THE AMERICaiN BEE JOURNAL. 



549 



best I could, lending her Prof. Cook's 

 "Mcinual of the Apiary" and the 

 AVeekly Bee Journal, and selling 

 her Mr. A. I. Root's "A B C" book. 

 My student seemed very much in- 

 terested in her new vocation, and 

 learned, as I thought, very rapidly. 

 Having much work to do for myself, 

 as tlie season advanced, I had to let 

 the lady look after lier interests witli 

 but very little assistance from me. 

 And now, ladies, I am humiliated, fiu" 

 the student has excelled liT teacher 

 in lioney production, the lirst season 

 after slie embarked in tlie business! 

 She has got, to date, twice as much 

 honey from the same number of col- 

 onies as I have. 



Mrs. Gray did not trust to "luck.'' 

 Slie has no faith in it; but she went 

 to work right, and victory is hers. 

 She has 40 colonies in most excellent 

 condition, half of them crowding tlie 

 boxes and sections with beautiful 

 honey, and a good prospect at present 

 for harvesting a big crop by the end 

 of tlie season. Who can show a more 

 successful studeutV And who will say 

 that ladies cannot make successful 

 bee-keepers V 



Keithsburg, 111. 



hoping on that occasion to be able to 

 congratulate tlie worthy Secretary on 

 still greater apianun successes. 

 riiiladelphia, Pa., Aug. 18, 1882. 



For the American Bee JournaL 



Philadelphia, Pa., Association. 



ARTHUR TODD. 



The members of the Philadelphia, 

 and Vicinity Bee-Keepers' Associa- 

 tion, met in tlie evening of tlie 1-lth 

 inst. at the residence of the Secretary, 

 Mr. Ilahmau. 



Tliis gentleman has kept a colony 

 or two of bees some years with vary- 

 ing success, but this year liaving made 

 a study of the best literature he can 

 obtain, has gone more scientifically to 

 work, and with results eminently satis- 

 factory. His visitor were well re- 

 warded for any extra trouble in reach- 

 ing Mr. Ilahmau's out-of-town resi- 

 dence by (ui inspection nf his neatly 

 kept and jirosperous apiary. The 

 mysteries of the liive were unfolded, 

 aiid opitortuuity given to see comb 

 foundation in process of being worked 

 out, the queen bee, and all the little 

 bees. 



Mr. Ilahman stated tliat he com- 

 menced the season with 3 colonies ; 

 about swarming time, he founda stray 

 swarm on his grounds wtiich, having 

 supplied witli a good home, they 

 deigned to accept and so made liis 

 stock four. His first 3 colonies yielded 

 live swarms which were all safely 

 hived. Afterwards by division Mr. 

 Hahmaii increased three, so that now 

 at the end of the season lie has 9 

 strong colonies, and 3 fairly good. He 

 has sixty pounds of extracted honey 

 vi'hich he will sell at 8c. per lb.— S4.80. 

 Forty pounds in section boxes, all 

 sold at 20c. per lb.— SS.OO. Reckoning 

 his increase in bees as eight colonies 

 at S.5.00— S40.00 ; this, together with 

 SV2.H0 for honey, makes the respecta- 

 ble sum of S.32.80 for \proflt account 

 in 1882. 



Having had a most enjoyable time 

 the members returned to town, prom- 

 ising to renew the visit next year, 



Ft)r the American Bee Journal. 



Given vs. Any Foundation. 



JAJIES HEDDEN. 



In replying to Mr. Caldwell's article 

 on page 520 of the Bee Journal, I 

 wish to say tliat we agree in three 

 particulars of the discussion : 



1st. The merits of the different 

 styles of foundation are worthy the 

 consideration of the apiarists of this 

 country. 



2d. That there is a decided differ- 

 ence does not admit of a doubt. 



3d. Tliat we should, in a friendly 

 spirit, bring out all the good points in 

 this important branch of our business. 



But upon nearly every other point 

 in his article we differ, and it seems 

 to me Mr. Caldwell is surely in error. 

 I will call the reader's attention to two 

 facts : 1st. Ko report has ever been 

 made in favor of any foundation, 

 against the Given, by any person who 

 used and tested both styles thoroughly. 



Several reports have been made, 

 and many more doubtless soon will be 

 (I have quite a number of private re- 

 ports), in favor of the Given over the 

 Dunham foundation, by parties who 

 have thoroughly tested both. As Mr. 

 Caldwell has nowhere told us that he 

 has ever tried the Given foundation, 

 we fairly infer that he never has, 

 hence, when he says he makes tirst- 

 class foundation on the Dunham mill, 

 do we not have the right to ask by 

 what standard he uses the words 

 "first-class"? How does he know'? 

 He further says his Dunham founda- 

 tion satisfies a most fastidious class of 

 customers. Now, I think I know how 

 he comes by the idea that his custom- 

 ers are of a most fastidious class — 

 first, because any supply dealer will 

 soon think that, and second, he may 

 have had his foundation found fault 

 with by some. 



He thinks I failed because I was not 

 a good mechanic. Let us call it so. 

 That proves that a poor mechanic can 

 succeed nicely witli a machine as well 

 made and adapted to its purpose as is 

 the Given press, since I have suc- 

 ceeded in making more sheets per 

 minute and per hour than Mr. Cald- 

 well lias yet claimed, and that, too, 

 with less daub and trouble of lubrica- 

 ting. I get the impression that Mr. 

 Caldwellis of a conservative turn of 

 mind: that he never says, "Give me 

 better things, I want a better hive, a 

 better bee, a better extractor, a better 

 smoker, better foundation, etc., as 

 did Langstroth, Vandervort, Coffin- 

 berry, I3inghaui, and others. He says: 

 "Matchless rolls," "tried friend,"""! 

 am satisfied,"' "my customers are 

 satisfied,'' etc. 



How many of these customers do 

 you supposeever used Given or Van- 

 dervort foundation, either of which I 

 found superim- to Dunham founda- 

 tion '? How many of tiiem ever used 

 any foundation Ill-tore V Had I been 

 of this turn of mind I would once have 



said of the first Root foundation, "I 

 am satisfied ; " then of the Dunham, 

 "I am more than satisfied ; " then of 

 the Vanderv(nt,"Iam most satisfied;" 

 then of the Given, "I am more most 

 satisfied," then of the 1S82 improved 

 Given, "I am so satisfied that I do not 

 want any more of these good satisfy- 

 ing things." But I say to Mr. Given, 

 "Give us a better press and a better 

 book." I have said so, and he replied, 

 "In 1883 I will do it." In my judg- 

 ment he will. The man who has out- 

 done all others, can then look forward 

 to the achievement of outdoing him- 

 self. 



Mr. Caldwell says, "the test of the 

 pudding is in the eating of it," and 

 then follows by saying that I say : 

 "Hi ve a prime swarm on 8 wired frames 

 of Given foundation, and in 48 hours 

 (2 days) we have 8 splendid combs 

 completed ; " then says he has hived 

 swarms on 11 frames filled with Dun- 

 ham foundation, and in 3 days it 

 would be filled with comb and honey, 

 and every comb drawn out in a perfect 

 manner. "Perfect" compared with 

 what y One of his that dropped down '? 

 I do not see that, as he states it. he is 

 ahead. But to accomplish this he tells 

 us that three tilings are necessary; 

 "1st. The foundation must be made of 

 good tough wax ; 2d. It must be fas- 

 tened to the frame in the most perfect 

 manner ; 3d. It must (in his opinion) 

 be made on the Dunham foundation 

 machine." 



Well, here is where the superiority 

 of the Given wired foundation is es- 

 tablished. 1st. Foundation made of 

 any pure wax will stay perfectly in 

 place, and be quickly drawn into per- 

 fect combs, that jarring, extracting 

 and sun-heating will not disjilace. 2d. 

 It need not be fastened to the frames 

 at all. 3d. Such foundation cannot be 

 made on the Dunham mill. Is the 

 above what Mr. Caldwell calls a test 'i* 

 There may be as much difference in 

 tlie success witli which a bungler like 

 me, and an expert, like Mr. Caldwell, 

 would have in getting foundation 

 rapidly and perfectly drawn, as in 

 their ability to manufacture on the 

 Dunham mill. 



The only slight advantage ;i have 

 over Mr. Caldwell is that I have owned 

 two Dunham, three Vandervort. and 

 three Given machines. I have made, 

 used and solil, far and near, thousands 

 of lbs. of these three sorts of founda- 

 tion. I have conducted careful and 

 comprehensive tests with the three 

 sorts (Root included as the 4th), and 

 that, too, ill company with employees, 

 students and visitors. I have also 

 sent two and three sorts to parties or- 

 dering, and asked for tests and reports. 

 I have also a part of the time employed 

 an expert mechanic who is noted for his 

 ability as a machinist, to assist in the 

 manufacture of foundation. 1 found 

 the press much the easiest to operate, 

 and its products much the easiest for 

 the bees to make into the best combs. 

 During my experiments of former 

 years, I had' Dunham foundation made 

 by various iiarties, the best of which 

 was 83 lbs. made by Mrs. Dunham, 

 and of this lot she wrote me she 

 earned wax and all m the making. 

 I This, too, fell behind the Given of first 



