored in it. The bottom hives 

 are placed upon summer stands (which we will 

 describe later on), and other hives are piliKl 

 upon these until foui' tiers d(^ep. The hives 

 are setasclose logeiheras possible. and aconsid- 

 erable space at one end of the cellar is occupied 

 by the stairs and a large pileof tnangel-wurtz(!ls. 

 Five luindi'ed hives could be placed in this cel- 

 lar: but this is not advisable, for the tempera- 

 ture gets too high, and good air is not .so easily 

 provided. Huilding-paper covers the floor tim- 

 bers on the under side, and these are frequently 

 besttidded with huge drops of water. Next 

 season this shop and cel.lar are to be (>nlarged to 

 double their present capacity. Under no cir- 

 cumstances would Mr. H. cement or flag the 

 bee-cellars, for he believes that the ground 

 imrilies the air and gives off gases beneficial to 

 the bees. 



At the middle of .lanuary. probably not a 

 peck of bees could be gathered from that cellar- 

 liottom. There is no unnatural hum oi' indica- 

 tion of uneasiness. To some hiviis the upper 

 entrance holes were liiled with hees to the outer 

 surface. 



Mr; H. overhauls and prepares his bees for 

 winter during September and October, and ?0 

 pounds of honey is considered necessary to take 

 a colony through the winter. By lifting the 

 hives he determines the supply. Eight frames 

 are left in each hive, thus providing nearly two 

 inches of space bet-ween the followers aiui ends 

 of hive. IJefore the hives go into winter quar- 

 ters, the enamel-cloth sheets used to confine 

 the bees in summer are removed, and .several 

 thicknes.s(>s of sacking placed over and tucked 

 down into these spaces. Formerly this enamel 

 cloth was left on: but some combs were 

 moldy in s|)iing. which is avoided now. The 

 bees wiutci' equally well whelhei- tlie enamel 

 cloth is left on or removed. These covers of 

 sackin,g confine the bees securely and quickly — 

 a great advantage peculiar to the closc^d ends 

 of the Hoit'man top-bars. The hive-caps are 

 not taken iiilo the cellars. " 'j 



.,Mr. Hoffman has about 10.5 colonies under the 

 living-i'ooms, in his house cellar, and 1.50 in tin; 

 cellai' of a tenant house, a short distance from 

 his residence. He placed 6.5.5 colonies in the 

 three cellars. Two men bring the bees, and i\Ir. 

 H. places them. The three can put the whole 

 number in the cellars in about ten hours. How^ 

 they are able to handle this number so quickly 



