1898 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



81 



NEIGHBOR GREENFIELD AND THE BEES, 

 Corrections; Peep-holes in Sections; Big Pump 



Peep-holes in Sections ; 

 kins ; Acetylene Gas, etc. 



BY S. A. NIVER. 



Mr. Root: — When I arrived home from my 

 trip collecting for the honey, Glkanings lay 

 on the table, so of course I had to glance over 

 that first, and several andible smiles were the 

 result. Your memory is a little twisted on a 

 few points — notably on neighbor Greenfield's 

 struggle with "six sw'a'ms " in the air at 

 once, and he bareheaded, barehanded, bare- 

 footed, etc. Now, the truth of that yarn is, 

 " six sw'a'ms " on one limb — all in one funer- 

 al-pile — and Mr. G. encased in big boots, veil, 

 gloves to his shoulders, and perspiration and 

 profanity too numerous to mention, dancing a 

 regular can-can with his old dishpan, tr3'ing 

 to get them spread around into six hives. 



True enough, he ordinarily goes among his 

 bees rather <^a/r in respect to head, hands, and 

 feet ; but they were too savage for even him 

 that da\'. Poor old chap ! his buckwheat 

 honey sold for 8 cents, and clover for 9 ; and, 

 after deducting expenses, 7 and 8 cents is just 

 about the story. 



You say in editorials, " Will he now tell us 

 something about collecting? Does he go at 

 his poor pays rough shod ? " Well, no ; not a 

 poor pay to talk about this year. Three fail- 

 ures in four years, and amounting to only S'i-") 

 loss, seems to me to be a very lucky record. 

 But you :nay remember that my fighting 

 weight is 1 '20 lbs. (18 ounces to the pound), 

 and so it behooves me to "go slow" about 

 this " rough-.'- hod " stj-le. I have extended 

 time to some customers, and been very careful 

 to make them feel free to ask for extra favors. 

 The result is that I have a very friendly lot of 

 customers who express themselves as well 

 pleased all around, not only with the honey, 

 but especiall}' with the style of package — non- 

 drip cases with veneers — and there comes in 

 an answer to one of Dr. Miller's objections to 

 the no-bee- way section. The veneers hold 

 them apart just right to get a grip on them 

 with the finger and thumb nails. Careful sell- 

 ing is a great help to easy collecting. 



One point I did find new to me, and it has 

 bothered me ever since. Three of my old cus- 

 tomers were captured b}' a New York drum- 

 mer who sold them extracted honey for bak- 

 ing honey-cakes. The odd part of it all was 

 that they should pay him 'lyi to '?> cts. per lb. 

 more than I had asked them for the last lot I 

 sold them (which had given perfect satisfac- 

 tion, better than the other fellow's hone}'), and 

 the reason they gave for thus throwing away 

 money, in one case nearly ijoO, was that it was 

 too much trouble to look up our address and 

 order by mail. Wouldn't that mal e you tir- 

 ed .•* I have been studying on some unique 

 sign or advertisement to hang up in that 



man's bakery so that he will have our address 

 always before his eyes. How would a queen- 

 bee, about the size of a Christmas turkey, 

 holding our card, do ? 



Well, Ernest, this chat is running on at a 

 2:20 gait, and I haven't touched on bicycles, 

 acetylene, big pumpkins, nor those holes in 

 the corners of Morton's honey. Say — don't 

 put that point too strong in booming your new 

 fence. There are peep-holes in every box of 

 honey Morton has ever produced. Look at 

 those he shipped you to Medina. Danzenba- 

 ker had one section with nary a peep-hole — 

 the only one / ever saw. To be sure, the 

 fence helps to reduce the size of 'em, but they 

 are there all the same. 



I must send A. I. a few seeds from a large 

 pumpkin I struck down among the Pennsyl- 

 vania Dutch. It weighed 135 lbs. ; and the 

 odd thing about this variety is its keeping 

 qualities, and its fine flavor for pies. I saw 

 one of them in a restaurant window, which 

 had been Wv&x^ three years, so the proprietor 

 .solemnly declared; and Jake Daub (one of 

 my customers) toll me that he could vouch 

 for its being there two years, but I would have 

 to take the man's word for the odd year. 



I called on D. N. Long, of La Salle, N. Y., 

 and had a half-day chat over that new gas, and 

 I am full of the idea of going to Los Angeles 

 to go into the business. Mr. Long says he 

 thinks the calcium carbide can be manufac- 

 tured ior fifteen dollars per ton. 



How on earth ean old bee-keepers differ so 

 widely in their opinion of the merits of the 

 identical things used in the apiary ? That 

 great and trusted authority. Dr. C. C. Miller, 

 jacks you up sharply about your section-hold- 

 er, and puffs his T super. I have never had 

 much experience in using T supers, and per- 

 haps we are all ('//"in regard to them ; but this 

 I avV/ stick to — from what little experience I 

 have had with them I think they are the 

 meanest, most measly old truck I ever had 

 any thing to do with. Perhaps it is but fair to 

 Dr. Miller to say that all the experience I ever 

 had with the T super was in smashing Mor- 

 ton's old ones to build a fire under the boiler. 



Groton, N. Y. 



[When I read your letter through, friend 

 N., of course an audible smile came from my 

 face — if there is such a thing as an andible 

 grin. I think I must have felt like the cul- 

 prit before the judge when the latter turned to 

 him and said, " Thirty days and costs." 



Really, friend Niver, you must not be too 

 hard on my memory. You know I do not 

 claim too great things for it ; but I do insist 

 that you told me that neighbor Greenfield 

 worked among his bees bareheaded, barehand- 

 ed, barefooted, and I kind o' got the impres- 

 sion that it was on this particular occasion 

 that he was thus rigged out. However, I am 

 almost glad that I did get things a little mix- 

 ed, for I do not think anybody else could have 

 described the situation quite so vividly as you 

 have done. 



Now about those peep-holes. Look here, 

 friend N., I am not going to give up quite so 

 easily, although I may have to back down a 



