1890 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



207 



BEE-KEEPING IN WISCONSIN. 



A SUCCESSFUL AND AN OLD FOGY BEEKEEPER. 



As a great deal of attention has been paid to the 

 basswood regions of late, and especially those I3 ing 

 ir Southwestern Wisconsin, allow me to place be- 

 fore the readers of Gleanings a contrast between 

 two bee keepers lat least one was), whom the writer 

 visited while spending his vacation in that region 

 last summer, just after Uncle Amos had departed 

 from therewith his Kodak. Most of Gleanings 

 readers remember, I presume, the article from the 

 pen of Mr. M. A. Gill, page 6T1, 1888, concerning his 

 large yields of honey from basswood in Southwest 

 Wisconsin, so it is not necessary for me to intro- 

 duce him to you here. 



In the summer of J888 Mr. Gill and his family re- 

 sided in the South, he having then come to the con- 

 clusion that this was the oft-spoken-of Utopia; but 

 as experience is a good teacher, he has changed his 

 opinion of this fairyland, the South, and has come 

 to stay again in the valley of the Kickapoo, sur- 

 rounded by its peculiar sceneries and immense 

 basswood forests. 



In the spring of 1889 Mr. Gill started with 63 colo- 

 nies in Simplicity hives, running .■)! for extracted 

 and 11 for comb. When I was there, the last week 

 in August, he had taken 6300 pounds extracted and 

 1000 pounds comb honey— basswood, to be sure, and 

 for quality it was A 1 (not A. I.). 



On the 18th of June Mr. Gill started 50 two-frame 

 nuclei, and these worked with such a vigor that, 

 within two monlhs, Ihey had cast 19 swarms, be- 

 sides two swarms that had absconded to the woods. 

 From these nuclei he had taken 30(1 pounds comb 

 and 3.")0 pounds extracted, before the close of Au- 

 gust, with good prospects for more. Well, how is 

 that for basswood? 



But basswood is not the only resource of this re- 

 gion, for Mr. Gill showed me plenty of aster, bone- 

 set, and other honey-producing tlowers. He in- 

 formed me that the grounds in his vicinity were 

 completely carpeted with white clover; but as it 

 was very rainy and cold at that time, the bees and 

 Mr. Gill did not profit any thereby. 



Mr. G. arranges his hives in groups of four, with 

 the entrances of two of these facing east, we will 

 say, and the two opposite ones west, with a distance 

 between the hives sulBcient for a walk. Thus : 



M. A. gill's method OF ARRANGING HIVES AND 



ENTRANCES. 



The heavy dash lines indicate the entrances. 



Let me state that both Mr. and Mrs. Gill are very 

 pleasant people, and Mr. Gill is known almost 

 everywhere In this district for his large crops of 

 honey; but I think that it is not only the honey re- 

 sources of his locality that account for this, but the 

 love he seems to have for his vocation. Careful- 



ness, cleanliness, and business principles, were 

 among the things I noticed that he paid strict atten- 

 tion to. 



Now, if j'ou please, allow me to draw your at- 

 tention to the would-be bee-keeper, whose trade is 

 that of a blacksmith; but he tries (?) to keep an 

 apiary of about lUO colonies as a "side-show." 

 Jones, we will say his name is, resides in Wisconsin, 

 and he seems to enjoy very much practicing fogy- 

 ism and telling lies! He uses the American hive, 

 and, to put a second story on, the poor fellow has 

 to go to the trouble of calking and plastering ! His 

 style of doing things, and the way he procures his 

 honey— that is, what few pounds he does get, is 

 enough to make any one sick. Cleanliness and or- 

 der are objects of little or no value to him. How 

 can a man be successful who throws his empty 

 sections, frames, and other paraphernalia belong- 

 ing to the bee-keeper (all covered with propolis), 

 here, there, and everywhere, but never in its prop- 

 er place? He also uses old barrels, that aie fit only 

 to make kindling-wood of, to fill with honey ex- 

 tracted from the brood-chambers. 



Jones has the reputation, however, of being a 

 good but slow worker at the anvil, and is also 

 known for his big lies. 1 trust that no one of 

 Gleanings readers will envy his position, but rath- 

 er pity him, for he is getting to be old, and is evi- 

 dently very ignorant. 



May it be my sincere wish that every one who 

 reads this will profit by the contrast between these 

 two bee-keepers which has been pictured to you 

 by a— Chicago Bl)y. 



My good friend, we are very much obliged 

 indeed for the kind words you speak in re- 

 gard lo our old friend and subscriber M. A. 

 Gill ; but I confess I can not help feeling a 

 little bit pained in regard to your very se- 

 vere strictures on the blacksmith bee-keep- 

 er. Of course, I have no idea as to who he 

 is, and I really hope that the whole State of 

 Wisconsin does not contain even one such 

 as you describe. In summing up the evil 

 belonging to such a case as you mention, 

 please let us be sure that we do not fall into 

 another error in cultivating even just the 

 least bit of that spirit that " rejoices in ini- 

 quity." 



^ ■ — ■ 



INCREASE BY DIVIDING INSTEAD OF 

 BY NATURAL SW^ABMING. 



A CALIFORNIA BEE-KEEPER OF 200 COLONIES CON- 

 SIDERS IT MORE PROFITABLE. 



A SEASON of greater rainfall than the present, up 

 to date, has never been known in California. As 

 an abundance of rain properly distributed seems to 

 be about all that is necessary to insure a good hon- 

 ey-crop, we bee-men feci rather jubilant. We are 

 not out of the woods yet, however, as a drouth 

 from now on would spoil our prospects; but this is 

 very improbable. 



The bees are now beginning to raise brood, and 

 from now on they should be worked with constant- 

 ly, urging them to do their best in this respect. 

 My plan to do this is, first, to see that all have an 

 abundance of honey. I then go through them once 

 a week, if the weather permits, uncapping a little 

 honey and spreading the brood. In this way many 

 will be ready to divide by the l;">th of March, or as 

 soon as drones are flying. My preferred method of 

 dividing is to make nuclei; and when they have lay- 



