THE AMERICAN APICULTURIST. 



33 



quires time and labor to change the 

 position of hives, and "time is 

 money" in a large apiary. In other 

 words I prefer the sections to run 

 parallel with the frames because I 

 do not have to change the position 

 of the hives at any time on their ac- 

 count. And this saves time and la- 

 bor. 



The price of honey is on the de- 

 cline and cheapness of production 

 alone can save the business from 

 collapse, and every little helps. 



I have no doubts in my mind but 

 that "locality" will have to settle the 

 question of the size of the hive. In 

 our climate I prefer and use the 

 standard Langstroth hive, which I 

 have modernized so as to make it 

 answer all purposes with the least 

 possible labor. I have been using 

 them fourteen inches wide with ten 

 frames. The number of frames can 

 be diminished if necessary, by the 

 use of division boards. 



My section case is made the same 

 size of the top of , the brood depart- 

 ment, and is simply a shallow upper 

 story just "bee space" deeper than 

 the depth of the section used. They 

 have been fully described in my ar- 

 ticles heretofore published. My sec- 

 tion cases, and shallow frame cases 

 for extracting are made to set with a 

 square joint on the brood depart- 

 ment, and on each other when "tier- 

 ing them up." I have used the 

 square joint plan for six or seven 

 years, and I could not be induced to 

 use the Simplicity, or any other 

 kind of lock joint, between the 

 departments of my hive. 



There are several patents on section 

 cases, some of quite recent date. I 

 4 



have examined most of them, and 

 not a single one of them is worth 

 the paper it is printed on. 



No one need be afraid of "infring- 

 ing." 



No man has the right to monopo- 

 lize, by patent, ideas and mechanical 

 devices common to the rest of man- 

 kind. 



Christiansbur^, Kv. 



BOW SHALL I COMMENCED 



Bv Sereno Edwards Todd. 



I LIKE honey, and am exceedingly 

 anxious to keep bees. But I do not 

 know how to commence ; and should 

 I begin, I am filled with grave ap- 

 prehensions, that every effort would 

 terminate in a magnificent failure. 

 I have every thing at my fingers' ends, 

 as it were, in the line of breed- 

 ing and rearing domestic animals, 

 raising grain and fruits of all kinds. 

 Indeed, I have had such a long 

 practical experience in the manage- 

 ment of agricultural, horticultural, 

 poniological and floricultural affairs, 

 that I would not hesitate, for a mo- 

 ment, as to what to do, and how to 

 do it, in any of the branches alluded 

 to. But when I contemplate the 

 honey bee industry, with a view of 

 procuring bees and taking care of 

 them, every faculty of my being 

 seems to recoil and something seems 

 to suggest to me : " Don't do it." 

 I feel as did a young friend of mine, 

 who came to me, and said that he 

 had read every treatise on grapes, 

 that he could find in the book-mar- 



