44 



AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL 



PART OF BIG BEE SUPPLY FAI TORY 



tions and other equipment; where 



big saws are buzzing and boards zip- 

 ping through the planers, and dozens 

 of freight cars on the siding are be- 

 ing loaded with supplies for all 

 parts of the country, one gets a new 

 vievt oi the business. There are many 

 factories, large and small, devoted to 

 the manufacture of bee supplies. 

 These arc distributed from New York 

 to California, so that even in the 

 largest factory, one sees but a small 

 part of the business. 



The G. B. Lewis Company's plant 

 at Watertown, Wisconsin, is one of 

 the largest in the world devoted to 

 the manufacture of hives and other 

 beekeeping equipment. It is a very 

 interesting little journey to follow a 

 load of boards from the time they 

 enter the factory until they are made 

 into hives and packed into crates, 

 ready for shipment to the apiary. 

 Machinery has added much to the 

 comfort and convenience of the eve- 

 ryday life of modern times. When 

 our grandparents were forced to 

 make everything by hand, even the 



clothing from the time it was 

 sheared from the sheep's back, they 

 had little time for recreation, and 

 few were the comforts which they 

 were able to afford. Under modern 

 conditions, cue man with a big ma- 



February 



When G. B, Lewis started his little 

 mill at Watertown in 1864, it is prob- 

 able that never in his wildest dreams 

 did he picture the outgrowth to be 

 such a big and complete plant as is 

 now run by his son, G. C. Lewis. .Mr. 

 Lewis, the founder of the business, 

 died in 100.5, but the business has 

 continued to grow under the man- 

 agement of his son. A daughter, also, 

 Mrs. Parks, is interested with him in 

 the business. Her son, Mr. L. W. 

 Parks, is superintendent of the fac- 

 tory. The growth of the business 

 during the past two years gives an 

 idea of the growth of the beekeeping 

 industry during the same period of 

 time, for all manufacturers report a 

 similar increase in demand for bee 

 supplies. The prospect is that the 

 increase will be even greater during 

 the coming five years. The Lewis 

 factory increased its output 30 per 

 cent during 1916 over the previous 

 year; 1917 increased 50 per cent over 

 1916, and the plant was not able to 

 care for anywhere near all the or- 

 ders, even by running a night shift. 

 As will be seen by the picture, the 

 main factory is a very large, fire- 

 proof structure with fine lighting, 



THE OUTGROWTH OF A LITTLE MILL ESTABLISHED 



IN 



chine can do the work of twenty- 

 live by hand, and thus the conven- 

 ii in es and comforts of life are multi- 

 plied in like proportion. 



THE OFFIC1 i- i r\i; All FROM I ill 



and the most up-to-date machinery 

 for saving labor. Only a small part 

 of the plant could be shown in one 



picture. 



So great has been the demand for 

 supplies that much difficulty has been 

 experienced in getting suitable raw 

 material. Lumber has advanced in 

 price 50 per cent the past season, all 

 wages are higher, and metals have 

 m! reased 300 per cent. The advance 

 oi metal prices has been so great 

 as to become prohibitive for some 

 purposes, and metal covers will prob- 

 ably be less used until the close of 

 the war. As a matter oi necessity, 

 these increased costs of material and 

 labor must be added to the cosl of 

 the finished product, so that the bee- 

 keeper must pay higher prices Foi 

 bis hives. Fortunately, however, 



honey has also advanced, so that the 



I" el eeper is as well off as before. 

 In spin- of the greatly increased 

 prices of bee supplies, the manufac 



liners claim to be turning them OUl 

 at a much smaller profit than ever 

 before. They are able to do this by 



adding high-speed machinery, which 

 greatly increases the output of the 



factory without additional labor. The 



machinery us": 1 in this t i t < r\ for 

 making beehives c.sts in the neigh- 

 borhood of $30,000, yet one hundred 



