ALEXANDER’S WRITINGS ON PRACTICAL BEE CULTURE 17 
I find that the Danzenbaker hive with its modern improved appliances 
has fewer faults and more advantages than any other hive I know of. 
The hive we use for extracted honey suits us very well; and as 
we now have about 2100 just alike, it would seem foolish and be quite 
expensive to make them over into another kind of hive. 
FACTORY VS. HOME-MADE HIVES. 
In regard to which is the better and cheaper, all things considered, 
home-made or factory hives, I will say, don’t be satisfied and contented with 
poorly made hives of any kind. I know of nothing more provoking than to 
have a lot of slam-bang hives. Bee-stings can not commence to make me 
feel as much provoked as to find some parts of a hive left a little too thick 
or too thin, too long or too short, to fit the place for which they 
were intended. If you are a good mechanic, and have a good planing- 
machine and all the necessary fine sharp saws to do good work, and 
can buy your lumber at a moderate price, then it is possible you might 
save a little in making your hives and appliances right through; but 
unless you are so situated I think it would be much better to buy all 
those things in the flat from some factory that does nice work. The 
one thing which is of far more importance than the first cost is to 
have every piece in a hive an exact duplicate of that part in every other 
hive. This is where factory hives usually have a great advantage over 
home-made ones. I have been fortunate in getting our hives and appli- 
ances without much trouble, always living as I have within a short drive 
of wood-working factories where I could either buy the rough lumber 
or the hives ready to nail together, at a reasonable price. 
Please do not infer from the above that I have not had any experi- 
ence in cutting up lumber and making hives, for I certainly have had. 
Twice one hand has come in contact with the buzz-saw, to my sorrow. 
In going over this part of the business, it is not only the matter of 
hives but there are our sections, queen-excluders, separators, clamps for 
holding the sections in their place on the hives, crates for our comb 
honey—yes, even our queen-cages and labels, and, many times, our glass; 
for all these and many others we have to look to the large manufac- 
turing plants. Now, why not go one step further, and, in sending in 
our orders, include the necessary hives, and have all come together in 
a good workmanlike manner, even if it should cost a trifle more, which 
I have my doubts about, and then for many years enjoy the pleasure 
of knowing that you have all your bees in good well-made hives? This 
part is certainly well worth taking into consideration, for it instills in 
us a certain pride in our business which no man can expect to be suc- 
cessful without. Don’t for a moment feel that any old ram-shackle thing 
is good enough for you and your bees, but make up your mind from the 
first that you will have every thing connected with your business just 
as good as any other man’s, and then work hard to accomplish it. 
Before I leave this subject I wish I could impress upon the minds 
of all those about to engage in bee keeping the importance—yes, I might 
