1897 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



59 



the new, or United States Union, will ero on, regard- 

 less of the old Union, and do the work that is neces- 

 sary to do— the pioeecution of honey-adulterators 

 for "one thins-, and the old National Union can sit 

 still and do tmiliiiig- except to guard and hrag of 

 the ■fTOii tliat it has amassed since it stopped doing 

 anything. 1 don't wish to be dierespectful ; but, 

 honestlj-, the work forwhich the National Union was 

 called into existence has been finished— j))«ctic((l- 

 ly finished— and other work of a hundred-fold more 

 importance is looming up and growing greater and 

 greater as the months and years go by. A good lot 

 of motipy in the treasury is a good thing; but good 

 accompUslicd with this is better than the money 

 itself. In the " Extracted Department" of this issue 

 of the Review you will find that I have written more 

 fully upon this subject. I hope that every member 

 of the old National Union will consider well before 

 he votes. We need just one good, strong, wide- 

 awake, enthusiastic national association of bee- 

 keepers, and that is enough. Only get the thing 

 started right and there is no question but that it 

 will "go." Already money is being sent to the 

 Secretary of the new United States Union, Br. A. 

 B. Mason, Sta. B, Toledo, Ohio, to join the Union 

 "that is going to prosecute dishonest commission 

 men." Just as soon as it is really evident that we 

 arQ going to have a Union that will do something, 

 there will be no lack of members. Let us have 

 amalgamation, then will follow plenty of members, 

 and there will be plenty of money; and then, with 

 the right men at the helm— men with "go," deter- 

 mination, and enthusiasm— much good will come to 

 bee-keepers as the result. The times are ripe for 

 this move — let us move. 



I indorse most heartily the sentiment of this. 

 It is indeed true that the worl< which the 

 National Union was called into existence to 

 perform is practically finished, yet there is 

 other work a hundred-fold more important. 

 A lot of money in the treasury is a good thing; 

 but a lot wisely expended, and an empty treasu- 

 ry, in prosecution of dishonest commission men 

 and honey-adulterators, would be a far better 

 condition. Mr. Hutchim-^on is right. 



IMPROVEMENTS ON HIVES ; IS THE DOVETAILED 

 HIVE PERFECT? THE HIVE "MONOPOLY." 



In the American Bee Journal, p. 834, a writer 

 under the nom de plume of '' Inventor." at the 

 beginning of an article uses these words: "In 

 the bee-papers I find the idea prevalent that the 

 present Langstroth hive is perfect, and that no 

 one should undertake to improve hives further 

 than to accept the Dovetailed hive as a stand- 

 ard. . . An Inventor can be just as honest as 

 Mr. Langstroth, and I do not believe the time 

 has come when all should say, ' It is perfect — 

 let the monopoly go on.' " And, again, he says, 

 referring to improvements on hives, " I think 

 that manufacturers make a mistake in crying 

 down improvements that they may control the 

 sale of certain fixtures." 



From certain other references and allusions, 

 outside of what is above given, it would look as 

 if Inventor had our firm particularly in mind, 

 although it is possible he meant all. 



Starting with the first quotation, most em- 

 phatically I do not believe the " idea is preva- 

 lent" that the Langstroth hive is perfect, and 

 that " no one should undertake to improve bee- 

 hives further than to accept the Dovetailed." 

 I am quite conversant with what appears in 

 our own periodical, and I believe I am tolerably 



well acquainted with the matter in other bee- 

 papers As for ourselves, we have never be- 

 lieved the Langstroth nor the Dovetailed hi-ve 

 was perfect. We have been looking so much 

 toward improvements that many of our friends 

 have asked us to "let up," because their new 

 fixtures did not fit the old. But it is neverthe- 

 less the fact, that, when one manufacturer 

 makes an improvement that meets with popu- 

 lar favor, the others follow along in the same 

 line, and very often— yes, generally— cut prices. 

 What foundation is there, then, for the sen- 

 tence, " It is perfect — let the monopoly go on?" 

 The fact of the matter is, there are hardly any 

 two of the manufacturers that sell exactly at the 

 same prices on hives. A comparison of the va- 

 rious catalogs will bear out the statement. 



We have for some time had a department in 

 this journal, called Trade Notes, in which we 

 have illustrated and described various hives of 

 merit. For instance, I would call attention to 

 the Danzenbaker hive, the Heddon, and the 

 Aikin McKnight hive, all of which possess pe- 

 culiar and valuable features, none of which are 

 based on Langstroth dimensions. Moreover, 

 The A. I. Root Co. is about to give in its catalog 

 the option of the Dovetailed or Danzenbaker 

 hive. The latter is as much a departure from 

 Langstroth principles as any thing can well be. 

 There is nothing standard about it, and yet it is 

 a hive that gives much promise, and one too 

 that certainly does contain some desirable fea- 

 tures. 



Again, 1 would call attention to the fact that 

 Gleanings has pushed forward the merits of 

 the tall section, and that right in the face of the 

 fact that the 4)4 square ones have been used al- 

 most exclusively. If we as manufacturers were 

 "crying down improvements," it is hardly like- 

 ly that we would push forward an odd-sized 

 section and an odd-sized frame. 



From my point of view. Inventor's observa- 

 tions seem to be ali wrong. If he had said the 

 very opposite of what is set forth in the quota- 

 tions above given, he would, in my humble 

 judgment, have come nearer the truth. I ven- 

 ture to state that, if he would go through some 

 of the large supply-manufacturing establish- 

 ments of the country, he would have reason to 

 change his mind. We have in our establish- 

 ment an experimental room, and an " inventor" 

 who is at work all the time. In the near future 

 I hope I shall have the pleasure of showing 

 that ottr "inventor" has not been idle by any 

 means. The new thing will not be an improve- 

 ment, but an m?iovatio7i — something that, in 

 my humble opinion, will be classed alongside o 

 the extractor, comb foundation, movable frames, 

 and the bee-smoker. The world does move, 

 even in the apicultural line, friend Inventor; 

 and il you will call upon us some time I'll try to 

 convince you that there is progress, even at 

 The A. I. Root Co.'s works. 



