ISTf). 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



iZ 



i\iu\ all is ready. It will be ?een that I use the LaiiR- 

 j-lrotli hive, asa portico is very necessary to give good 

 M'litilation. :Mr. Aiiam (Jrlmm tells nio" that he has 

 \ct to lose the livst swarm shipped in lliis way. 



Kr.WIN .STANIIOl'K. 



r. S.— Wo iiro))ose to blow our bugle some, alter ex- 

 I erimciiting, in relerence to ripening honey alter ex- 

 ti acting. 



Pentwater, Mich. Mareli .'Jth, '75. 



Now, althoujih we should be sorry to a«lvise 

 -any thiiij? that iiiiiiht result in loss, we really 

 think the bottom stick inifjlit be dispensed 

 with, and we should thus avoid stirring the 

 •"oees up, just before shipping. With the Sim- 

 plicity hives, we should Ihen have simply to 

 put old newspapers uiukr the cover until, when 

 forced down, it would press the quilt firmly on 

 top of the frames ; the liive can then be turned 

 over like an old box hive, and after the bees 

 4ire driven down among the combs by smoke, a 

 piece of wire cloth can be put over the bottom, 

 or for short dislancts, a piece of cotton cloth 

 onlj'. If the wire cloth be used it will be but 

 a short job to put a long tack through it into 

 -each of the 10 frames, and we would then 

 transport them inverted. One great reason 

 >vhy we would avoid taking the combs out 

 i)efore shipping, is that the bees always have 

 little braces of wax from one comb to the next, 

 these are so slight that when the metal cor- 

 ners are used, they break otf with scarcely a 

 jar, yet when all are in the hive undisturbed, 

 they hold the combs in place with considerable 

 force. In carrying our hives in, in the fall, the 

 combs never slip about unless in a hive that 

 iias just been opened, and we have carried such 

 hives, several times, in lumber wagons salely, 

 with no other fastening of the combs. When 

 the colony is small, combs outside of the clus- 

 ter of bees, are frequently found so loose as to 

 rattle about. 



Tell us by all means, friend S. how you suc- 

 ceed in the artificial ripening. Our family are 

 well aware that almost all extracted honey is 

 much improved by being kept for a few days 

 on the reservoir, or in the back oven of our 

 Stewart stove ; indeed a neighbor who visited 

 at our house insisted that the honey we used 

 on our table was not like that we sold "% any 

 mams (' aiK\ nU in the world that made the 

 difl'erence was, Mrs. N. had evaporated it down 

 to have it extra nice and thick for "company." 



You ask in Jan. No. it it was not my own fault that 

 4.T swarms did not give more than t>:jO lbs. honey. 

 "NVell, you be judge and jury. I will state some facts. 

 ] am a larmer, cultivate ](XJ acres and hire one man 

 jibout seven months in the year. Have a variety of 

 iiuits. Faim well stocked with horses, cattle and 

 liogs, which demand care. In IStiG one year after re- 

 turning Irom the at my, from 12 old stocks with 



the increase I received in cash 8146.26 



Expenditures $41.60 



In 1867 1)1 93.03 Inl867Cr 202.37 



" 1868 "to hives.. 54,95 " 1868 " 19.68 



" 18t;9 " 18.39 " 1869 " 429.30 



" 1870 " to hives. 234.00 " 1870 " 409..39 



" 1871 " 7.25 " 1871 " 458.96 



*' 1872 " to h' b'x's 89.C0 " 1)^72 " 247.20 



" 1873 " 13.08 " 1873 " 208.73 



S551.30 82121.81 



Leaving a iialance on Cr. side 1570.51 



after paying all expenses. Not counting my own time 

 or homy used in the family. Have some" honey on 

 hand. Will run behind this season as I built a repos- 

 itory l(;x2(i, costing S2(!i.(;8. 



Now to your <iuestions. The spring of 1874 I took 

 Jrora my cellar 24 swarms, all that I had. I use exclu- 

 sively ilie I. angstrotli hives. Tlie spring being cold 

 and wet their ranks 'were thinned out rapidly. Two 

 were lost leaving but 22. I increased Iheni artificially 

 lo 45. All housed in fair condition. 



Since writing above, have closed out nearly all of 

 my honey, and And the footing beyond my expecta- 

 tions, was much de<n;ived in tiio amount in untiuislied 

 boxes. Honey sold in 1874 for S163.ll. 



WiL UiAM TitovKK, Annawan, Illb. 



Bees did well last winter; "wintereil" 60 in house 

 and 1 on su ninier stand, and "springcd" the same 

 number, with the loss ot onlij (me. 



J. .S. W<)OI)1u;kn, Dickinson, Pa. May 7lh, '75. 



Right glad are we to hear it friend W. \V hen 

 those who have suflered, are beginning to .-^eiid 

 in reports like the above, we can begin to take 

 courage. 



I wish to have your advice about the iiest way to 

 get the most extracted honey. My irames aif the 

 same length as the Langstroth and 12 inches deep. 

 Would you put 20 of them crosswise of the hive as vou 

 do with Standard hivesj or woulti it be as well to make 

 tlic hive ot double width with 20 Irames ? 1 do not, 

 like the double story hives. Wm. Koisekts. 



Vaughnsville, Putnam Co., O. May 8th, '75. 



As Hi such Irames will give as much surface 

 as 20 of the L., we would not want to use so 

 deep a frame, two stories high. And as a hive 

 for 16 frames need be only 25 inches in width 

 outside, the combs can be handled very conve- 

 niently providing we can have room to stand 

 on either side in lifting them out; accordingly 

 we would have the entrance face the south, 

 and let the bees go out directly under the low- 

 er bar of the grape vine trellis that shades the 

 hive; and to have the cover out of the way, 

 we would hinge it to the front end that it 

 might when open, rest against the trellis. 



Our honey season is very late but my bees wintered 

 well in cellar and are much stronger than when I set 

 them out. I like the "New Idea Hive." 



O. S. Bal lard, M alone, N . Y. May 10th, '75. 



I have lately taken charge of 12 box hives for a far- 

 mer. Now 1 would ask a favor. I am to take said 

 hives, transfer them to movable comb hives, do all the 

 work, and furnish every thing. What will be fair tor 

 each party to receive Irom increase of stock and sur- 

 plus honey ? Not knowing how to make a fair contract 

 we agreed to submit the matter to Ed's of Gleanings. 

 Reinharu !»tehle. Marietta, O. May 11th, '75. 



As a general thing, we are opposed to either 

 taking or letting bees on shares, because it has 

 so olten resulted in dissatisfaction or liard 

 feelings on one or both sides. In the above 

 case our friend is going to start an Apiary, 

 which will be all his own for all time to come, 

 slioukl he purchase outright in the beginning, 

 these 13 colonies in box hives, worth now ]ier- 

 haps from 50 to |75.00. The 13 hives allowed to 

 stand as they are now, would be worth per- 

 haps no more another spring than now, yet 

 our friend, if he is skilful, could during the 

 season, transfer and Italianize them, and without do- 

 ing more than is usual increase the value of them and 

 their produce to— say he doubles them and gets 25 lbs. 

 of honey per colony— perhaps S350.00. To do this he 

 need only work at them on an average ol one hour per 

 day for six months, say 15 days in all, wortli |25.(iO ; 25 

 good hives, (one story) will cost complete about S50.00. 

 Now here is a clear profit of $200.00 alter deducting 75 

 for the original stock. How shall we divide it.* It we 

 ^ve the farmer one-half, it would be an excellent idea 

 lor every farmer in the land to get a dozen colonies of 

 bees, and let them out, jmnidng he could winter them ; 

 and we really don't know but he should have half if 

 he can get tliem through the winter in gooil condition. 

 If our skilful Apiarist cannot afl'ord to give so much, 

 then he should buy his own bees. The only difticultj- 

 in making the above result, is to get 12 strong colonies 

 in May, and we believe the result if the extractor be 

 used, will be rather above than below our estimate. 

 As 6 colonies of Italians in frame liives, are well 

 worth 12 like the original stock, we would suggest that 

 an invoice of all be taken at the beginning and close 

 of the season, the farmer receiving bees equivalent in 

 value to his original stock and half the net )'rofit in 

 the fall— thus taking all the risk of loss in wintering— 

 and returning good strong colonies in Maj- to bo 

 worked on shares as before. 



