160 



GLEANII^GS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Mak. 



Among the appliances 



perature can be nicely 

 this the very beet way 

 will stick to it, probably 

 of Vermont does to the 

 pleasant visit and din 

 Rambler went on their 

 visit. 



in the honey-house was one 

 quite novel, for putting- 

 foundation into sections. 

 The foundation was cut a 

 suitable size, and put In by 

 headng the edges. It was 

 put upon the little stand 

 A, with an edge against 

 the sheet metal B. A lamp, 

 adjusted so as to keep the 

 edges at just the right 

 temperature, was placed in 

 front. You see, the tem- 

 controlled. Mr. B. thinks 

 to put in foundation, and 

 , as tight as the whole State 

 Kepublican party. After a 

 ner, genial John and the 

 way, both profited by their 

 Rambler. 



PASTURAGE AND OVERSTOCKING. 



READ AT THE WISCONSIN STATE BEE-KEEPERS' AS- 

 SOCIATION, FEBRUARY 5, 1890. 



I HAVE been booked to say something on this sub- 

 ject. That it is a subject of very great Importance, 

 all will admit— not so much to the keeper of a few 

 colonies who may keep them for recreation or ex- 

 periment, or to the farmer who may keep a few as 

 he does hens, as one of many Items to swell the 

 gross receipts. To such it is not of vital importance 

 that they fully understand, or stock to its full ca- 

 pacity the location they occupy, as they make but a 

 small effort, and are at but little expense. They 

 can stoically take what they get; and, not being de- 

 pendent on their bees for a living, they can accept 

 the results with composure. 



To the specialist it is different. If he embarks in 

 apiarian pursuits exclusively, it stands him in hand 

 to be well posted in all that relates to his field of 

 operations. He can not afford to make mistakes, 

 nor can he afford to share with others the field 

 he occupies. He should have, if possible, an undi- 

 vided field, with no bee-keeping neighbor nearer 

 than five miles. If he expects to have out-apiaries 

 he should have room to spread his yards from four 

 to six miles apart. If already living in and owning 

 such a place he is so far fortunate; if not, and bee- 

 keeping is to be his spet-ialty, it will pay him to 

 move even hundreds of miles, if neceesary, to find 

 a place adapted to his wants. It will not pay to 

 throw away good talents on a poor location. But 

 some will say, " This involves too much, if I have 

 to move to go into the bee-busJness, I will give it 

 up." 



This Is the point exactly. Few will take the trou- 

 ble. The result Is, there are but few specialists 

 who make a big thing of the business. The larger 

 part of the would-be bee-keepers, rather than take 

 the necessary trouble to provide themselves with 

 an unoccupied field, prefer to start In afield already 

 partially or wTioUy stocked, with some kind of a 

 vague notion in their minds that the bee-business 

 Is an affair of luck anyway. They do not seem to 

 grasp the fact that bee-forage is limited in all 

 places, and that, It the limit is passed, the profits 

 will cease to all concerned. 



HOW MANY COLONIES IN ONE PLACE. 



Here Is where doctors disagree. Mr. Heddon, a 

 great light in apiculture, has declared that he has 



never found a man capable of shedding one ray of 

 light on the subject. This is a sweeping assertion, 

 and not very flattering to those who have written 

 on the subject. I can not quite agree with Mr. 

 Heddon, for I think I have received a few rays and 

 a few pointers that are useful to me at least. 



To Illustrate, I will give a little of my experience. 

 For ten years I have had an out-aplary five miles 

 south, called the Sextonville apiary. I have kept 

 from 125 to 300 colonies there, spring count, and for 

 most of the time I have had an undivided field. It 

 has been a good location for early pollen, clover, 

 and basswood. As high as ~00 colonies would seem 

 to get plenty of early pollen, and do fairly well on 

 basswood and clover; but for fall flowers 201) was 

 far too many. A less number in as good location 

 made a far better average. 



For a few years past, other bee-yards have been 

 started In the vicinity of this yard, making the 

 number on the range about 300. The falling-ofl' in 

 the amount per colony has been very apparent. 

 Last year our receipts of basswood from the 200 col- 

 onies was 13,(100 lbs. with 300 colonies in the field— 

 an average of 66 pounds to the colony. We moved 

 from the home yard. 100 colonies to basswood tim- 

 ber. They gathered, in 17 days, 11,000 lbs., an aver- 

 age of 110 lbs. each, or 45 lbs. per colony in favor of a 

 location not overstocked. This is satisfactory evi- 

 dence to me that the Sextonville location was over- 

 stocked, and that the last ICO colonies added to the 

 range lessened the average yield from 100 lbs. per 

 colony to 65 lbs. This also shows the importance of 

 understanding the resources of our location; for If 

 a man can run 100 colonies with an average annual 

 yield of 100 pounds per colony, and on adding 50 

 colonies more he finds his annual yield per colony 

 TO pounds, he will get only 500 pounds of honey 

 for the capital invested, and care of the 50 colonies, 

 which would be very poor pay for the outlay. 



WHAT OUR BEE-MEN ARE DOING. 



It seems to be the aim of several of our most suc- 

 cessful bee-keepers to keep from 75 to 125 colonies 

 in a place. That locations vary greatly, all are 

 aware. Some locations are as capable of sustaining 

 200 colonies as others would be 50. We will describe 

 what we consider to be a good location for this 

 country. 



1. Near a creek or river bottom, where plenty of 

 alder, willow, and soft paaple grow to afford early 

 pollen, and near a good deal of pasture land con- 

 taining much white clover, and near a large body of 

 basswood timber; and if asters and other fall flow- 

 ers grow thick in the bottoms, and wild raspberry 

 on the hills, so much the better. If you have this 

 kind of place, or can get it, stick to it as long as you 

 can, for it will be a good place for bees. There are 

 some such places in Wisconsin and Minnesota, but 

 they are becoming rare. Where is the honey of 

 the future coming from? White clover seems to 

 promise the best of any one thing. It has many 

 points In its favor. 1. The honey is of fine quality, 

 and esteemed by a larger class than any other kind 

 of honey. 2. It grows over a larger area of the 

 United States than any other yielding plant, shrub, 

 or tree. 3. Its area is still on the Increase, and like- 

 ly to be for years to come. Basswood is a grand 

 ti-ee, and yields a fine honey, not equaled, to my 

 taste, by any thing in the way of honey, from hon- 

 ey-dew to white sage. The sight of a large bass- 

 wood forest in bloom, with the bees working on It, 

 is reviving to the eyes of a bee-keeper; but, alas'. 



