04 MANAGEMENT OF OtJT-APIARIES 



an expensive luxury. At some times J consider it the nicest thing in 

 the world to travel in, both for pleasure and profit; and at other times 

 1 consider it almost a necessity for me in apicultural work. The time 

 when I consider it an expensive luxury is when the roads are in a con- 

 dition 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 

 loimtry 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 tiiue, thus savin,«' the keeping of a horse, wagons, and sleighs. 

 Rut as it is, 1 must keep these in addition to the auto, at an expense of 

 from .'i<2(((l to $300 a year. The time when I consider it both pleasurable 

 and profitable is when the roads are good, enabling me to go to and from 

 the out-apiary, and elsewhere, in less than half the time consumed by 

 the hoi'se, 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 

 liorse is used as a means of conveyance. And I can carry as many sup- 

 plies to the apiary, or bring home as uuich honey with it, i\t a trip, as 

 T 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 necessity 

 are when 1 wish to drive right up to or into the apiary for loading or 

 unloading stuff; when 1 am short of time, and must go to any place 

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

 [ 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 T ha\'e never 

 known of a bee stinging it. 



Another thing about the auto which pleases me nearly as much as 

 does driving it right into the middle of the apiary, without fear of stings 

 or the . unhitching of the horse, is this: After finding what the auto 

 would do T built an auto storeroom, honey-room, and small workshop 

 combined, with movable partitions, painting the same a dark color so as 

 to ripen the honey when stored therein through the heat brought about 

 through the absorption of the rays of the sun. Now instead of having 

 to carry the honey from the wagon to the honey-room, the auto load of 

 honey is run right into the honey-room. This saves a whole lot of lugging 

 which was necessary with each load when returning with the horse-drawn 

 wagon. Again, when marketing with horse power the crates of honey 

 must be carried from the honey-room to the wagon standing outside, and 

 the load, when completed, securely tied or bound on, owing to the smooth 

 surface of the nicely polished eases. The auto is backed light into the 

 honey-room, between the piles of nicely crated honey, when, with the 

 swinging motion, the honey is conveyed from these piles into the auto; 

 and when the load is on, the driver pulls the lever, and, with the load, 

 moves right out from the honey-room to the railroad station or car con- 



