1896 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



19 



vocaies the divisible brood-chamber as the 

 only hive that has given him perfect control of 

 his bees; and on the very next page the man 

 who has, perhaps, used it longer than any 

 other, denounces it, and holds up another hive 

 that turns work into play. 



However honest they may be, it's hardly pos- 

 sible they can both bo right, and I may be ex- 

 cused for doubting whether either one is right. 

 The tendency to doubting is increased with 

 regard to Mr. Hand by the very broadness of 

 his claim — the claim that the divisible brood- 

 chamber gives him perfect control of his bees. 

 I am not sure that I ever read or heard before 

 of any one having perfect control of his bees. 

 When my bees take it into their heads to make 

 preparation for swaiming. I can, like Mr. 

 Hand, say to them, '" Thus far shalt thou go. 

 and no farther;" hut the great trouble is, that 

 they don't always mind what I say. I doubt if 

 his are much more obedient. He goes scarcely 

 a word farther than to say he has made a per- 

 fect success with no other than the divisible 

 brood-chamber. But others who have made 

 the same trial give exactly the opposite testi- 

 mony. Whose testimony shall prevail ? 



So far as my own observation is concerned, I 

 agree with him that queens will pass readily 

 from one story to another, the trouble I report- 

 ed about getting a queen to lay in a second 

 chamber being when she was confined there 

 against her will. 



SOMETHING RICH. 



J. L. Anderson has handed me a clipping of 

 more than a column from the Chicago Iiiter- 

 Ocean, being an article copied from the St. 

 Louis Globe Democrat. It is " A Naturalist's 

 Story " from his own observations of the mat- 

 ing of birds and insects. Here's the part that 

 refers to bees: 



At or ubout the time the queen-hee feels the tirst 

 promptings of love, and before she tiikes lier flight 

 from the hive in search of a lover, the drones may 

 be seen any blight djiy congregated about the en- 

 trance of the hive, or making short and pur- 

 poseless flights in the vicinity. They remind one 

 very forcibly of the youths one sees loitering about 

 chuieli doors or at tlie entrances of tlieaters, await- 

 ing the outcomings of tiieir sweetliearts. The 

 drones are mucli handsomer than the workers; 

 their markings are different, their colors are more 

 vivid, and their bodies are more graceful. 1 liave 

 repeatedly noticed them on the footboards of hives, 

 walking slowly and sedately up and down, or mak- 

 ing queer little waltzing movements, vibrating their 

 wings in a rapid and agitated manner. When the 

 queen flies forth she is immediatelj' surrounded by 

 a bevy of drone lovers. 



Her choice of a lover maj' be the result of an ac- 

 cident, but T do not believe this is the case on all 

 occasions. A queen and drone i)nce fell at my feet, 

 and, upon examination, I found that the queen 

 was using her sting vigorously and effectively. The 

 drone soon died, whereupon the queen abandoned 

 him and accepted anotliei' lover before she disap- 

 peared from my sight. This seems to me to indicate 

 that the queen exercises, on occasions, the right of 

 choice. 



How's that for richness? I think I'll not 



spoil it by further comment. 



FIXING PKIf'ES IN HOME MARKET. 



G. M. Doolittle gives some excellent advice 



about marketing honey, on p. 63.3, among other 

 things advising to sell in the home market if 

 you can get within a cent a pound of what it will 

 bring you when shipped on commission. For 

 the benetit of some, it may be well to mention 

 the exceptional cases that sometimes occur 

 when there is a failure of the crop in your own 

 locality. Suppose your home market requires 

 5000 lbs., and you have secured only 2000 lbs., 

 and no other is to be had nearer than the city 

 market. Looking at the market reports you 

 find it quoted at 14 cts. Deducting freight and 

 commission you find you will have less than 13 

 cts. left; and considering all risks as to break- 

 age, etc., you will do well to count that a cent 

 less; or 13 cls. in your home market will be as 

 well as or better than to ship to the city. So 

 you sell your 2000 Ib-^. at home for $340. The 

 merchants of your town must send to the city 

 for an additional 3000 lbs., and freight and risk 

 is such that it costs them, besides the 14 cts. 

 paid in the city, an additional cent or more. 

 Indeed, they would rather pay 15 cts. cash de- 

 livered at the store than to send to the city. 

 Is there any justice in paying 15 cts. for the 

 3000 lbs., and giving you only 13 for the 3000'? 

 I don't see any reason why you should not have 

 the 15 cts., and thus put $60.00 more in your 

 pocket. So when the crop is such that your 

 home market must be partly suppliea from the 

 city market, you should get in your home mar- 

 ket at least the full amount of the price quoted 

 in the city market. 

 Marengo, 111. 



^ — • — ^ 



REPORT FROM DR. BLANTON. 



Friend Root: — The honey season for 1895 was 

 very discouraging. The spring was exceeding- 

 ly cold and backward, with much rainfall, and 

 the cold '• snaps " ran well into the month of 

 June. The month of May was quite dry; 

 June. July, and August excessively rainy. 

 Very little white-clover honey was gathered, 

 and most of the crop was quite dark, and of an 

 inferior quality. My sales were from 3i._. to 5c. 

 I rate the crop in this rich alluvial district at 

 one-third. I commenced the season with 183 

 colonies, spring count, and extracted 7075 lbs., 

 with a yield of 135 lbs. of wax, and closed the 

 season with 360 colonies. I had a large surplus 

 of comb honey in L. frames, as I did not extract 

 after August 15th. All the weak colonies I 

 supplied with comb honey enough to carry 

 them through the winter. I feel much discour- 

 aged, but will " pick my flint and try again," 

 and increase in the spring by dividing to 400 col- 

 onies, 200 in each apiary. 



From an experience of 25 years I obtain the 

 best results from a big hive— ten Langstroth 

 frames in the lower story and eleven in the 

 upper. 



I have acquired almost as good results from 

 20-frame one-story L. hives, but they are more 



