APRIL 15, 1914 



301 



would be inadvisable; 

 but Mr. Marchant as- 

 sured me that in this 

 climate it could be 

 done in safety. In one 

 case in particular I 

 looked into a single- 

 si ory hive, with about 

 six frames, where a 

 frame of foundation 

 had been given. Twen- 

 ty-four hours later it 

 was fully drawn out, 

 notwithstanding it had 

 been raining all day, 

 and a queen was be- 

 ginning to occupy it. 

 Mr. Marchant is un- 

 undertaking the prob- 

 lem of getting 6000 frames of foundation 

 drawn out before he ships the bees to Me- 

 dina. His plan is to build the colonies up 

 to one, two, and three stories high, and 

 then, just before coming back to the Xorth. 

 and after catching the main honey-flow, 

 split them up into single-story colonies, 

 giving each a queen. If every thing* works 

 out according to program we shall make a 

 big increase, secure an early honey crop, 

 move north, and then catch a clover crop. 

 We have done it once. It remains to be 

 seen whether we shall do it again. 



At this writing, April 1, it would not be 

 wise to say how many bees we can bring 

 back; but if we have any kind of season 

 Mr. Marchant will put in Medina more bees 

 then we ever had before. 



In the mean time our managing editor, 

 Mr. H. H. Root, has gone south to Braden- 

 town, Fla. About tlie 10th of April he 

 hopes to go to Apalachicola and help the 

 boys extract with some new power-driven 

 machinery that he has devised. He is equip- 



FlG. 



Fig. 2. — Tlie other platform next to tlie river frontage of the Root ap'.ary 

 in Florida. 



ped with a camera, and probably will come 

 back with a lot of material to present to our 

 readers. 



For further references to this Apalachi- 

 cola apiary, see the editorial department. 



BEARS AND SNAKES AT OUR APALACHICOLA 

 APIARY. 



There are bears and snakes at our camp. 

 Just after our boat reached camp one day, 

 Joe asked us if we saw that black bear 

 swimming the river. We said " Nu. Why 

 didn't you shoot him? " 



" Didn't have any rifle, and hadn't seen 

 him soon enough, or I would have roped 

 him and brought him to our camp." 

 '' Sure it was a bear? " 

 " Yes," said Joe. " I could not have been 

 mistaken. As he reached the other shoie he 

 stood out in plain sight, shook himself, and 

 disap]ieared in the woods." 



Now " Joe " is no weakling, and not in 

 the habit of telling things he can't do. He 

 is six feet six tall and well developed and a 

 giant in strength. He 

 has been known to 

 pick a 50-gallon barrel 

 of boney from the 

 gTound, and set it in a 

 wagon. If any man 

 could tackle a bear in 

 the water and bring 

 him ashore alive he 

 could. I told Joe if 

 the bear came back- 

 while I was there he 

 could have the " job '' 

 of roping, and I would 

 look on — with an op- 

 era glass. 



It seems that a bear 

 had been prowling 



out on to the river from the Root apiary. Our launcli , a -d t\t„^ 



is shown tied to the dock. around the A, J3. Mar- 



