1882 



GLEiVNINGS IN BEE CULTUllE. 



333 



connected sentences. And to-daj finds me still scrib- 

 bling away, trying to tell what [ know concerning 

 practical bee-keeping. Bnt I sec that, of late, some 

 think that " Doolittle " is writing uuly for the sake 

 of giving a big rejwrt, to make it appear that " / am 

 a lii(/ htc-man." Now, friend Buchanan, did j^ou 

 rcaUy tliink (7iat, because you could not reconcile a 

 hive full of honey in the fall with a small brood- 

 chamber, or were you a little jealous? At first 1 

 hesitated about giving in a report at all; but when I 

 looked back over the past, and saw how eagerly I 

 followed the plans of those who backed up their 

 system of management with a good report each fall, 

 1 saw that, if any confidence were placed in my 

 methods, it would be necessary for me to show the 

 success of those methods. Right hero I wish to saj', 

 that I never yet reported a pound of honey but that 

 was actually sold; so the insinuation of something 

 else, falls harmless to the ground. If you wish to 

 learn farming, to whom do you go, to the man whose 

 farm grows up to Avceds and briers, or to the man 

 who produces good crops each year? 



At our N. E. B. K. Association there is usually a 

 person who is always telling his methods of manage- 

 ment. While he was giving a long harangue over it, 

 E. D. Clark, an excellent, practical bee-keeper, said 

 t o me, '* I double his yield of honey every year; and 

 until he can better his reports, I don't care for his 

 methods." Thus I have given you, in Mr. Clark's 

 sentence, why I have reported each j'car. 



But, to the next point: " Colonies so managed are 

 not self-supporting." Had you forgotten, friend B., 

 how I have advised that the bees be made self-sup- 

 porting, and not only this, but that each bee-keeper 

 so control his expenses that he is self-supporting 

 also? To show that my bees have been so man- 

 aged as to live without "resorting to feeding for 

 winter supplies," I will say, that for the past nine 

 years in which I have rejinrtcd, I have feed only two 

 barrels of sugar, which was in the spring of 1878, aft- 

 er a failure of honey in the apple blossoms. When 

 I read of so much feeding of bees as others report, 

 I don't see the need of it; but as I presume they do, 

 I am willing they should do as they think best. But, 

 says B., since with your small hive the frames Avill 

 " be filled with brood, the bees must store all their 

 honej' in the surplus boxes;" from whence comes 

 your honey for winter? Well, it is in this way: Aft- 

 ter I have worked my bees so as to get every cell 

 full of brood as far as possible, the boxes are put up- 

 on the hive, after which, it will be remembered, I 

 have advised letting the bees alone, unless some- 

 thing of necessity occurs, such as loss of queen, get- 

 ting a frame of brood for cjueen-rearing, etc., which 

 demand that the hive should be opened. Now, by 

 thus leaving the hive alone, the queen, which has 

 heretofore been somewhat overtaxed, takes a partial 

 rest; and as the young bees hatch, the bees fill the 

 outside combs with honey, as well as the ui>i)er parts 

 of the frames. This part of the matter, my friends 

 opposed to small hives seem to have forgotten. 



The main secret of success is the getting of the 

 combs literally full of brood before the honey har- 

 vi'St, thus getting a full force of workers ready for 

 the field just, when they arc needed. What man is 

 there who hires a lot of hands to hoe corn before the 

 corn is up? Not one; but they wait until the corn 

 is ready to hfo, and then have the help. Just so we 

 want cur bees at the right time, to have them 

 profitable, A hive full of bees in April is of no more 



use than a field full of men to hoe corn would be at 

 that season of the year: for June is the time we hoe 

 corn in this latitude. Again, if wo do not have this 

 brood and bees in time for the honey harvest, all 

 the extra powers of the queen ar(^ spent in vain; for 

 it would be like getting a lot of hands to hoe corn in 

 September, after the corn was ripe. Once more: If 

 the hive is not full of brood when the honey harvest 

 opens, the bees will store their first honey in the 

 brood-combs instead of going at once into the box- 

 es; and if a start is thus first made in the body of 

 the hive, the bees will idle away their time to a 

 greater or less extent, as they arc loth to work in 

 the boxes at all. "Enough is as good as a feast," 

 and so 27) lbs. of honey in the brood-chamber the 

 first of Oct. is just as good as 50 lbs. ; and as a rule I 

 have 25 lbs. in my small brood-chamber, while with 

 large ones the average will be 50 lbs.; and 1 have al- 

 ready shown why that ^5 extra lbs. is far more profit- 

 able in the sections than in the brood-chamber, aside 

 from its selling value. Of course, 1 have to see to 

 each hive in the fall, and equalize the stores so that 

 all have Ihe 25 lbs., which would not have to be done 

 with the large hives, for the lightest would doubt- 

 less have that amount. If there is not enough hon- 

 ey in the yard to make the 25 lbs. on an average, as 

 was the case in 1870, I double my stocks down till 

 there is' enough, and then make them self-support- 

 ing. If I can impress upon the minds of the readers 

 these two facts, that, togetplcnty of bees in just the 

 right time for the honey harvest, and the hive full 

 of brood at this tirae, is the great secret of success- 

 ful bee culture. I shall not have written in vain. 



Now a word to friend Hoot. As I read, " If friend 

 Doolittle would get along without the losses he sus- 

 tains in winteiing so almost invariably, we should 

 have still more faith in his peculiar plan of manage- 

 ment." My mind was carried back to my visit at 

 Medina, Ohio, in 1876, at which time frieml R. told 

 me he believed it was his sphere to teach the bee- 

 keepers of the world, through Gleanings, which 

 we all know has proven true. Now, friend R., shall 

 wo lose our faith in your teachings because you 

 don't succeed in wintering bees any better than does 

 your humble servant? Na3'! I rejoice to see a man 

 winter his bees every time; still, I respectthe teach- 

 ings of the man the more who loses half of his bees 

 every winter, and still clears $2.00 off the half left, 

 than the man who wintersthe whole and clears a dol- 

 lar. Geo. T. Wheeler once said to me, after losing 

 nearly all his bees during the winter, "I can make 

 500 per cent on money invested in bees from sum- 

 mer management, and buy my bees of my more suc- 

 cessful wintering neighbors, while they make only 

 250 per cent out of their bees, total receipts all 

 counted." G. M. Doolittle. 



Borodino, N. Y., Juno 16, 1882. 



I believe I agree with you, very nearly at 

 least, friend J)., and was ratl)er anxious to 

 have you quote ray reply to friend Buchanan 

 when I said, " If a bee-keeper makes money 

 with his bees, year after year, we have hard- 

 ly a right to lind fault." You are right, too, 

 when you intimate that successful wintering 

 alone does not make one up to the highest 

 point in modern bee culture. It has been 

 several times suggested, that a smart, up-to- 

 the-times bee-man could make money by 

 selling out in the fall and buying his bees 

 new every spring, and I haven't a doubt of 

 it ; so that successful wintering is not really 



