208 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Mar. 



ing' queens, build them up with combs of hatching 

 brood. As it is desirable to get early as many lay- 

 ing queens as Increase is wanted, I always make 

 enough more nuclei so that, after the usual propor- 

 tion of queens is lost, there will be as many as 1 

 wish increase. For instance, I have about 350 

 stocks. I hope to have 400 by the first of May, or an 

 increase of 150. To insure getting that number of 

 laying queens I make about 180 nuclei. The nuclei 

 which fail in getting queens are then united to 

 some other. By the forcing process through which 

 the bees have been put, it is easy to select the poor 

 queens. These I kill, and the stock is divided up 

 into as many nuclei as its strength permits of. It is 

 from this source that most of my nuclei are made. Of 

 course, I alwai's give them queen-cells which have 

 been made in strong colonies. I shall raise my cells 

 this year a la Doolittle. The first principle in divid- 

 ing is, never to so weaken a stock having a prolific 

 queen as to restrict the laying of that queen. By 

 observing this rule, all stocks which had good queens 

 in the spring will be overflowing with bees at the 

 advent of the honey-season, May 1.5, while the nu- 

 clei made in March and fore part of April will be 

 ready for business by June Ist to 10th, and will do 

 good work from then on to the close of the honey 

 season, July 10th, generally. According to my ex- 

 perience I make about one-fourth more honey by 

 this way of managing than when bees are left to in- 

 crease at their own sweet will. 



I have a suggestion to offer in answer to the 

 question, " What shall the bee-man do to occupy 

 his time during the winter?" It you live in Cali- 

 fornia or the Gulf States, where it is imperative to 

 be with one's bees only from March to August, why 

 not start an apiary in Cuba, and run bees down 

 there from November to March ? There being no 

 severe winters to contend with in either country, 

 to insure finding the bees on coming back it is only 

 necessary to have plenty of honey in the hives. 

 The man who tries this must not be handicapped 

 with wife and bairns, as traveling expenses would 

 swamp him. Wm. G. Hewes. 



Newhall, Cal., Jan. 28. 



RETAILING HONEY. 



HOW TO MAKE IT GO LIKE HOT CAKES. 



I WILL give my way of selling extracted honey. It 

 may do some one some good who lives in towns 

 large enough to sell honey. Knowing that Jack- 

 son, a town of 29,000 inhabitants, has never con- 

 sumed more than a very little extracted honey, for 

 the reason it never has been put on the market in 

 the right shape, and but a very little in any shape, 

 I made up my mind to see what I could do in the 

 line of selling. Having but little extracted honey 

 of my own I thought I could help some other bee- 

 keeper out with his honey. I put a little adver- 

 tisement into the Exchange Department of Glean- 

 ings, to exchange supplies for extracted honey. 

 You may be sure this brought chances enough to 

 get honey. As soon as any honey came I com- 

 menced to buy two-quart pails. I got them for 65 

 cts. per dozen. I filled them, and started out. Well, 

 you would be surprised to sf e them go. I found I 

 could sell two to three dozen of these pails in two 

 or three hours. I live on my farm four miles from 

 the city. After doing my chores I would reach the 

 city about 10 A. M.; then I would get sold^out^by 



1 p. M. Then I would get more pails, and start 

 home to fill them. I put iK lbs. of honey into the 

 pail, which weighed i4 lb. This makes 5 lbs. I sell 

 pail and honey for 50 cts. In this way I shall sell 

 8000 lbs. this winter in Jackson, and I haven't spent 

 half the time in selling honey. This educates the 

 people to eat honey. Some families bought four or 

 five pails. When I am in town the people know me 

 as the " honey-man," and run after me for more. 

 The honey cost me about 8 cts. per lb. Any of you 

 living in a city can dispose of your crop, and sell 

 some for your brother bee-keepers this way. Al- 

 ways use a large label, and be sure your honey is 

 pure. Then it will go like hot cakes. 

 Jackson, Mich., Feb. 10. W. D. Soper. 



I am glad to hear of the success you have 

 made, friend S.; and judging from the quan- 

 tity of tin pails we are selling, I think it 

 quite likely that in many towns, especially 

 where honey has been sold in that way, 

 there is a great opening to the enterprising 

 bee-keeper. 



^ I ^ 



COMPABATIVE HESULTS WITH THICK 

 AND THIN TOP-BARS. 



are bdrk-combs the result of improper top- 

 bars? 



I wish to speak in favor of thick top-bars. I am 

 at present using both. I started bee-keeping, 

 about eight j'ears ago, with 'a -inch square top-bars 

 (with one lower corner sawed nearly out to facili- 

 tate fastening foundation); but having no real rea- 

 son for using them made that way, I began making 

 them shallow (two years ago), more, I suppose, to 

 be like other progressive bee-keepers. Since I 

 have them both in my bee-yard I could not account 

 for brace-combs in some of my hives and not in 

 others. If I put on a super with sections it was fast- 

 ened tight with burr-combs; if I put on a honey- 

 board under the super, the honey-board would be 

 fastened just the same; but underneath the super 

 it would be fairly free from burr-combs. As re- 

 gards the hives that contained the thick top-bars, 

 I can not recall one instance where burr-combs 

 were troublesome when a proper bee-space was 

 maintained, and I have used them with and with- 

 out honey-boards. I think, also, that i's or Vi inch 

 top-bars are not stiff enough without a comb-guide 

 for heavy combs of brood and honey. Even if they 

 bend but a trifle it affects the shape of the cells and 

 injures the brood. The bees notice this sagging 

 where we would not, and immediately set to work 

 to strengthen the combs with brace and burr- 

 combs. 



brood-frames flush with the top of the 

 hive. 



I see that you find fault with brood-frames that 

 come up flush with the top of the hive, on account 

 of killing bees, etc. Why not have the bee-space on 

 the under side of the cover formed by strips % inch 

 square? I am using covers so made, and find I am 

 not liable to mash half as many bees as when the 

 bee-space is on the top of the hive, with the cover 

 resting on a Jsi-inch (instead of a |-inch surface) 

 edge of hive. Then, again, the quilt can be more 

 neatly and quickly applied when the whole surface 

 is level. Again, if the frames come flush with the 

 top of the hive, we must have the bee-space on the 

 bottom of the super admitting of the T tins being 

 inverted; but I have for the last three years used 



