Feb. 18, 1904. 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



119 



■when you have large swarms they are a decided success for 

 surplus honey, if you work them rightly. If I wanted only 

 moderate increase, I would give the bees from the old stand 

 to the second swarm, and prevent any third swarms. 



Nuclei are all right for increase, but you will have to 

 wait until the next year for your surplus honey. My best 

 yield per colony was 230 pounds, that was from a first 

 swarm ; 200 pounds of that was comb honey, and that col- 

 ony has an extracting super on now pretty well filled with 

 honey that I have not counted ; and, by the way, that queen 

 was reared last year from a 1-frame nucleus, the nucleus 

 building their own cell, and the frame was well covered 

 with bees. I had another queen reared this way, and she 

 was good, but did not do as well as this one. 



Now, I have a neighbor bee-keeper of considerable ex- 

 perience, about 3 miles away, who uses full sheets of foun- 



then be better enabled to know how to get the most honey. 

 I wish to add just a few words in regard to combs or 

 full sheets of foundation instead of strips for a large swarm. 

 When you put such a swarm on combs or full sheets the 

 queen will fill it clear full of brood, or the bees will fill it 

 with honey. Which is the better ? If full of honey, then 

 they will never empty it for her late in the summer, and you 

 will have a weak colony of old bees for winter. If the queen 

 fills it full of brood, it will take the honey of that best honey- 

 flow to feed that brood, and so on. Just like the man who 

 had a team. He kept them well. Each year he planted 

 corn enough to raise feed for his team. He worked all sum- 

 mer to attend to it, and when winter came he fed the corn. 

 Then the next summer he did the same way. The team 

 fared well, but as for himself he got nothing. You may have 

 your bees on nice all-worker comb if you like, having 

 worked hard against Nature to get it ; then get 

 some honey to rear bees, to get a little more honey 

 to rear a little more bees, and so on. But, for my 

 part, I want to rear a whole lot or bees just in time 

 to use them for surplus, and then put them to work 

 in supers not just to rear more bees. I aim to keep 

 bees for the money there is in it, not for the mere 

 fun of hiving swarms; and 250 pounds per colony, 

 spring count, is not merely the result of a good sea- 

 son, but of being prepared for it and manipu- 

 lating the bees according to the honey-resources 

 I have. I consider that that part made me half of 

 that honey as well as increase. 



Now, don't understand me to say I want a large 

 amount of drones, but I don't begrude feeding quite 

 a few. I think some drones are a necessity for 

 good work. Perhaps the workers feel better and 

 work harder because they sing their song of cheer 

 to them. Don't begrudge the bees a little cheer- 

 fulness. Their life is short and full of hard labor. 

 Knox Co., 111., Dec. 17, 1903. 



Why Not Help a Little— both your neighbor 

 bee-keepers and the old American Bee Journal — by 

 sending to us the names and addresses of such as 

 you may know do not now get this journal ? We 



dation in brood-frames for swarms ; his increase 

 was a good deal less, and he got less than half the 

 honey that I did per colony, spring count (his was 

 all comb honej'). Also, 3 other bee-keepers of con- 

 siderable experience got only about 50 to 75 pounds 

 per colony, spring count ; but they lost several 

 swarms. 



My honey is all sold but 11 cases of comb honey 

 and about ISO pounds of extracted, one little store 

 in our little village having sold, so far, 14 cases of 

 my honey. Some of these cases held 32 sections, 

 but most of them only 24. To private families I 

 have sold as high as 5 cases, and one man has taken 

 7 cases, and 1 gallon of extracted, but some of this 

 he sent to friends. To some families I sold as much 

 as 4 gallons of extracted. The extracted honey 

 I have sold only at my house. Several other stores 

 have taken from 5 to 10 cases. I sent 10 cases of 

 my best honey to a large city to see what it would 

 bring. After transportation and breakage was de- 

 ducted it brought me less than my No. 2 did at 

 home. There is very little honey in the bee-keep- 

 ers' hands near here now. 



I am wintering the bees on the summer stands, 

 protected by newspapers and stores-boxes, except- 

 ing 8 colonies which are in the cellar. I have no 

 objection to any one following the old, orthodox 

 way of manipulating bees. The supposed-to-be- 

 proper way SO years ago is not the way of to-day ; neither 

 will the supposed-to-be-proper way now be the way forever 

 in the future. There is no orthodox way of manipulating 

 bees that will prove to be the only good way in all localities, 

 with all people in all seasons. 



Now, in closing, let me drop one word of advice to the 

 beginner: Don't play with the fire. Don't invest a lot of 

 money in bees or fixtures expecting soon to make a fortune. 

 Don't try any way or plan of manipulating bees on an ex- 

 tensive scale until you have tried it in a small way. Don't 

 depend upon bees alone for your living ; but if you find after 

 several years' experience that you can handle bees success- 

 fully, then you will know if it will pay you to keep bees in 

 your locality, and as to its resources for honey. You will 



will be glad to send them sample copies, so that they may 

 become acquainted with the paper, and subscribe for it, thus 

 putting themselves in the line of success with bees. Per- 

 haps you can get them to subscribe, send in their dollars, 

 and secure for your trouble some of the premiums we are 

 constantly offering as rewards for such eEfort. 



Our Wood Binder (or Holder) is made to take all the 

 copies of the American Bee Journal for a year. It is sent 

 by mail for 20 cents. Full directions accompany. The Bee 

 Journals can be inserted as soon as they are received, and 

 thus preserved for future reference. Upon receipt of $1.00 

 for your Bee Journal subscription a full year in advance, 

 we will mail you a Wood Binder free — if you will mention it. 



