76 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULI URE. 



Jan. 15 



yet to find a sini^Ie breaUdcvu from the 

 heat, and my frames are not wired. 

 Victoria, Fla. , Aug. 31. 



MR FARMER, THE BEE KEEPER 

 MAKER. 



AND CANDY= 



BY ARTHUK C. MILLER. 



If }Ou would know an enthusiastic bee- 

 keeper, just make the acquaintance of 

 Frank H. Farmer, of Boston and Littleton, 

 Mass. He is both a beginner and a vete- 

 ran. He began bee keeping only a few 

 years ago; but in the short time he has been 

 at it he has advanced with wonderful ra- 

 pidity, and now is better versed than many 

 a man who has grown gray in the business. 



Personal!}- Mr. Farmer is a wiry, active 

 young man, clear-eyed and alert; in a 

 word, a *' hustler." Affable and of pleas- 

 ing manner, he wins one's good will from 

 the start. Mr. Farmer's business is that 

 of candy- manufacturer. As a recreation 

 he took up bee culture, and rapidly worked 



in almost as many kinds and styles of hives. 

 Let not the veteran hold up his hands in 

 horror, for this very mixture of hives is of 

 vital importance to Mr. Farmer, enabling 

 him to form valuable opinions as to the 

 merits of types of hives and systems of man- 

 agement, and to advise wisely his many 

 patrons. 



He is having a cellar built for wintering 

 uses that he may compare that system with 

 outdoor methods. He is also soon to erect a 

 roomy building for use as an extracting- 

 house, workshop, etc. 



The Littleton apiary is on a pleasant 

 hillside well up toward the top. If one may 

 judge from the crops he secures, both in 

 quantity and quality, the location is rather 

 above the average for New England. Be- 

 sides the Littleton apiary Mr. Farmer has 

 scattered here and there, for twenty miles 

 around, groups of from two to six colonies 

 so that he may get a fuller knowledge of 

 the honev resources of Eastern Massachu- 

 setts. He is leaving no stone unturned to 

 make himself a master f'f bee-keeping. 



farmer's apiary in the rear of his CANLV-jTORE. 



PAGE 16. 



SEE GLEANINGS, LAST ISSUE, 



into the business of selling bees, honey, and 

 supplies. One floor of the building he oc- 

 cupies in Boston is devoted to the bee-supply 

 trade, and during the spring and summer 

 it is a busy spot. That he may not be sep- 

 arated from his bees, and also that he may 

 have bees and queens handy for immediate 

 satisfaction of all urgent demands, he has 

 established an apiary on a long balcony 

 just outside his factory windows. A pic- 

 ture of part of it is shown herewith. Mr. 

 Farmer stands holding a placard, and at 

 his left is Dr. Holmes, an enthusiastic am- 

 ateur of Randolph, Mass. 



Mr. Farmer's main apiary is at Littleton, 

 Mass., where he has some 50 or 60 colonics 



Thoroughness seems characteristic of the 

 man. To meet him is a pleasure; to know 

 him more intimately is an inspiration. Let 

 no bee-keeper visiting Boston fail to call on 

 him at his office, 182 Friend St., where a 

 most royal welcome awaits them all. 

 Providence, R. I. 



[As noticed in our last issue, page 16, I 

 visi'ed Mr. Farmer a few weeks ago. I 

 think I never before saw one more enthusi- 

 astic on the subject of bees, and it is indeed, 

 as Mr. Miller sa)S, an inspiration to meet 

 him. While in one sense of the word he is 

 an amateur (I mean an expert, one who 

 loves the art he is studying for the sport of 



