f^^ 



GLEAI^INGS IN BEE CUTiTUltE. 



As we now Icjok out of the car wiiulDw at the 

 .thvwoed iil'tcr it liasgoiu' to seed, it soonis tUui 

 thousands upon th<.>usauils of colonics might 

 ;irosi)cr ill the wild hiiids of Michiiriiii. Who 

 will Uei'clop th,'s <ri\-dX iiulustrv V Empty 

 "Combs in liiis region would be uf immense val- 

 ue, .juilging JVom the way in which tjje combs 

 tire all bulged out with honey. 



21,v/. ./*. . I/.— Called oix Mi: !.,.(". Whiting, 

 Saginaw. 8aw a hive that has alread^y given 

 'Wo /n/Mib-ed <ind iwi-niy lbs. box hone^', antl j'ct 

 more than 40 lbs. are on it now, j-eady to be rc- 

 jiioved, and tlie sojue hive has given 50 lbs. ex- 

 tracted, besides furnisJiing frames of lu'ood for 

 •111 artificial colony. Although in the citv-, his 

 'l)ees ai'cyet building beautiful, whit/c coml)and 

 -billing it with tlii.s saiiKs white, lire weed honey. 



'i'^lhd. — During;! spare half hour we visited 

 the grocers of Saginaw. Comb honey sells for 

 from "iT) to iiOc, and no really nice lioney was to 

 l)e found. The bo.xes orseclions were all dark 

 tind covered with propolis, which can all be 

 -I voided if the bees are kept fron.i the outside of 

 them. Tlie Harbison section, or soiucthing 

 like it, can be put in market looking as clean 

 ;uul bright as when it fir,-t leaves the buzz .saw. 

 Vou can select very white lumt)er for them, 

 make them thin, and always sell them with tlie 

 iioney ; never take tliem back to be retilled, — 

 the}' cost le-ss than Ic.each. The grocers — no- 

 wheix? did we iind extracted at les.s than 2oc., 

 -ind it was not neatly put up. Our marble ta- 

 ble, we think, would do a thriving ])usinoss in 

 «ucli a city. Perriue's honey, dark and untidy, 

 was found all around at tiie usual prices, but 

 it was a drug, as it deserves to be. 



By the way, why cannot all dealers be plefis- 

 ant y One man seemed to get nnidat everything 

 we could say in regard to liouey, — that allho' 

 iie had sold several tons at '^oc, could buy all 

 l\<i wanted at 15, would not give 2U for the lin- 

 <L^t that ever was, and held a clironic bitterness 

 toward all bee-keepers. Otliers talked in a 

 friendly- way, and seemed to feel that producer 

 and retailer niigJit, nay, sJiouhl have a friendly 

 interest in each other's occupations even if 

 prices do now and tlien liuctuate unpleasantly. 



'i'Ard. — We liave been more pleased than we 

 ■an tell, with our visit to the College Farm at 

 Ijausiii.g, and we >-hall always feel undrr obli- 

 gations to our friend Cook (Prof, of Entomolo- 

 gy) for tlie many courtesies shown us. Altho' 

 the College Apiary "petered out" entirely last 

 winter, througli, we suppose, putting a dozen 

 stocks in a bee-house tliat was not proof 

 against ;^1 degrees below zero ; they started in 

 the spring by purchasing <^w colonies, and these 

 iiave been increased to eight good ones besides 

 turnishlug honev that was sold to the amount 

 of $80.00, (iJilO.OO more than cost of original 

 stock,) and more is to be taken from them. As 

 IJee Culture is one oi the branches taught, we 

 iiad the privilege of talking to the students, 

 and we can earnestly pray that more of the 

 young men of our country may l)e induced to 

 clioose the pursuit of Agriculture for a liveli- 

 iiood.as have the 150 (about tiiat number) intel- 

 ligent, attentive, and pleasant faced students 

 tliat were gathered before us. ^Ve do not see 

 how (iny one who has auy idea of irorking for 

 a living, can help catching the enthusia.sm that 

 seems to pervade e\-ery depai-tment, from the 



beautiful greenhouses, all the way chiwn to the 



hog-pens. Prof. C. gave us the following ileui • 



Mrs. liaJvcr of Lansing, — by the way. this lady 



is the wife of Col. Baker <n the Booth iragedy, 



I — commenced last season with two '-oloiiies, 



I and the same season increa.sfd tliem Uj eight, 



j and sold lioney t<i> several times tlic vahnjoftJsf 



original stock, this too, alone and unaidcfl, save 



by the«r/';/<v of Prof. Cook. 



Tliis afternoon we, in oonnjiany »vith tJjc 

 Prof., had a most interesting visit with our old 

 friend and sut)scril>er, John L. Davis, of J>elJii. 

 j\Ir. D. has this season increased o!) stocks to 

 K>0, and has about 2^500 lbs. comb luniey, and 

 1000 extracted. Says lie couUl have .secured 

 nearly twice as much, had he given them prop- 

 er attention. Thinks about 5 limes as much 

 extracted, as comb honey can be secured when 

 properly managed. Mr. D. has kept l)ees suc- 

 cessfully for 40 years, and has never hail any 

 losses by wintering wortii mentioning. IIi> 

 ideas are substantuiUy the same as our own. 

 For particulars, see his coutributioius in our 

 back volumes. 



24/!//.— Visited James Bolia's Apiary. It is 

 really a miniature city with its 150 neatly 

 painted hives, pretty bee house, tasty thnver 

 garden and grape vines. His report will be 

 found elsewhere. "We also visited the Apiary 

 of Dr. Kubard, Mr. Scothorn and Mr. Heater, 

 of 1^'lat Hock, Seneca Co., O. The latter looks 

 fair, but as all three of thes'; Apiaries have 

 have been much increased, and some of them 

 by novices, they have but little surplu.s to re- 

 port. We don't want to see any more l)ets or 

 lioue}' just now, we want to see all the ""dear 

 ones at hom<?," and home we have started on 

 a bee line, — but wait a minute, — our triji to 

 Mich, lias not been a selected one. it w;is a 

 random route so far as bee-keepers were con- 

 cerned. We only called on those whose atl* 

 dresses we could remember, having no list of 

 them. There are hundreds of Just such suc- 

 cesses, — is not IVh". Heddon answered '/ 



One more item : nearly all we called on apol- 

 ogised for not having lines in better oriler, — 

 didn't expect us, etc. Had we better not tell 

 you all to constantly expect us? 



P. S. — We pulled hives all to pieces nearly 

 everywhere we went, iiseil no sinoke or vail, 

 and have not been stung since vyc left home, — 

 others were,— no credit due us, for nearly all 

 our friends tiehave very badly when the bees 

 begin to look into their countenances. Besides 

 they don't dig the grass up liektre the hives, 

 and .stand them level and hexagonally, at least 

 very few of them do. Homkw.\u;d. 



P. S. No. 2.— \Ve haven't seen one well made 

 nicely littiug quilt since leaving home. 



25//>.— Didn't sleep in the cars lid night, 

 hence were in tine trim to scramble among the 

 rocks, before breakfast, at the liiKs in Elyria. 

 Felt so much refreshed that we went through 

 the groceries in pursuit of honey again. This 

 town is almost destitute of honey, and all we 

 could find in the comb, was a panful in a show 

 window, that our readers, we think, would be 

 careful to keep out of siirht. Quart jars of ex- 

 tracted retail for 00c. \\ hy do not hotels use 

 lioney V Although we have found all the del- 

 icacies of the season on the tables of our large, 

 city hotels, yet we have failed to find a liit of 

 honey of any kind. 



