14 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Jan. 1. 



they arrived at were similar to my own — that 

 only deep frames were suitable for use in such 

 hives. 



Let me review Mr. Doolittle's objections 

 very briefly. I can work a single-story hive 

 much easier than a double-story. The extra 

 depth of my frame, and a little higher stand, 

 makes the top of the hive the same height 

 from the ground as the top of a two-story 

 Langstroth. I shake my bees inside, not on 

 top of mj' hives, and avoid the trouble of 

 crawling bees he speaks of. If I remember 

 rightly, I used to be as successful as the aver- 

 age of bee-keepers in wintering my bees in 

 Northern Iowa, and I used the long hive en- 

 tirely, Mr. D.'s non-success with only two 

 hives to the contrary notwnthstanding. 



Stuart, Fla., Nov.' 18. 



THE HOME OF THE HONEY-BEES, 

 As Seen by Dr. G. L. Tinker. 



Having, some time since, sold out his facto- 

 ry, the writer no longer manufactures apiarian 

 supplies, and should be able to write without 

 prejudice or selfish interest of the great work 

 being done by The A. I. Root Co. Feeling 

 that the readers of Gleanings would be in- 

 terested, and that it was the duty of some one 

 to make a note of the progress that has been 

 made in the manufacture of apiarian supplies, 

 I have concluded to break my long silence in 

 the bee-papers by writing out my impressions 

 of a recent visit to the ' Home of the Honey- 

 bees." 



First, it should be stated that the manufac- 

 turing plant of this company, for some years, 

 has been the largest of the kind in the world. 

 The credit of building up such a great work 

 rests with the senior of the firm, a man of much 

 energy and executive ability. It remained, 

 however, for the new members of the firm 

 (Messrs. E. R. Root and J. T. Calvert) to pre- 

 vail in introducing a large number of new, im- 

 proved, and costly machines that a higher or- 

 der of work might be turned out. In this 

 they have been highly successful. Work is 

 not only turned out more speedily than here- 

 tofore, but it is finished neatly and accurateh'. 

 To my great delight 1 saw all of these beauti- 

 fi;l machines in active operation. Every part 

 of the bee-hive seemed to be made in dupli- 

 cate, every piece being finished perfectly, re- 

 sembling the finest cabinetwork. There were 

 piles upon piles of hives and parts of hives, 

 the elegant finish of which reminded me that 

 the time had come when one great manufac- 

 turing company, at least, has little if any 

 thing to attain in the way of perfect work- 

 manship in every department of their exten- 

 sive works. The vast amount of labor and ex- 

 pense that has been put forth to reach this 

 much-desired goal deserves recognition by 

 those competent to judge of it, and it is here- 

 by freely given, and without solicitation. 



The new narrow section, to be used with the 

 fence, has many things to commend it. It 

 can always be furnished of whiter wood than 

 a wider section ; it is economical ; it shows off 

 the honey to the best advantage; it is entirely 



practicable, and I predict for it a popularity 

 that no other style of section has ever reach- 

 ed. Indeed, it has seemed to me almost the 

 last and best thing to be brought forth to cap 

 the climax of effort to please the patrons of 

 The A. I. Root Co. 



The progress in the manufacture of founda- 

 tion has been as great as in other lines of their 

 work. The new drawn foundation must be 

 classed with the extraordinary accomplish- 

 ments of human genius. It had very much 

 the appearance and about the same weight of 

 section foundation that had been drawn out 

 and built up by the bees until about ^^ of an 

 inch thick. If I hadn't seen the machine on 

 which it is made I should have declared the 

 feat impossible. 



Now a word about the many employees. I 

 think I never saw a more earnest and diligent 

 lot of workers, both womefi and men. They 

 seemed to work with an enthusiasm quite un- 

 like that observed in most large factories. 

 Mr. A. I. Root seemed to be everywhere pres- 

 ent among them, always pleasant and encour- 

 aging. I really do not know how many times 

 he went through the factory that first day of 

 December, but it was a good many. Through 

 his l^indness I was shown the vegetable-gar- 

 den under glass. There were ripe tomatoes, 

 and potatoes just coming up, and strawberry- 

 plants with buds set; lettuce-plants, etc. We 

 then went through the potato-cellar, and here 

 were hundreds of bushels of the choicest va- 

 rieties. They were all large and fine, and 

 must please all who get them for seeding pur- 

 poses 



Finally, I must observe that there is but one 

 danger, that I can see, to threaten the welfare 

 of the " Home of the Honey-bees," and that 

 is /i/T. 1 could not help thinking what a 

 great calamity to the bee-keeping world it 

 would be if fire should wipe out these mag- 

 nificent buildings wth all their fine machin- 

 ery. No insurance could cover the loss ; and 

 so may we all hope that every hand in that 

 great establishment may redouble his watch- 

 ful care, that such a misfortune may never oc- 

 cur. 



New Philadelphia, O. 



[We appreciate most thoroughly the kind 

 things the doctor has seen fit to say — first, be- 

 cause they were entirely unsolicited; and, sec- 

 ond, because the goods that Dr. Tinker sent 

 out when he was manufacturing were ac- 

 knowledged the world over to be the finest, 

 in the line of bee-keepers" supplies, of any 

 thing ever turned out. Well, to have the 

 maker of these goods pronounce so high an 

 encomium on those of our own manufacture 

 is most gratifying indeed. 



The doctor omitted to state that he came 

 here to show us how to run his automatic zinc- 

 perforating machine which we had purchased 

 of him a few days before. To see that ma- 

 chine moving along like a thing of life, work- 

 ing all alone by itself for a period of twenty 

 minutes, without any one near it, is a sight 

 worth looking at. When we first put it in, it 

 had some " balky spells; " but now it does its 

 work silently, minds its own business ; and 



