130 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Feb. 1 



bee-keepers through that immense buildirg, 

 and in the course of our wandering brought 

 us to this exhibit. I requested Mr. Stilson 

 to secure for me a photo, which he did, and 

 his letter above is in explanation. If I re- 

 member correctly the goddess in wax was 

 life size, and the whole substructure show- 

 ing the hives, flags, etc., was also wax. 

 The honey in the big jars in the foreground, 

 as will be noticed by the color, is candied, 

 for alfalfa will assume that color in a com- 

 paratively short time. Some of the jars 

 are partially candied, 

 Taking it all in all, 

 markable one. The 



and some wholly so. 

 the exhibit was a re- 

 sculpture work 



could not have cost much less than three or 

 four thousand dollars, if the figure paid for 

 the same class of work in the dairy depart- 

 ment would be any criterion. -Ed.] 



THE DITTMERS AND THEIR 

 TION BUSINESS. 



FOUNDA- 



Editor York's Visit at Their Place. 



It was my pleasure to meet Mr. and Mrs. 

 Dittmer at the Chicago- Northwestern con- 

 vention a few weeks ago. I had previously 

 read the sketch of them and their business, 

 in the American Bee Journal, and was pre- 

 pared to meet some very nice people, and I 

 did. I had a most enjoyable chat with both 

 Mr. and Mrs. Dittmer at the breakfast- 

 table— one that I shall long remember— and 

 later on at Minneapolis I had the pleasure 

 of meeting the two younger members of the 

 family, who are chips of the old blocks. I 

 am glad to place before our readers the 

 sketch that appeared in the American Bee 



GUS DITTMER. 



Joinnal, even if the Dittmers are compet- 

 itors.— E. R. Root. 



We left St. Paul at 8:30 Wednesday morning-, Oct. 19. 

 on the Chicag'o& Northwestern Railroad, and arrived at 

 Aug-usta, Wis., at about 12:20 P. M. It was just beg-in- 

 ning- to rain— a sort of drizzle-drozzle. We inquired of 

 the station- agent where Mr. Dittmer's factory was. 

 " Gus Dittmer ? " he asl<ed. " Why, right across there," 

 he pointed; "where you see those red buildings." 



We thanked him. and started for the "red buildings." 

 By the way, Mr. Dittmer has done his share toward 

 " painting the town red," for he has four buildings of 

 that color devoted to the bee-supply and comb-founda- 

 tion business. 



It was a little late, so we stopped at the hotel for din- 

 ner, after which we went on to Mr. Dittmer's. Arriving, 

 we opened his office door, and there he was as busy as a 

 honey-bee in a bass wood- blossom. Of course he was sur- 

 pi ised to see us, as he was not expecting us at all. We 

 had met him at the Wisconsin convention last February, 

 so we were not entire strangers to each other. He is 

 the excellent secretary of the State Bee-keepers' Asso- 

 ciation. 



After a little visiting he took us over to his pleasant 

 home to meet his good wife, daughters, and son. The 

 second son, Clarence, had left about a month before to 

 attend school in a Kansas university, having- graduated 

 from the Augusta schools last June. " Fred " (24 

 years) and " Bessie " (22) are the oldest son and daugh- 

 ter, respectively, and are the main helpers in the busi- 

 ness. 



Fred is really his father's right-hand man, having en- 

 tire charge of the manufacturing and shipping;, while 

 Mr. Dittmer attends to all the office work, melting wax, 

 and has a general supervision of the business. 



Bessie runs a comb-foundation machine as easily as 

 many another young lady would run a sewing-machine. 

 The fact is, that the whole Dittmer family are "in the 

 business," and they are a happy family. They seem 

 to enjoy each other so much. We shall not soon forget 

 our stay thete. 



We had never before seen comb foundation manufac- 

 tured, so here was our chance. Every thing was open 

 to us except the sheeting process, wliich is one of the 

 Dittmer secrets. We should judge, however, from 

 what Mr. D. said, that this process of sheeting beeswax 

 is superior to that of the Weed process. 



It was very interesting to see the machine turn out 

 the clear, bright surplus foundation and pile it up with 

 sheets of tissue paper between the sheets of foundation, 

 all done automatically. Mr. D. probably has the only 

 automatic papering arrangement there is in existence. 

 It is a very simple arrangement indeed; 

 and the proper length of both paper and 

 foundation is cut off together with one 

 movement of the sharp knife. 



Mr. Dittmer himself studied out all of 

 his comb-foundation methods, except, of 

 course, the roller mills through which the 

 long plain sheets of beeswax pass and 

 receive the impressions of the comb-cells. 

 It took him several years to perfect his 

 beeswax melting, purifying, and sheet- 

 ing processes. It all involves much labor 

 and care, but when his beeswax is ready 

 for the foundation-mill it is almost as 

 transparent and free from impurities as 

 ulass, comparatively speaking. 



Mr. Dittmer's output of comb founda- 

 tion this year (1904) will be about 2.5.000 

 pounds. His daily capacity is about 1500 

 pounds. We were surprised to learn this. 

 The fact is, his product has been received 

 with such general favor among bee-keep- 

 ers that thedemand has steadily increased 

 until he is now, we believe, third in the 

 list of comb-foundation makers in this 

 country. Next year, if the season proves 

 good, we shouldn't be surp ised to see him 

 occupy second place. He is so energetic 

 and enthusiastic, and there is such a 

 " get there " way about him and his whole 

 family, that he is bound to succeed. Well, 

 he deserves all the success that may come 

 to him. All men like to see an honest, 

 industrious man win. Gus Dittmer is a 

 winner. You can put that down some- 

 where He is grateful for the patronage 

 that has come to him, and is ready to 

 welcome more. 



It is truly wonderful to see what Mr. 

 Dittmer has accomplished since the 

 disastrous factory fire which almost 



I 



