'THi® mmemicmih; mnm j^^mmmi^. 



9 



the apiary, is simplj' pastime. Hives 

 and frames may be bought in the flat, 

 but their nailing is recreation. What 

 man with a mechanical twi.st in his 

 mind, does not like to drive nails, es- 

 pecially the clean, cleaving, clinching 

 wire nails ? With the hives and frames 

 in holders, how men-lly the bee-keeper 

 sends them home (to the tune of a 

 whistled melody) with a hammer of 

 the right " heft !" 



Apiarian Work-Shop. 



The bee-keeper's work-shop is an 

 institution by itself. Let us suppose 

 that it is down under somewhere in a 

 sheltered, cosy nook ; that there is a 

 good stove in it, or better, a big chim- 

 ney with wide fire-place mouth. What 

 a place to work, to whittle and to 

 whistle, to sing the song of the saw, 

 and to make that measured rub-a-dub 

 with the plaj'ful hammer ! And what 

 satisfaction there is in the possession 

 of a few good tools kept bright and 

 sharp ! If every farmer's boj' had a 

 place like this to attract his wandering 

 wits, he would be less eager to fly to 

 the city. 



But there are 50 colonies of bees out 

 in the orchard snugly packed in saw- 

 dust, and tucked in by a snow com- 

 forter. In May or June they will 

 swarm, and 50 hives must be ready. 

 No time then to hunt up a hive. As 

 soon as spring has comes to stay, place 

 the empty hives where they are to 

 stand, each with full equipment. 

 Palntlns the Hives. 



The hives should be painted. We 

 depend upon the eye for a great deal 

 of enjoyment. Get a pot of red paint, 

 and a pot of white paint. After one 

 hive is painted red, pour in enough 

 white to till the red pot again. The 

 next hive will be a little lighter, and 

 by the time the paint is all used, the 

 last hive will be nearly white. Any 

 man with an appreciative eye will say 

 tliat the row of hives from bright red 

 to white is an attractive feature in the 

 landscape. Many a man will say, " I 

 have not time for such nonsense," but 

 he ought to have time to paint his 

 hives, and it costs no more time or 

 money to make hives attractive. If it 

 should cost a little more, it pays — it 

 ])ays to make things cheerful. I be- 

 lieve it pays to paint a hive two colors, 

 if the bee-keeper wishes to sell bees — 

 if he wishes to interest others in api- 

 culture. Bright colored hives will win 

 a customer where the old weather- 

 stained bo.xes will make no impression. 

 Nailing Frames, Crates, etc. 



The 50 new hives must have 10 

 frames each, or 500 in all. With a 

 nailing block, a man maj' nail two a 

 minute. Then they must be wired, 

 and then the foundation put in — 500 

 sheets — a hundred pounds. No small 



job is either, but only play in the sunny 

 work-shop. If comb honey is the oli- 

 ject, 50 crates will be required ; a hun- 

 dred had better be on hand, and 300 

 separators ; or you may use wide 

 frames, 6 in a hive, or 300 in all. Then 

 the section boxes — 1,500 for the first 

 honey catch, in each of which is a 

 starter, or a full sheet of foundation. 



All this appeai-s to provide for a 

 mountain of work, but it is merely by- 

 play between chores — between milking 

 and feeding times. — Country Oent. 



N. A. B. K. SOCIETY. 



Some Opinions of its President 

 on Several Subjects. 



WrilUn for the American Bee Journal 

 BY DB. A. B. MASON. 



Mr. C. F. Muth. on page 787 of the 

 Bee Journal for 1887, says that he is 

 "sorry that Toledo was selected for the 

 next place of meeting of the North 

 American Bee-Keepers' Society, and 

 not Cincinnati." Such an expression 

 would naturally be expected from a 

 selfish person, but we all know that 

 Mr. Muth does not belong to that class. 

 He has the interest of the Society at 

 heart, and had I known as much of the 

 matter at the time Toledo was selected, 

 as I dp now, I should have worked 

 hard, if necessary, to have had Colum- 

 bus, O., selected. /did not make the 

 motion, or even invite the Society, to 

 meet here, but was certainly in favor 

 of it, believing it to. be the most ac- 

 ceptable place for those usually in 

 attendance, being as it is midway be- 

 tiveen the East and the West, and very 

 convenient for Canadian delegates. 



As to the time, I was not aware of 

 the time and place of holding the Ohio 

 Centennial Expostion next year. It is 

 to be held at Columbus, commencing 

 Sept. 4, and continuing until Oct. 19, 

 making 40 days, and not at Cincin- 

 nati, as would seem to be indicated by 

 Mr. Muth ; and I believe there are to 

 be reduced railroad rates on all arti- 

 cles intended for the Exposition, for 

 three months previous to Sept. 4. the 

 time of the beginning of the Exposi- 

 tion, and I presume there will be re- 

 duced passenger rates on most, if not 

 all railroads in the United States and 

 Canada during the forty days of the 

 Exposition, and for several days pre- 

 vious to and after, so that it will prob- 

 ably be cheaper to get a railroad ticket 

 to Columbus and return, than it would 

 be to Toledo and return, except for 

 those living near Toledo ; and notwith- 

 standing my desire to have the meet- 

 ing here. I am decidedly in favor, if it 

 is possilile to make the change, to have 

 it held at Columbus during the Cen- 

 tennial E.xposition. 



Cincinnati is 116 miles, and Toledo 

 124 miles from Columbus, and as a 

 larger number of bee-keepers attend 

 the annual convention from the North 

 than from the South, it seems to me 

 that Toledo, at any time, is a more de- 

 sirable place to meet than at Cincin- 

 nati, and especially so for tliose wish- 

 ing to attend the Centennial Exposi- 

 tion ; but if it can be changed, it will 

 be better for all except those living 

 near Toledo who do not care to visit 

 the Centennial, for reduced rates can 

 be taken advantage of to a greater ex- 

 tent than was possible to the Fat Stock 

 Show at Chicago, and it is hardly 

 probable that reduced rates can be had 

 for Toledo. 



It is not probable that any plan 

 could be suggested for making the 

 change, that would meet with universal 

 approval, but I would suggest that we 

 vote upon the matter, and that each 

 member of the Society be requested to 

 send a postal card to the President or 

 Secretary,giving his vote for or against 

 the change. 



The only ones that can have a "rea- 

 sonable excuse " again.st the change, 

 except as above stated, will be the 

 Michigan and Canadian members, and 

 we all know they are wide-awake and 

 always in favor of " good thing " when 

 they see it. 

 The Newr Constitution and By-Laws. 



I have this morning re-read for the 

 third time the "Constitution and By- 

 Laws " that the editor of the American 

 Bee Journal presented to the conven- 

 tion at Chicago last November, with 

 which to organize " The Inter-National 

 American Bee-Association ;" and each 

 time I read it I was more and more 

 thoroughly surprised that the commit- 

 tee to which it was referred, on my 

 motion, composed as it was of such 

 men as Prof. Cook, W. Z. Hutchinson, 

 and A. I. Root, should " recommend 

 that the consideration of the matter be 

 po.stponed for one year." 



I will admit that I have always been 

 opposed to the converting of the pres- 

 ent organization into one composed of 

 delegates from " aflSliated local asso- 

 ciations," for fear it could not be made 

 a success ; but had I read what Mr. 

 Newman had prepared, and which was 

 referred to the above committee, I 

 should, with some slight alterations, 

 have moved its adoption. It seems to 

 me that to liave adopted it would have 

 been making quite a step towards a 

 thorough organization of the bee-keep- 

 ers of the Continent, and I hope that 

 this or some similar plan will be 

 adopted at the next meeting. 



Auburndale,-o Ohio. 



[We think that the change suggested 

 can-very easily be made, and it should 

 be done. The Executive Committee 



