60 A YEAR'S WORK IN AN OUT-APIARY 



white. It matters little what color these shade-boards are painted, on 

 account of the circulation of air under them; still, where I paint hives 

 at all I prefer the color to be white. 



I feel that I ought not to close this work without saying a few 

 words regarding the automobile for the apiarist, inasmuch as I have 

 mentioned it several times when telling of my visits to the out-apiary. 

 At times I think the one I have (an eight-horse-power single-cylinder 

 Pierce Stanhope, and I think it is as good as any, or I would not have 

 purchased it), an expensive luxury. At other times I consider it the 

 nicest thing in the world to travel In, both for pleasure and profit; and 

 at other times I consider it almost a necessity for me in my apicultural 

 work. The time when I consider It an expensive luxury is when the 

 roads are in a condition not suited for its use, on account of deep mud 

 and snow, which is fully six months in the year in this locality. If 

 I lived in a city or a country where the travel on the roads did not 

 cut them up so the mud is from three inches to a foot deep, or where 

 the snow did not fall or drift from one to ten feet deep, this "expensive 

 luxury" would not play such an important part. Then the auto could 

 be used nearly if not quite all the time, thus saving the keeping of a 

 horse, wagons, and sleighs. But as it is, I must keep these in addition 

 to the auto, at an expense of from $200 to $300 a year. The times when 

 I consider it both pleasurable and profitable is when the roads are good, 

 enabling me to go to and from the out-aplary, and elsewhere. In less 

 than half the time consumed by the horse, with no trouble from flies 

 tormenting, bees stinging, or fright from any strange thing along the 

 road, as is very often the case where a horse is used as a means of 

 conveyance. And I can carry as many supplies to the apiary, or bring 

 home as much honey with It, at a trip, as I can when using the horse. 



In all of these hauling operations, blankets are used to keep from 

 marring and injuring the auto. The times when I consider it a neces- 

 sity is when I wish to drive right up to or Into the apiary for loading 

 or unloading stuff; when I am short of time, and must get to any place 

 very quickly, and when I wish power for running machinery, although 

 I have not so much need of this as formerly. At no time do I appreciate 

 the auto more thoroughly than when I drive It right Into the bee-yard 

 for loading and unloading heavy stuff. The auto is low-down, so I do 

 not have to lift things so high in loading as with a wagon. Then with 

 the horse I must do a lot of lugging and carrying myself, or else get 

 some one to help me draw the heavily loaded wagon to a safe distance 

 from the bees, and, even at the best, have a constant care not to get 

 the horse stung. Nothing of the kind with the auto, for I have never 

 Known of a bee stinging It. 



Then if the washing-machine, grind-stone, churn, feed-cutter, emery- 

 wheel, planer, buzz-saw, etc., are to be used, just back the auto up to 

 the proper place, "jack up" one of the hind or driving wheels, and 

 "block" the other, so as to make the auto stationary, connecting by 

 belt the jacked-up wheel and the machine you wish turned, when every 

 thing is ready for "the start." Does the machine need to be run slow? 



