Ai'Rir., 1918 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



FROM THE FIELD OF EXPERIENCE 



farnieis had so plowed up their land for cul- 

 tivating crops that I could not help wonder- 

 ing where the honey could possibly come 

 from. There is a little basswood, a few red 

 ras[)berries, and here and there a buckwheat 

 field, all of which yielded very little last 

 year. There was also an abundance of fall 

 tiowers that generally yield more or less. 



AVhen the time and conditions came right, 

 T dequeened my colonies as usual and had 

 them requeened again, with everything in the 

 best condition for the fall flow that failed to 

 materialize. I had increased 15 colonies in 

 each of my apiaries and had hundreds of 

 ]iartly filled combs of early honey on all of 

 my increase and weak colonies- Instead of 

 getting these combs filled in the fall for ex- 

 tracting, as I could have done in any ordi- 

 nary season, they were nearly empty on ac- 

 count of excessive brood rearing. By care- 

 ful manipulation I was able to winter 150 

 colonies in all. These were supplied with suf- 

 ficient stores so that it was not necessary to 

 feed them. 



My 1917 crop brought me $1,100, the colo- 

 nies run for section honey averaging 50 

 pounds per colony. I had a large amount of 

 light weight and unfinished honey this year 

 that I sold to the home trade. Nearly $300 

 worth of this honey was sold from my home 

 in the country, nine miles from a railroad 

 station. It brings me nearly as much in case 

 lots as I get for the best honey. I seldom 

 sell less than a 12-section case or a 10-pound 

 pail to a customer, and it is my policy to dis- 

 courage the sale of smaller packages. 



Sand Lake, Mich. Mrs. S. Wilbur Frey. 



THAT LET-ALONE HIVE IDEA 



Even Mr. Latham Would Not Recommend It as 

 Practical 



In the March number you have an article 

 on "The Let-alone Hive Idea" that I feel 

 ought not to pass unnoticed, or go to the A. 

 B. C. class without protest. 



In the first place, you call it "a new plan." 

 But I don 't see that it is very much different 

 from what I have seen practiced by the farm- 

 er beekeepers for the last 40 years. Nearly 

 all have what I call immovable frames; 

 some have large hives and some have small; 

 but there is a remarkable uniformity about 

 results, which can usually be expressed in one 

 figure, thus: O. If by any chance one of these 

 fellows gets a single super filled with honey 

 in dirty, travel-stained sections, he is de- 

 lighted, for, of course, it was unexpected as 

 well as undeserved. 



By the way while you are illustrating slip- 

 shod methods, you ought to take a snap shot 

 of one of these chaps taking off his honey, 

 sweltering in overcoat and mittens, his face 

 tied up with a good warm veil, etc. It would 



bring down the house all right, for it's more 

 fun for the spectators than a box of monkeys. 



I just had a call a few days ago, from an 

 old friend of mine who is a medical mission- 

 ary in darkest Africa. He describes the 

 method of the natives which he calls crude. 

 They use cylindrical hives made of bark, with 

 a disc of wood in each end. They get the 

 honey by removing a disc and blowing in 

 smoke, and then cutting out a part of the 

 honey. The disc is then replaced and the bees 

 fill the hive again. Sounds very much like 

 the method of our Connecticut friend. 



But there is another point that should not 

 be lost sight of. Any plan that results in a 

 waste of food is unpatriotic at this time. 

 The United States Government is requesting 

 all food producers to speed up production and 

 suggesting that competent beekeepers should 

 buy or otherwise obtain control of any bees 

 in their vicinity that are being neglected. 

 Of course, it goes without saying that bees 

 that are allowed to raise unlimited drones 

 and are only visited once a year are neglect- 

 ed. For my part, I have always tried to en- 

 courage good beekeeping and discourage the 

 opposite. Neglected bees not only are of lit- 

 tle or no profit to the owner, but they are 

 a constant menace to good beekeeping, as 

 they may become rotten with disease and 

 infect the whole neighborhood. 



As to the non-swarming feature, there is no 

 evidence given in your article that would be 

 taken in any court of law to prove that there 

 had been no swarms or might not be in a 

 season when there is swarming from ordinary 

 hives. Anyway, I am willing to go on rec- 

 ord as saying that merely to give plenty of 

 vacant space, with no drawn comb or founda- 

 tion, may delay, but will not prevent, swarm- 

 ing in this part of the country, at least. 



In conclusion, I would say to the A. B. C. 

 class: our Editor should not be taken too 

 literally, as he is a very unusual man, as you 

 will see by referring to pages 163-4 in the 

 March number, where one of the department 

 editors gives a word picture of him. Besides, 

 he was in an unusually good humor when he 

 saw Mr. Latham's "let-alone hives," for 

 that man (of the land of wooden nutmegs) 

 had craftily filled him up with slapjacks. 

 Nuff sed. But, as for me — well, I didn 't get 

 any of those slapjacks so I just sized him up 

 as " shoost a poor teufel of a schoolmaster 

 dot vorks for notting and poards around." 



Oberlin, O. Chalon Fowls. 



[Mr". Latham himself, on Feb. 12, upon re- 

 ceiving a proof of the article on "The Let- 

 alone Hive Idea," wrote some comment on 

 it that would have appeared as a footnote 

 to the article in question had his letter not 

 arrived too late for publication in the March 

 number. In this letter to the Editor he said: 

 "Yes, you have used some poetic license. In 

 the main, the facts are as you have stated." 

 Then Mr. Latham asked that the following 



