594 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Dec. 



FIVE SUMMERS AMONG THE HIVES. 



AN IOWA MINISTEB'S EXPEaiENCE. 



v<js|,NE of my earliest recollections is of standing 

 wjh) with my mother by a bench on which were 

 ^—^ half a dozen box and straw hives, and watch- 

 ing a swarm come out of one of them. My father 

 was a bee-keeper on a small scale, for he kept them 

 merely to supply his own table with honej'. His 

 bees were cared for, and his honey taken after the 

 old plan. Every fall there was a brimstone niyht. 



After my settlement over a congregation, a par- 

 ishioner presented me a colony of bees inabox hive. 

 1 placed them in my yard and attended them as I had 

 seen my father do. The swarms were hived in box- 

 es; but, refusing to dig a brimstone pit, I depended 

 for surplus on boring holes in the top, and placing 

 boxes on them. In a few years a severe winter came, 

 and during it all my bees died. Some years after- 

 ward I made the acquaintance of a physician who 

 had a number of colonies for sale. They were in L. 

 hives, and hybrids. He informed me that for some 

 years he had received a hundred dollars a year from 

 his bees, and that he had bestowed but little labor 

 upon them. As my salary wa*! small, and expenses 

 fully equal to it, I, feeling that $100 a year would 

 greatly help me, bought the bees. In the spring of 

 1878 I hauled them home — nineteen colonies. De- 

 termining to attend to these bees better than I had 

 to the others, I added to my library several volumes 

 on bee culture, and subscribed for two bee periodi- 

 cals, one of which was Gleanings. 



At that time I was ignorant of the business, and 

 had it to learn, both in theory and practice. I was pas- 

 tor of this congregation, which is a country charge, 

 living in a parsonage adjoining the church grounds, 

 and having control of an acre and a half of ground. 

 My regular work as a pastor did not give much time 

 to study or practice bee culture. In this community 

 1 find it very difficult to procure help in my apiary. 

 All the laborers I found willing to hire were so 

 afraid of bees that they preferred farm work at less 

 wages. I therefore do not claim that my bees have 

 ever received the care and attention they ought to 

 have had. The location is a prairie, four miles from 

 timber; white clover abounds, but very little buck- 

 wheat is ever sown here. 



Many persons are saying, " I should like to keep 

 bees, but I have not time to give them all the atten- 

 tion and care the books direct," and ask, " Would it 

 pay to keep them, giving them what attention and 

 care I can?" 



My object in this article is to answer such by giv- 

 ing a correct report of my five years' work with my 

 bees, merely attending to them when I could, and 

 often unable to do for them the work 1 well knew 

 ought to be done. 



I began the spring of 18T8 with the 19 colonies I had 

 purchased; but, one of them died before the honey 

 season come. I resolved to let my bees swarm nat- 

 urally, and that has always been my plan. The first 

 year I increased to 39, and took 630 lbs. of comb hon- 

 ey. My cellar being small, and used for storing 

 roots, etc., for winter use, I thought it would not 

 answer for my bees, so I prepared them for winter 

 in this way: I laid some sticks on the ground, and 

 on these I set the hives close together, two deep. I 

 then built around them prairie hay, making a wall 

 four feet thick, and topped out with hay so it looked 

 like a stack. I felt that there they would keep nice- 



ly; but I lost 16 by dysentery. I now think it was 

 too cold, as our prairie winds penetrated the hay. 



I began the summer of 1879 with 23 colonies, which, 

 owing to dysentery, were in a weak, sickly condition. 

 I increased to ^3, and took 420 lbs. of comb honey and 

 200 lbs. of extracted. In the fall I buried 13 colonies 

 in the ground, making what some call a clamp. Six 

 I left on their stands, well packed around with hay, 

 and 1.5 I put in my cellar. I lost one of those left on 

 the summer stands. 



I began the summer 1880 with 32 colonies in good 

 condition ; increased to 73, and took 400 lbs. of comb 

 honey and 800 lbs. of extracted. In preparing for 

 winter I buried 40 colonies in a clamp, and lost 23 of 

 them. The others, 33, I put into my cellar and lost 

 two of them. 



In the spring of 1881 1 had 48 colonies. Increased 

 to 63, and took 5.50 lbs, of comb honey and 500 lbs. of 

 extracted. In this vicinity there was an entire 

 failure of fall honey, owing to the weather, and, as 

 a consequence, all my colonics were short of stores 

 when put away in my cellar for winter. When I took 

 them out in the spring I found 2 or 3 dead from starv- 

 ation; and although I watched, exchanged combs, 

 fed, etc., what time I had, the spring was so cold, and 

 yielded so little honey, that I lost in all, by starva- 

 tion, robbing, and swarming out, 18 colonies; there- 

 fore I began the summer of 1882 with 45 colonies. 

 Increased to 69, and took 2150 lbs. of comb honey and 

 500 lbs. of extracted. My bees are now in good con- 

 dition, and I sha 1 winter in my cellar, which, in my 

 experience, has proved the best for this latitude. 



I now have 69 colonies, and 63 empty hives, all 10- 

 frame Langstroth, with full surplus arrangements 

 for all. I get my comb honey in section boxes, of 

 which I have 1000 on hand, many of them partly fill- 

 ed with comb. I also have an extractor, smoker, a 

 quantity of foundation, and a goodly number of such 

 traps and fixtures as bee-keepers are likely to gather 

 around them. My entire outlay, including the cost 

 of the 19 colonies, books, periodicals, hives, hired 

 help; in short, every cent expended, directly or in- 

 directly, for my apiary, is $355..50. 



Since 1 took the first honey from my bees, honey 

 has never been absent from our table for a single 

 meal, unless by oversight, and we have used it to 

 some extent in cooking. Then my gifts of honey to 

 friends have averaged over 100 lbs. annually. Lack 

 of time has led me in selling honey to choose the 

 quickest, instead of the most profitable method, and 

 therefore I have never received a high price for 

 what I sold. I have not sold all of my last summer's 

 crop; but, guessing at the value of what I have on 

 hand, I give my cash receipts at $623. That leaves 

 me $267.50 cash in hand, besides having my apiary 

 and fixtures clear. I take no account of the honey 

 used in my family, or given to my friends. I never 

 sold any wax, but have had it all made into founda- 

 tion. I have enjoyed the study of bee culture very 

 much; but on some warm days the practical part 

 was rather trying to the flesh. W. D. Ralston. 



Scotch Grove, Iowa, Nov. 20, 1882. 



Yours has been by no means a great suc- 

 cess, friend R.; but you have made a fair, 

 steady gain of it, and I predict that, with 

 yonr present stock and experience, you will, 

 before the next live years' experience, find 

 honey pouring in at such a rate that you 

 may be thanlvfully reminded of Malafhi3:10. 

 Haven't you some boys and girls around you 

 who have learned by this time to lend a hand 

 when it comes ? 



