1906 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



585 



PROF. GRIFFIN'S CLASS IN APICULTURE. 



Advantage of Tall Hive- stands; Avoiding the 

 Killing of Bees. 



BY E. R. ROOT. 



The class in apiculture under Prof. GriiRn, 

 at the Missouri Valley College, here shown, 

 have been studying insects of all kinds dur- 

 ing the summer; and the proximity of an 

 apiary belonging to a practical up-to-date 

 bee-man, Mr. M. E. Tribble, makes it pos- 

 sible for the students to get some personal 

 and practical knowledge concerning the life- 

 history of the most useful insect known to 

 man— namely, the honey-bee. 



It is getting to be quite the fashion to give 

 practical demonstrations to students in en- 

 tomology at several of the modern progres- 



sired to show to the world their entire con- 

 fidence in the bees. 



The little that shows in the picture proves 

 that Mr. Tribble is an up-to-date bee-keep- 

 er. He has modern hives, modern hive- 

 stands that raise the hives high enough from 

 the ground to make manipulation a pleasure 

 and a convenience. The only possible objec- 

 tion that can be urged against having hives 

 so elevated is that, early in the spring, some 

 bees will be lost owing to their inability to 

 rise in flight from the ground high enough 

 to gain the entrance; but where the alight- 

 ing board projects well out in front as shown, 

 this objection will be largely overcome, be- 

 cause the bees will alight on the board 

 without missing it. 



As another evidence of Mr. Tribble's up- 

 to-dateness may be mentioned the fact that, 

 when he lifted the upper story off from the 



PROF, griffin's class IN APICULTURE; PHOTO BY M. E. TRIBBLE, 3D PRIZE, CLASS A. 



sive colleges. Bee life is always interesting 

 to an outsider; and when the student sees 

 what can actually be done, his whole inter- 

 est in the study of insects in general is 

 aroused as never before. 



Referring to the picture, Mr. Tribble, the 

 apiarist, stands at the edge of the group, 

 with a globe bee- veil on. Strangely enough, 

 the students have lifted their face-protectors 

 while the owner himself stands as if he were 

 afraid to take his off. Of course, this is not 

 true; but it is a good joke on our friend. 

 At the time the photo was taken he proba- 

 bly did not observe tb&t all but himself de- 



lower one, instead of setting it flat on the 

 ground, and killing bees, he put one edge 

 over the cover. I know this is a small thing; 

 but when I see a bee-keeper deliberately 

 smash bees, causing the whole colony to be 

 angered by the cries and the blood of their 

 mangled comrades, I always feel that that 

 bee-keeper has something yet to learn. 

 While I do not believe it is necessary to go 

 so far as to waste valuable time to save the 

 lives of two or three bees, yet, if one man- 

 ages rightly, scarcely a bee need be killed; 

 and the time lost will hardly be worth figur- 

 ing. 



