628 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



pools. I have them covered with No. 27 

 galvanized steel, and they cost me approxi- 

 mately 461/2 cts. apiece (not painted) in 

 the flat; also a hole at the top for ventila- 



tion. 1 consider this the best and most ser- 

 viceable cover made, although I have not 

 given it a thorough test. 

 York, Pa. 



A MISSIONARY WHO WAS OBLIGED TO RESORT TO BEEKEEPING 



TO MAKE A LIVING 



BY THEODORE LEE 



I am a missionary in Utah, and wishing 

 to keep my boys busy during the summer 

 months, and (later) aid them in securing a 

 college education, I took up beekeeping as a 

 side issue. The beginning was a colony of 

 bees, the gift of a beekeeper. They were 

 wintered in a cellar, came out boiling over 

 with bees, and the beekeeper divided them 

 for me. Another colony was purchased, but 

 through lack of knowledge, and an accident, 

 all were lost the following spring. 



The next year (1906) thirteen colonies 

 were bought in box hives from almost as 

 many different persons. I studied and prac- 

 ticed beekeeping that summer. By fall all 

 the colonies were hived 

 in Acme hives, and I 

 had sold $107 worth of 

 honey. 



In 1907 more bees 

 were bought, and a few 

 were leased, making a 

 total of 50. That was a 

 great year for honey. 

 Six hundred dollars' 

 worth of honey was sold, 

 the colonies netting 

 $8.00 each. Then I leas- 

 ed 120 colonies of my 

 beekeeper friend, and I 

 purchased some more, 

 making a total of 200. 

 The leased bees, which 

 had been shipped from 

 California, made the 

 best showing, and I sold 

 $1524.40 worth of hon- 

 ey- 



The next year the 

 honey crop was a fail- 

 ure. That was not my 

 only misfortune, for I 

 found myself without a 

 salary, and, like an old 

 horse (I was nearing 

 .sixty) I was turned out 

 to hustle for a living. I 

 leased more bees, and 

 that year loaded 606 

 cases in a car for Fish 

 & Co.. of Chicago, and 



received a check for $1608. My beekeeping 

 friend now leased me a carload of bees, 

 shipping them in from southern California 

 in the spring of 1912. The California bees 

 again did the best, and I received a check 

 for $2207.10 for 854 eases of honey. 



Last year (1913) was not as good a honey 

 year as the previous one, but I harvested 

 830 cases, and received for my crop 

 $2126.30. As my crop failure and loss of 

 salary came the same year I had to mort- 

 gage my home in order to live. I am trying 

 to redeem the place. As a side issue to the 

 bees I am now doing a small dairy business. 

 I milk three Jersey cows, and deliver on an 



swarm caught iu the act of leaviii;;. 



Photographed by Chas. Y. Hake, York, Pa. 



