1875 



ULEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



shallow frames ; keeping bees warm, and keeping them 

 "f^old ; outdoor and indoor wintering; liorizontal and 

 two-story hives, etc,, etc., are all most ably defendeil, 

 and then in ihc next as stoutly denounced. These let- 

 ters, nearly all of them, richly merit a place in these 

 rages. Wlial shall we do? SVill it not bo as well to 

 advise von to go home and go to work, each on his 

 ■"own iH't iirineiple:-'" when you can secure such croi)s 

 as Harbison, (irimin. Hetherington, and his neighbors, 

 we will publish your letters with jileasure. In the 

 ineanlime ?re kmlir vou will excuse us for niakinu' you 

 give place to the following letters. Wont you :■' 



BEAU Mr. Editor of "Glkanings":— The object 

 of mv addressing these lines is to inform you 

 that hiy sister, Maggie ami 1, have become bee- 

 keepers on oiir own account. I'erhajjs it has been 

 known to vou before that neither my sister nor I live 

 •with our dear jKipa in Jefl'erson, anymore. It was in 

 the year 1874 that we both came to Green Bay to start 

 n new home with our kim.l husbJinds. 



After expressing our desire to try bee-keeping, fath- 

 er sent us. in the month of May, 1874, 17 colonies, 

 which arrived here safely, and we found them all in a 

 fair condition. We placed them in their permanent 

 locations in the rear part of the lots on which our 

 <lwelliug houses are situated, which we found to be 

 much more convenient than to kee)) them away from 

 home, since we both attend to our household attairs 

 without anv help. 



We feel hai>py to t«ll you that our husbands were 

 •well pleased with our new undertaking, and helped us 

 •;dl they could when their business would allow it. We 

 <^lid not intend to increase our bees to more than 25 

 colonies, so we examined them all closely each week 

 >ind disturbed the ijueeu cells of those w'hich we did 

 not consider loo strong for one colony. We put boxes 

 wn some of them, anil others we workeil witii the ex- 

 tractor. Our expectations were indeed very small, 

 .since other bee-keepers here had very poor success 

 lor a number of years, but now please hear of our re- 

 sult. 



We extracted (iOO j)ouuds of nice white honey, and 

 took 3uu pounds more in caps. Extracted honey sold 

 4or "JO to i") cents per pound, and cap honey for 25 cents 

 l)er pound, gross ; in short, the honey we sold came to 

 $190, and we have enough left for our owu use. Our 

 expenses were only ^W, as our father was kind enough 

 to send us the hives, boxes and double hives for tne 

 •whole season. It left us SlCO, or fiso for each. We feel 

 greatly encouraged with such a success, and intend to 

 increase our stocks as much as we safely can another 

 year. 



Our bees winter well so far. They are quietly en- 

 joying their winter sleep, and we are all anxiously 

 waiting lor the warm sun of spring, when we can hear 

 our little bees humming around us again. 



Mas. H. GiESKLKK, nee Katie Guim.m, 



Green Bav, Wis., Dec. 22d, 1874. 



KEPOKT FKOM CAFT. SIETHJEKINGTOW 



I rpi::?SRS. A. I. ROOT & CO.:-Your letter asking 

 Vq! for a report of my present seasons' honey 

 •*!* crop duly received." I take pleasure in comply- 

 ing Willi your request. A part of my bees are manag- 

 ed by others. Total amount of honej' made by bees 

 managed by myself, box, 19,907 lbs., extracted, 3,150. 

 This was Irom 284 stocks in the si)ring, increased to 

 ;i70 in the fall. Total from stocks managed by others, 

 427 in the spring, increased to (J77 stocks in the fall; 

 box 22,701, extracted 11,717 ; making in all, from (i(jl 

 ttocks in the spring increased by lall to 1,047, total 

 box honey 42,(508 lbs., total extracted 14,867 lbs., grand 

 total 57.475 lbs. 1 now have in winter quarters 1,172 

 .stocks, in good condition. We have added to our num- 

 ber this fall by purchase. We use the Quinby hive 

 mostly, the fe'wlhat are not are made of straw, made 

 .-^o as io box convenientlv. J. E. Hetukkington. 

 Cherry \'alley. N. Y., Dec. 18th, 1874. 



REPORT FIfiOIW P. H. EEWOOD. 



Also SOJIETIIIKG ABOUT iMETALCOKNEllS,* Q. HIVES. 



B^f'iRIEXD XOVIOE :— We commenced the season of 

 PfJ^ 1874 with 175 colonies. One-half were in /air 

 %^ condition, the remainder «ere weak. Nearly 

 iO lost Iheir queens before the 1st of June. The spring 

 was so severe, th(! 1st of 3Iay being one of stormy 

 winter, that we put 10 of our weakest swarms into 

 lamp nurseries. Although successful in rearing brooil 



in these, we have since concluded that there is a bet- 

 ter and easier way. \V(> are not converts to the cfild- 

 frunu^ S3 .stem for "winter, and tldnk bees should be ke|)t 

 jierfcctly (pilet during cold weather, and that stimu- 

 lating for brood rearing should \iot commence until 

 settled warm weather in [in- spring, when a whole 

 hiv(! full of brood may be reared at a less cost of ))ees. 

 than a few s<|uare inches earlier in the season. Ami 

 tlu^ direct ravs of the sun, we think, may be so used as 

 to furnish all the stimulating necessary. A y(!ar ago 

 last sprinj; I bought a fine lot of bees that had been 

 buried in the ground six months, A montli lat<'r they 

 were as strong as when set out, because the weather 

 being warm, they were able to care for a large amount 

 of brood, and for every old bee used up a young fine 

 was readv to take its ])lace. Problem: How fast do 

 colonies increase in strength, when for every bee rear- 

 ed two others lay down their lives ? 



The fore part of the season was very wet and there 

 was veri/ little white clover honey gathered. Basswood 

 vielded well, but with considerable dad wgather. 

 IJuckwheat was a failure, so our surplus was nearly 

 all basswood. Our strong swarms gave about 100 lbs. 

 when boxed, or 200 lbs. if extracted. The following 

 ligures show quality and price at railroad station : 



4,929 lbs. white, 2 comb box at 28c. gross, Sl,277.ti0 

 2,230 " mixed, "• " 20c. " 440.00 



9,900 " extracted, 15c. 148.50 



$1872.10 



Total 17,050. 



Some of the extracted was sold at home. 



The total would have figured up at least .500 lbs. more 

 before feeding to till up piece boxes. We have put up 

 during the last three years over four tons of extracted 

 honey in glass fruit jars, and when sealed up at a tem- 

 l)erature ot from 140° to 150° liave had no complaints of 

 candying. There is no excuse for doctoring honey to 

 prevent granulation and such a proposition ought'not 

 to have been entertained by a nationalconvention of 

 bee-keepers. (Conlimtcd y'ext Month.) 



CAEIFORIVIA. 



LETTER FKOM J. S. HARBISON, TO 

 G. F. ME RIM AM. TOPEKA, KAN. 



Newcastle. Pa. Nov. 28th. 1874. 



BEAR SIR :— Yours of Nov. 9tli, has been for ward- 

 ) ed to me here. I have been East for some 

 weeks and will remain for some time yet. 



In reply to jour enquiries, would say that California 

 ofl'ers very fair inducements for ])ermanent homes but 

 it takes both Capital, time and much labor, to secure 

 or make such a home as we find in the Eastei-n or even 

 Western Stfttes. There is good "raw material" out of 

 ■which to hew homes. You ask me to name some 

 points that I deem favorable for getting locations. If 

 jdenty of capital I would name Almeda, Santa Clara, 

 or Napa Counties as being near San Francisco, and 

 ofl'ering all the advantages of markets etc. They arc 

 very ciioice Counties for fruit etc.. bitt only fair for 

 bee-keeping. For cheap and good lands I am not well 

 posted, but have heard Merced, Stanislaus ami Inyo 

 Counties named as being good places to settle, etc. 



For some tropical fruits Los Angelos, Santa Barba- 

 ra, and San Bernardino Counties are being filled up 

 quite raiiidly. These counties are good for bee raising. 

 San Diego i.-, also a good county for bees but the most 

 desirable ranges are now occupied and at a very early 

 date the business will be overdone, I mean overstock- 

 ed. I went there when there were no bees in the Co. 

 but my opperations attracted the attention of the pub- 

 lic and general rush has been the result ; loss to many 

 will sui'ely follow. There are as good ranges for bees 

 in the above counties as in San Diego. The bee belt 

 is very narrow, extending along the granite range of 

 mountains, back a distance of from 20 to 35 miles from 

 the Ocean. Thus every thing has to be hauled, both 

 supplies etc., as well as product. Then it is a most 

 lonesome life to be isolated, miles away from any 

 neighbors in the deep gorges or canons in the moun- 

 tains. It is costly as well, and to reside thus with fam- 

 ilies is not agreeable, particularly to families. 



A very busy business and a toilsome one is success- 

 ful bee-keeping in California. The story of 500 lbs. 

 l)er hive, is jierhaps true of an isolated case; 50 lbs. 

 of good marketable honey is a large average of the 

 general run of Aidaries. " I have done much better it 

 is true, but the secret is I have a set of trained men 

 and work with ample ca))ital and thus am able to 

 make a fair jirofit where those new to tlie business 

 (and all are lu'w who have not had a training in Cali- 

 fornia) could not make bee-keeping iiay. I would be 

 glail to b(! able to ^ive you more (U'llinili! information, 

 but I have traveled so Tittle in Calilornia that I have 

 to give you some hearsay as well as a little experience. 



