DECEMBER 1, 1916 



1117 



neighbors told me that he had purchased a 

 few hives of bees and wanted to know about 

 moving them. He had a very humble ex- 

 pression when he broached the subject. I 

 suppose that he thought I would object to 

 his moving them so close to me. He seemed 

 somewhat surj^rised when I swept away his 

 fears with a hearty " Glad to hear it, John, 

 call upon me for any assistance that I can 

 give you." He now has about eighty acres 

 that I expect to see put in alsike if I help to 

 make a success of his beekeejDing. 



There is a place for the expert specialist 

 in beekeeping just as there is a place for 

 him in the growing of fruit, potatoes, hogs, 

 cattle, or poultry. However, we must re- 

 member that the smaller producers in all 

 lines contribute as much as or even more to 

 the prosperity of the commonwealth than do 

 the specialists. My observation is that prac- 

 tically every county in my native state of 

 Pennsylvania should have at least one 

 specialist owning several hundred colonies 

 and making good profits. Such specialist 

 need not and should not interfere with the 

 smaller beekeejoer; but in order to be most 

 successful he should co-operate with and 

 help them. We need education, organiza- 

 tion, and co-operation along with our legis- 

 lation for the betterment of beekeeping. 



As mentioned earlier in this article, the 

 farmer who is really encouraged to become 



interested in his bees, and who begins to see 

 something of real value in them, may be- 

 come a better farmer than he formerly was 

 because of a new interest in the planting of 

 the legumes, which are at once our best for- 

 age crops, soil-builders, and nectar-bearei's. 

 Along this line we must not overlook the im- 

 portance of the bee as a fertilizing agent 

 among fruit-bloom. Since fruit is grown 

 on practically every farm we surely have no 

 right to deny the farmer his right to keep 

 a few bees for that purpose as well as for 

 the many other profits of beekeeping. 



Bees are of such importance that, beyond 

 a doubt, the industry should be fostered 

 among the farmers. Since this is true it is 

 of the highest importance that the state and 

 national governments provide the means 

 necessai-y for the preservation of beekeep- 

 ing as an industry and necessary equipment 

 in our various schools for the proper study 

 of the subject. Slowly we are coming to 

 this. Let us do all that we can thus to 

 bring about the elimination of the box hive 

 and its attendant evils. 



Reynoldsville, Pa. 



[Tliis article was written before Mr. Rea 

 knew that he himself would be a govern- 

 ment expert whose business it is to educate 

 the farmer beekeepers. See the article by 

 Mr. Webb, page 1120.— Ed.] 



WAR ON HOME-MADE HIVES 



BY LEWIS L. WINSHIP 



E. E. Colien, p. 279, April 1, gave me and 

 my article on home-made hives some hard 

 knocks. As I said in my former article, 

 this subject can be sifted and sifted, but will 

 always be a live topic for a scrap. 



Mr. Colien says I made some rather exag- 

 gerated statements, which in all probability 

 is true; but if he were compelled to work 

 with such make-shifts for hives as the one 

 referred to in tlie photograph accompany- 

 ing my article I think it quite probable that 

 he would vent his wrath on would-be car- 

 penters. 



As Mr. Colien is over seventy he can be 

 forgiven for making his own hives. A man 

 of his age can spend his time doing so when 

 he could not otherwise do heavy work. We 

 are living in the twentieth century, a cen- 

 tury of specialization. We do not, as for- 

 merly, raise our own sheep, shear them, 

 card the wool, and spin it into yarn. We 

 still raise sheep; but the wool is sold and 

 bought back in the shape of yarn or in the 

 finished garments. It is the same with 



lumber for hives. Progressive beekeepers 

 sell their lumber and buy it back in finished 

 hives from some reliable manufacturer. By 

 doing this they save themselves worry, an- 

 noyance, a lot of wasted lumber, time, and 

 the necessity of buying expensive tools. The 

 majority of large and successful beekeepers 

 buy factory-made hives. If you still do not 

 believe me, take a look around. I'll bet that 

 you'll find the really successful beekeepers 

 buy factory-made hives. 



I know of only one man, an excellent car- 

 ]ienter, who makes his own hives, and he 

 buys his frames. His hives are as well 

 built and as perfect in shape as any factory- 

 made hive. But he told nic himself, and I 

 quite agree with him, that he lost money on 

 every hive he made if he counted his time 

 worlii anything. His lumber, the finest yg- 

 inch white pine, cost him nothing, so really 

 all he had to figure was his time. But if a 

 man conscientiously goes at it to make a 

 thoroly good up-to-date hive he must focus 

 all his attention on that one thing. This 



