AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



491 



Are ¥e Drifting from Onr Moorings ? 



M. DOOLITTLE. 



I have read with interest what has 

 been said during the present JSummer 

 about hives and their manipulation, as 

 against the manipulation of frames, as 

 has been the custom of the past ; and, . 

 unless I am greatly mistaken, there is 

 not in this idea all the pecuniary benefit 

 to the bee-keeper that a superficial 

 view of the matter would lead to expect. 

 The idea embodies in all of its bearings, 

 unless I am blind in this matter, two 

 things which will be an expensive luxury 

 to the one who adopts this idea of 

 " handling hives instead of frames ;" 

 and these two things are, first, a radical 

 change in most of the hives now in use ; 

 and, second, the placing of a greater 

 number of colonies in the field, both of 

 which are against us ; the latter for all 

 time, and the former for the near 

 future. 



This changing of hives and fixtures to 

 the extent to which it has been carried 

 in the past, has been somewhat against 

 us, and the outlook for the future shows 

 no sign of improvement. The changing 

 of hives and fixtures in an apiary that 

 numbers fifty, means quite an expense — 

 an expense that will take many good 

 years of production to pay, over and 

 above what might have been secured 

 with the old fixtures, even should the 

 new prove better than the old. 



Not long ago a "new " hive come out, 

 the claim for which was that it would 

 cheapen honey production ; for surely 

 the producer must produce his crop at a 

 less expense than he was now doing if 

 he was to be enabled to keep his head 

 above water, in these times of low prices. 

 Have we seen these great things accom- 

 plished ? Let friend Gravenhorst an- 

 swer : "I found out something by this 

 new method that did not satisfy me in 

 contrast with the old one. In the course 

 of several years I always got more 

 honey and wax in the old-fashioned 

 way." While friend G. was not speaking, 

 of this particular hive as "the new 

 method," yet he but voices what many 

 others have found out. 



To illustrate more fully just what I 

 mean I will let the reader into a little 

 bit of my past history, together with 

 that of another, whose name I will not 

 mention. When I first began keeping 

 bees it was with the express under- 

 standing that, after the first outlay 

 ($35) on them, not another cent should 

 be paid out unless they brought it in, 



and that I would not pay out for new 

 fixtures a cent of what they brought in, 

 unless I could see that some pecuniary 

 benefit was coming back in the near 

 future to more than balance what I 

 would payout,and that I would use up,as 

 far as might be, all of the old, without 

 throwing away that which had cost me 

 cash. 



This understanding has been carried 

 out all of these years ; and to-day, in- 

 stead of having only $500 as my worldly 

 possessions, as I had in the Spring of 

 1869, and living in a tenant house, with 

 my small apiary on somebody's posses- 

 sions besides my own, I have a comfort- 

 able home, consisting of 30 acres of 

 land and the necessary buildings ; have 

 enough laid aside to carry me and mine 

 through life, unless something extraordi- 

 nary should happen to us, besides being 

 enabled of later years to do something 

 to advance the Master's interests in the 

 world, and that which tends to uplift 

 humanity ; all having come from the 

 bees over and above what I have paid 

 out for them, and I still use the same 

 old Gallup hive with which I started, 

 and see no reason for desiring a change. 



In 1869, the " another "before spoken 

 of, counted his wordly possessions far 

 above mine, produced much more honey 

 each year than I did, as a rule obtained 

 better prices, but laid out each year ail 

 or more than what the bees produced in 

 " something new," throwing away that 

 of the past which did not suit, and pur- 

 chasing new again ; till a short time ago 

 found him borrowing money that he 

 might still purchase something new In 

 the " bee line," while there were wagon 

 loads of stuff, representing thousands of 

 dollars, to be found strewn about the 

 premises, that had accumulated by this 

 great desire to keep " abreast of the 

 times," and "secure the greatest amount 

 of income with the least capital and 

 labor." 



Now, do not understand me as " but- 

 ting" against improvements, for no one 

 rejoices more over real improvements 

 than I do ; but if I am to rejoice, the 

 thing offered must be an improvement 

 when viewed from all of its many sides. 

 Talk about handling hives instead of 

 frames ! The old hive, as given us by 

 Father Langstroth, with a movable 

 bottom-board and no portico, can be 

 handled just as you please after the 

 bees have been in it (on this plan) one 

 year ; and yet how many of the bee- 

 periodicals of to-day are recommending 

 it as thj^ hive f 



To be of real value, unless a radical 

 change is necessary, it is better to tell 



