1897 



GLRANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



iiKcliny; of the Toin]ikins Co. hce- keepers. 

 Arriviiij^ there, we found that the bee-kee]iers 

 had already he>;un to assenil)le; after a .s^eiier- 

 al hand-shake and an clej^ant picnic dinner, 

 we were called to order by Pres. Wood. I will 

 not attempt to rehearse the discussions that 

 took place at that time, as they are now too 

 dimly fixed in my mind. I do remember that 

 I was j^ven two or three friendly "shots," 

 which I suppose were designed to wake me 

 up. I was suffering at the time from a horri- 

 ble cold — a sort of influenza that I had caught 

 on my return from the Seneca Co. bee-keep- 

 ers' convention some two or three days be- 

 fore. .^ night ride on the bicycle, and then 

 afterward, wet with sweat, sitting in the de- 

 lightful breeze of the cool summer air, so re- 

 freshing and grateful, gave me what I de- 

 served. 



There were present at that convention a 

 number of bee-keepers who had colonies ag- 

 gregating from 3(»() to 100(1, and who were just 

 full — yes, brimful, running over — with facts 

 and ex; eriences in regprd to bees. Both dur- 

 ing the convention and after it I made it a 

 point to pump those fellows as much as I 

 could; and some of t'e things T have already 

 given to the bee-keeping world have come 

 from those same men. 



The president, Mr. Wood, after giving me an 

 introduction, told me that I was expected to 

 occupy the rest of the time; and then those bee- 

 keepers, with their colonies running up into 

 the several hundreds, b^gan to " pump" uic. 

 I suspect I told them all I knew about bees, 

 and perhaps some things I did not know. 

 Taking it all in all, we managed to have an 

 interesting and lively time. Before the ad- 

 journment of the convention, I secured, as a 

 matter of course, two views of the bee-keepers. 



THE M.A.N WHOSE BKES DID NOTHING BUT 

 SWARM. 



At this convention there was a unique and 

 interesting old gentleman natned Luther 

 Greenfield. He had a hundred or so colonies 

 within a quarter of a mile, and invited all the 

 bee-keepers present to visit his apiary. .A.bout 

 half of us accepted the invitation. Mr. Green- 

 field acknowledged that he for some reason 

 could not get as much honey as the other fel- 

 lows w^ho boasted of their big crops. He al- 

 most intimated, in his good-natun-d Yankee 

 nasal twang, that he did not b^lieve that 

 " them 'ere fellers " could get any more honey 

 than he. In the course of a good-natured 

 banter it leaked out that he had anywhere 

 from six to twelve swarms out at one time 

 during the height of the honey-flow. " Why," 

 said he, "I can get svva'ms, plenty of 'em; 

 but somehe'ow I can't git any honey like you 

 fellers claim." 



The " boys" rather poked fun at him a lit- 

 tle, because he had, within half a mile of his 

 apiary, one field of buckwheat aggregating a 

 hundred acres or more, and various other small 

 fields within range of his bees. I think it 

 was Niver who called upon Mr. Greenfield at 

 one time, and found him employed in the api- 

 ary, trying to take care of about six or eight 

 swarms in the air. He was barehanded, bare- 



footed, bareheaded, and baldhcaded in the 

 bargain, and the "bees stinging just like 

 Jehu." " What in Sam Hill made the bees 

 swarm so," he could not understand. 



"Why," said Niver, "your hives are too 

 small, and your acreage of buckwheat is too 

 large. Give them room — give them room." 



While the bee-keepers were in the yard I 

 took one or two snap-shots, one of which I 

 reproduce herewith. Mr. Greenfield him.self 

 is in the center of the group, with smoker in 

 hand, just proceeding to open one of his hives. 

 Veil ? He did not want any thing of the sort. 

 What did he care for a few stings ? At the 

 extreme right of the ]:)icture, with white straw 

 hat, is Mr. W. L. Coggshall — the man who 

 manages, with two helpers, a thousand colo- 

 nies in iiiTie different apiaries. The furthest 

 yard, I think, is some forty miles from his 

 home, and the nearest is some three or four. 

 Just in front of Mr. Coggshall, with his hands 

 behind him, with straw hat, is the secretary 

 of the convention, Mr. J. L. Kinney. Just in 

 front of Mr. Kinney's right, with wdiite beard, 

 light suit, is Mr. Miles Morton, who needs no 

 introduction to our readers. 



I was introduced to all of the bee-keepers 

 there present ; but for the life of me I can not 

 remember another one save the young man at 

 the left of the picture, who has a straw hat in 

 his hand. That is Mr. Coggshall, junior, who 

 helps his father considerably in the manage- 

 ment of their extensive apiaries. 



H.\RRY HOWE, THE LIGHTNING OPERATOR. 



Just back of Luther Greenfield, with his 

 head obscured from view, is Mr. Harry S. 

 Howe, of Ithaca, N. Y., but formerly in the 

 employ of Mr. Cogg.shall, of West Groton. 

 Mr. Howe is a young man in whom Mr. Cogg- 

 shall has taken a special interest — in fact, 

 almost brought him up. Harry was bright, 

 active, and earned the title of being one of 

 Coggshall's "lightning operators." "Why," 

 said Mr. C, "that boy could handle more 

 colonies, and extract more honey — in fact, do 

 any other work among the bees in a given 

 time — than any other man or boy I ever 

 knew." Harry has had to work his way 

 through life from a boy up. He worked days 

 and studied evenings, and latterly has for a 

 number of years taught school. It was he 

 who subsequently showed me through the 

 buildings of Cornell Univer.sity ; and while he 

 did not profess to be one of its .students or 

 graduates, he seemed to be well up in some of 

 the departments of learning of that institution. 

 But I suppose one rea.son why I was attracted 

 so strongly to Harry w'as because*of the fact 

 that he is an ardent bicycle man. While I 

 was with him part of one day we talked not 

 only bees, but bicycles and every thing con- 

 nected with them. 



But to return. I took two or three snap 

 .shots of Harry as he was riding on his favorite 

 bike — one he made him.self ; but, unfortunate- 

 ly, it was near the end of the film, and the 

 pictures were " no good." 



After I had taken the view shown herewith, 

 I proposed that :\Ir. Greenfield " hare up " his 

 bees, and while they were making a ' ' scatter- 



