1895 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



737 



settle. Then, in order to make it granulate 

 sooner, and have the granulation fine and thin, 

 I beat the honey by means of a churn. 



The honey sells for from 28 to 58 cts. per kilo- 

 gram, or 2i lbs. 



Gleanings for Jan. 15 makes two quotations 

 from Progres Apicole. Thanks. In your. Jan. 

 1st issue, you say thai ''the Hainaut Bee- 

 keepers' Association numbers more than 2000 

 members." The province of Hainaut, the most 

 populous in Belgium, has about a million of 

 inhabitants. Two thousand bee-keepers form 

 a part of the federation: but many are not now 

 in full membership. These 2000 members are 

 divided into 34 sections, each one of which is 

 entitled to three meetings a year. These three 

 meetings are paid for from the treasury of the 

 association. Besides, the sections can pay for 

 additional meetings. Fifteen persons are com- 

 missioned to go over the province to give in- 

 struction in apicultural matters. The follow- 

 ing year we form apicultural schools, like those 

 already existing in Germany and in the United 

 States. Each meeting teaches part theory and 

 part practice at the apiary of one of the mem- 

 bers of the association. The professor performs 

 the operations. There are no very extensive 

 apiaries in Hainaut. The largest, to my knowl- 

 edge, does not contain over 50 hives. One per- 

 son, half a mile from here, makes a specialty of 

 apiculture. He has 250 or 300 hives in 7 api- 

 aries, all straw hives, one story. He buys much 

 honey of strangers, which he manipulates be- 

 fore sending it to its destination. The greater 

 part of the members average only four hives. 



In a future letter I shall speak of the differ- 

 ent kinds of hives, and of the flora of each 

 country in particular. I read with much in- 

 terest Mr. Norman's Chat on European Mat- 

 ters. I hope he will not forget the Apicultural 

 Federation of Hainaut. 



Wasmes, Belgium. 



[We are glad to hear from our Belgian cor- 

 respondent, and hope we may hear from him 

 further.— Ed.] 



THE DARK AS WELL AS BRIGHT SIDE OF 

 APICULTURE. 



VFOULD BE A PAUPER IF HE DEPENDED ON 

 BEES Oii BERRIES. 



By L. A. Dosch. 



I have kept bees on a small scale for over 15 

 years. Last year we got a little honey; colo- 

 nies were strong, and in good condition. While 

 clover was burned out last summer by the 

 drouth, also this year. The bees succeeded in 

 storing a good portion of the fruit-bloom, and 

 made a splendid start; but the drouth set in as 

 early as April and May. It was so dry in 

 Southern Ohio our corn would not come up. 

 We had to replant and replant again to make 

 sure of getting a stand of corn. The Big Mi- 



ami River, which flows in sight of my place is 

 so low that children wade it anywhere. All 

 small creeks are dried up all summer. Farm- 

 ers' cattle look poor — nothing but the bare 

 earth to be seen in the fields. Cows can 

 scarcely be kept in bounds by fences. Bitter 

 weeds are devoured greedily if any are in sight. 

 Farmers have been hauling water from the 

 river all summer to plant tobacco, our main 

 crop. 



In the Miami Valley my bees never swarmed 

 last year nor this summer. Bee-keeping as a 

 business is out of the question in Ohio. Let 

 the truth be said. Yes, we have some pleasant 

 recollections of some very wet seasons ten 

 years or more ago — so wet we could scarcely 

 run a binder at harvest, for fear of sinking it 

 out of sight, i wish we had some of those wet 

 days. We could stand two every week. The 

 wells are all going dry. Everywhere you can 

 see the well-uiggers at work sinking deeper 

 and deeper for water. Never, in the history of 

 Miami Valley, was there such long-continued 

 dry weather. Hay is f28 a ton; but farmers 

 have none for themselves. There was very 

 little to make. We are not saying this to com- 

 plain; but these conditions surround us. 

 Strawberries were of short duration; then 

 raspberries came next. They came and went, 

 but we scarcely realized tneir presence as it 

 was so short. You might tell some people 

 there is money in bees; but not the average 

 Southern Ohio farmer. We do not write these 

 facts to scare any one out of the bee- business; 

 but 1 have read your Reports Encouraging and 

 Discouraging, and felt prompted to wriie this for 

 your readers over this vast land who used to 

 live in good old Ohio. There seems to be a dis- 

 position on the part of your management of 

 Gleanings to raiher suppress such reports as 

 this, and always speak in rather glowing terms 

 of what the bees are doing for you. Now, we 

 do not tell the half of what our suffering farm- 

 ers have endured for the last two years; nei- 

 ther do we exaggerate in the least. That honey 

 crops have been a dismal failure for a number 

 of years is a fact, and we should be obliged to 

 go around with our pants all torn if we de- 

 pended on the •' blessed bees." 



We hope you will insert this letter, and not 

 suppress a line, or cut out a line here and there, 

 as you frequently do, until you cut it down to 

 suit your taste, in trade-journal style. 



Miamisburg, O. 



[Friend Dosch, I have not a particle of doubt 

 as to tlie truth of all you say regarding the 

 weather; but there is a strain of uncharitable- 

 ness in ceriaiu parts of your letter that I do 

 object to most seriously; and that is, that we 

 publisti only the bright side of apiculture. If 

 you will look at our back volumes you will see 

 that we have published the dark side as well as 

 the bright; but you should remember that bee- 

 keepers are very much more apt to give their 

 successes than their failures. Your last insin- 



