176 



THE AMERICAN BEE-KEEPER. 



September 



one of the most successful bee-keepers 

 of our time. It was he who, in No- 

 vember, 1859, shipped the first bees to 

 California, the shipment comprising 

 197 colonies, by the way of the 

 isthmus, and of which but five colo- 

 nies died en route. 



The so-called Hoffman frame, as 

 now manufactured for the market, is 

 an exact reproduction of the Daken 

 frame, as made by him in 1857, and if 

 honor is due to anyone for having in- 

 vented a frame with this self-spacing 

 device, it surely belongs to Mr. Albert 

 Daken of Tully, N. Y. I was out in 

 Mr. Daken's bee-shop, looking over 

 his interesting museum, and found a 

 hive filled with brood frames that 

 were made bj'' Mr. Daken in 1857 — five 

 years before Mr. Hoffman came to 

 America. I also found an L. hive of 

 frames of the original Hoffman style 

 made by Mr. D. fifty years ago. If 

 j^ou wish, I will send you samples of 

 these old frames, made half a century 

 ago by Mr. Daken. 



Mr. Daken uses a frame 15 Inches 

 long by ten inches deep, and ten to 

 the hive. He attributes much of his 

 success to the use of a deep frame. 



The white honey crop here this sea- 

 son has been a complete failure, bass- 

 wood being the main source. Advices 

 from m}"- own apiary in western New 

 York, however, report a good surplus. 



Though 73 years of age, Mr. Daken 

 has always lived here in his own home 

 and has made bee-keeping his chief 

 business, and he is as vigorous and 

 enthusiastic as ever and now has about 

 200 colonies, all black bees, with a 

 slight admixture of yellow blood. 



About 15 years ago Mr. Daken sent 

 a sample of his frame to a friend in 

 southern Indiana, who saw that it was 

 good and sent it to one of the leading 

 manufacturers, and from this sample 

 is now being made the Daken brood 

 frame. 



Tully, N. Y., Aug. 8, 1905. 



CUTTING THE BEE TREE. 



By Bessie L. Putnam. 



IN OLDEN TIMES this was quite 

 an important matter in the house- 

 hold. If the pioneer came by 

 chance upon a tree in which the wild 

 bees had stored their sweets he simply 

 marked his initials upon the tree, 



which, according to the fireside laws 

 then in force, gave him right to the 

 honey; though if strictly conscientious 

 he usually asked permission of tht 

 owner to cut the tree. This was as 

 rule readily given, for timber was 

 in those days of comparatively litth 

 value and the bee tree was of course 

 hollow to begin with, else it woulc 

 never have become a bee tree. 



And now, what is a bee tree? Sim 

 ply a tree in which wild bees or thos« 

 which have preferred a wild life to the 

 new-fangled hives of their relatives 

 have made their home. Thost 

 familiar with the habits of wild bee; 

 find it not difficult to locate thest 

 homes, and there is scarce a neighbor 

 hood in which some old resident ha; 

 not been an expert. Often the cuttins 

 of the tree forms a source of sport fo 

 the boys of the neighborhood, the fui 

 sometimes becoming more pointei 

 than planned. While the plunder ma; 

 prove sufficient to repay the trouble 

 as a rule a small quantity of darl 

 honey thoroughly impregnated wit! 

 smoke is a result. 



The history of a single tree ma: 

 serve to illustrate the fact that it i 

 sometimes cheaper to buy a first-clas 

 article at first-class price than ti 

 try to gain something for nothing. 



Mr. X. comes to Mr. Y on othe 

 business and incidentally mention 

 finding the bee-tree, asking at thesam 

 time for his company at the cutting 

 As the tree is represented as value 

 less the owner consents. More thai 

 this, he feels a sort of pity for the lit 

 tie householders, and naving one 

 owned a few bees he suggests housini 

 the victims in a comfortable home. 



They seek the bee-tree, but to th 

 surprise of both, it is not located 01 

 land of Mr. Y., but belongs in an ad 

 joining field. X. volunteers to asl 

 permission of another neighbor, wi!tj| 

 success. They work until past th 

 noontide meal, and then come ii 

 wearied and hungry, their choicest of 

 fering being perhaps a pound of mos 

 iininviting black honey. The comb i 

 likewise too much discolored t( 

 promise any pay. No stings are th 

 one source of gratulation. "Did yoi 

 get the bees?" is the query of th< 

 homefolk. "We are not sure abou 

 that," is the reply. After long an( 

 patient efforts to get them to eiite 



) 



