OEVOTEI> TO BEE« AIND HOTs'EY', A:?»r> II031IE lUfTERESTS. 



Vol. VI. 



DECEMBER 1, 1878. 



No. 12. 



A. I. ROOT, -) Published aionthly. rTER:TIS: «1.00 Per Ann nm in Ad- 



PubUsher and Proprietor, > . vance; 3 C»pt«< /or »«. 50; 3/or •3.75; 



Medina, O. J i:sta"blislie<i In lH73.(,10oi more, Gbc. each. Single .^ umber, 1 Oc. 



yTY EXPERIENCE. XO. 12. 



GETTING SUBSCRIBERS FOB "GLEAXIXOS." 



w 



LE all know that Gi.eantxgs not only is a gooci 

 bee-paper, but it is settinja" hetter all the 

 time: in fact, if it were possible, it some- 

 times seems as though the last number was alwavs 

 the best. Now, if each and every one of us would 

 renew our subscriptions this month, and send in one 

 new mhscriher apwc. don"t you think Novice could 

 make a still better paper? How is it, Xovice? Do 

 yim think you could? 



One year ago, I obtained ten subscribers, and I 

 have added several names since; I do not mention 

 this to boast of it, but with the hope that it may 

 help some one else to get up a club. I thought I 

 lived in rather a poor neighborhood for getting sub- 

 scribers, but after I once entered upon the work, it 

 did not seem so very difficult. I did not de%-ote any 

 time exclusively to it; but whenever I expected to 

 meet a bee-keeper, I always had a copy of Gleax- 

 isgs in my pocket. I was not always particular as 

 to what I received in payment: from one I %DOk po- 

 tatoes, from another, wheat, of another, store pay, 

 &c.; anything that I had to buy was just as good to 

 me as money. 



Brother bee-keepers, try getting up a club, and 

 help "'scatter the good seed." 



A SORT OF "HOME" PAPER. 



I am a young man who has just bought and partly 

 paid for a small farm. We. wife and 1, are working 

 hard to finish paying for our home; and we some- 

 times have to ••figure pretty close." in order to ob- 

 tain my •'bee fixings." For instance, I had long 

 wished for the back volumes of Gleaxixgs, but had 

 never seemed to have the money to spare to buy 

 them: at last, however, by going into partnership 

 with a neighbor, and earning my half by getting up 

 a club, they were obtained. 



In spite of financial difficulties, under which I 

 commenced bee-keeping. I have prospered in it ex- 

 ceedingly well: perhaps my love for the business 

 has had something to do with my success. I some- 

 times wonder if 1 do not think too much of my bees. 

 For instance. 1 wore a suit of clothes last spring, un- 

 til I was ashamed of them, in order to save money 

 to buy a swarm with an imported queen. What do 

 you think. Novice? Do you think it is possible for 

 a bee-keeper to be foo devoted to his business? 



And there is one thing more that I would like to 

 ask Xovice. and that is. don't you think it is a good 

 thing for some of us enthusiastic young bee-keep- 

 ers, that we well, havn't any bank account? If 



we had, we would probably buy a whole lot of bees. 



all the "modern improvements," and then why. 



then go into "Blasted Hopes." to be sure. 



There, my first year's "•experience" is finished, 

 and if it has helped any one else in their '"first year's 

 experience." it has "fulfilled its mission." 



W. Z. HCTCHINSOX. 



Ilogcrsville, Mich. 



I aiu very much obliged, my friend, for 

 your words of praise in regard to Gleax- 

 INGS. but to tell you the truth, it rather gives 

 me pain, for I am afraid it does not deserve 

 it. and I am sure I do not deserve the kind 



treatment that all my readers, as a general 

 thing, have given me fiom the start. I do 

 want to make it a home paper, and I do wish 

 to have it worth to you all. what it costs, be- 

 yond a doubt. I do" think it possible to think 

 too much of our bees, and I do not feel that 

 we have a right to go to too great extremes 

 on any one thing. To a certain limit, you 

 have a right to wear old clothes, if you wish, 

 in order to save your money to buy bees, and 

 no one should "be ashamed to wear old 

 clothes, under fitting circumstances. I do 

 think it is a good thing for all of us. that 

 money comes slowly, and only by hard 

 work." Low prices for honev do riot discour- 

 age me. for I feel that it will incite us to re- 

 newed exertion, more care, thought, and 

 possibly inventions, for facilitating our 

 work. ' I sincerely pray, that bee-culture 

 mav never attract those "who make a living 

 bv "speculation, and not bv hard, earnest 

 w'ork. Your frank and truthful narration of 

 your work, your ways of economizing, and 

 vour honest" enthusiasm, diuring the past 12 

 months, mv voung ft-iend. have interested 

 and benefited us all. and I am sure I am not 

 alone in wishing Ave might hear from you 

 monthlv. in the vear to come. 



Tnr lExr.TiENT hive. 



Vfi HAVE been making and using a hive of this 

 fl sort the past season, containing 4 apartments. 

 r^ built on the Lawn hive principle, and I like 

 them. I now have 11 of them in use, and have built 

 no other since I commenced using them. Their ad- 

 vantages are economy of space on the ground, econ- 

 omy of material and labor in the c<instruction. and 

 convenience in working about or with ihem. Bees 

 can best be shipped in Simplicity hives, but. for 

 home use. the Tenement is far :iher.d of single hives. 

 Thcv are also much less affected by changes of tem- 

 perature, and in cold weather, will help keep each 

 other warm. 



When painted white and shaded, I have had no 

 trouble with combs breaking down in them, while 

 in the others. I have been much annoyed in that 

 way. In one case. I lost a swarm by the combs 

 breaking di'wn and partly stopping the entrance; 

 the daui-ed l>ees stopped ihe rest of it, and so smoth- 

 ered all that were inside. 



If you wish, I will make you the skeleton of one, 

 without the filling and outer bottom, and send you. 

 I have been benefited by your ""travels round the 

 stairway" enough to afford to do this, and it may 

 save you s<">me steps in that way. It will not weigh 

 much, so the freight will be light. 



I have shortened the frame to 16 inches, and put 

 in one more in order to bring the tenement and 

 hives nearer square ; but as you use the Langstroth 

 frames, I can make you the sample to suit them. 



