£.875, 



«LEANIN<3S IN BEE tlULTURE. 



IDl 



(he !*helves ok". He never i)ut bees in it Init once— 

 Jill t.)ioil of bees. 



Tlii.s ln^giiiir of liives has set me lhinkji\y that u 

 .hou#e wiUi hives in snimiHr i\in\ .•i-itltr ami large 

 eiuni,!il» to h-'yjre iioiiey and tools, svoul'l Ire just wJiat 

 *.-> needed. I ilo not want anyllihiy to do wiili a lioiiso 

 that is not host jirool and sure to wiiitef, lor uiy cel- 

 lar lias never tailed lo winter well. .\nd now a word 

 al.'ont eelUr.s, Oi course ihe^' should lie dry and dark, 

 iiut 1 have an idcu, that liie sitliuj;-rooja o\('r ihis 

 >-ellar witli a eousiant lire niglii and day -wile and 

 ■ hiUlren ruiniinj;' ilowii cellar a liall do/.eii limes iier 

 t\n\, dues tJu'jii .HO harm, hilt raUur !ii)i>'l, lo s;iy noili- 

 ing ot iJie lhum])ing of the iiiano above them. > Ou 

 .s?fci my idea. But lo the bee house. In thinkinji; the 

 aiiatteV over, 1 ilon't see liow 1 can colle<a lio.\ honey 

 in \onrho<^ise, or any ot)ier l^ir ilial matter, with my 

 ideas of wJialii hive lor box honey sJionld be. 



The only eliance to j)la<;e boxes, that 1 can .see, is on I 

 top anil Uick side from the entr;ince to the hive. Mow j 

 Ju one style of my hives (sanie frame jJtoes in both) tiie ] 

 boxes are; .at Uie'end of Jranies as well as on top, in i 

 tlie other style uhe entrance is at the end (tJie end 

 •board is removable) with iJiree tiers of boxes over tiio 

 .same, while over tiie frames 1 use ilarbtso^i's style of 

 small frame or ciise. 1 (Minnot sec how 1 can use side 

 ■or end boxes and have it handy, y/ilhout ^reat waste 

 •'jfroom. <^i<in you Jielp me? Vour house, in form 

 Auits nic much. "aiRl 1 think it must be just the thing 

 where tlie objtvt is to extract honey. 



As you have tuitto. Faulkner's ana Coc'.s Ijcc houses, I 

 would like your opinion which is best. 



Yours truly, l{. II. Mkllen. 



Ambo;-, Ills., Sept. 8th, '7f>. 



We have seen Coe's liotise Apiary, but only 

 n description -with drawiue.-. of Faulkner's, 

 •jiid to be frauli, botli seem to eml^iotly a mass 

 of complicated tixtures that would be wor.se 

 tliau useless to us. If you use the Standard 

 Irame or staud the L. frame on end, you can 

 jiut boxes both on the sides and top as you 

 wish; very likely boxes at the end of the 

 i'rames would be preferable. We agree that 

 tJie house should Ix; frost proof, ))ut after tiiis 

 is done, the expense of hives is far less than 

 even the bimplicities. 



like it. still it Kiows in spile of them, and we (as l.ei- 

 keepers) rejoice in its ell'orts to supi>ly our bees with a 

 most <leficious lioney, a perie-ct amber in color. '1 lien 

 we have for a lall plant the Itocky Mountain iiee 

 I'lant. You jii-st oiigiit to Uisle the honey Iroin it, it is 

 two weeks since 1 lasted it. and methinks i can tasltr 

 it yet. 1 1 is now in lull bloom. 



'i.'w<.) weeks ai;o I ojiened one of my Iiives and found 

 no brood in it and but very lew ej^gs, while all otlitrs 

 were full of brood ; but this had '. or 7 Irames litcriilly 

 erjwnined with honey. Noiv liad they crowded the 

 l^'Ueen out, or iiad they lost and just replaced hei', 

 tlier<; were no diones in the hive ami niiiie in any of 

 the otliers. Tliese arc my two theories. Have you 

 any oUier ^ if so let's liave it. 



CvuKs 11. uoi.u. Salt Lake Cily, Aug. :xth, '7"). 



We tliiuk, if there are other bees near you, 

 either theory may be correct. 



DliAU NOVICE :- I have not told you wliat bad 

 ■Uick 1 had wintering my bees bust season, but will tell 

 you now. Jjut don L put me in your column of "Kla-st- 

 vd Hopes," lor my hopes are not blasted, and in tact 

 'hey never were. 



Well, 1 had iia stocks in ihe fall, and in the spring 

 J louud I had but 3 living. >rom iheni I iiave increas- 

 •ed to 14, iinU liave taken -ISO lbs. of as nice honey us 

 I ever saw\ There wa.s so mucli rain the jdrst oithe 

 reason that bees did but little, but Iroin the last of Ju- 

 ly to the juesent date, I never saw the liouey liar- 

 vest better. Mo frost yet, don't look lor any lor '1 or 

 ."i week.s. 



i liave several Queens from one of Dadaurs im- 

 jiorteit ones. 1 find them very prolilic, and their 

 workers are splendid honey gatherers, liees are 

 .still sv,ar2iiing here, I know ot several swarms that 

 '•ame ciV iliis week. Success to your house Apiary. 

 As ever, yours, Allred McMains, 



Chariton, iowa, Sept. 11th, '75. 



We are gltid, indeed, you're not a candidate 

 lor ''Blasted Hopes." We like the "merric" 

 iieart, under all circumstances. 



FUIEN I) 1U>()T :— Your letter of infjuiry is received, 

 and I will give you a few items concerniiig my 

 bee business. I wintere<l 75 colonies, losing none. 1 

 purchas<jd tlio entire stock of bees belonging to K. 

 Gallup, consisting of 15 strong anil 3 weak colonies. 

 The season was remarkably poor until .luly ifiih, ^^llen 

 basswcod came into blossom. The lirst thr<'e days 

 were wet and col'.l. Commenced extracting the 'z(.i"iu 

 and continued till tlie ;Wth. 1 ha<l then taken over 

 7000 lbs.; have taken about 1-500 lbs. bo.\ honey ana the 

 hives are all lull of lioney and bees, and were i.e\er in 

 better condition. They are now bringing honey ironi 

 clover aiKl golilen roil. They have slioreu hoiiey suici- 

 the basswood liarvest continually. 1 hnd ready sale 

 at '20 cts. for extracted and 25 for comb honey. My 

 extracted honey is all of the linest quality. 



J. W. LiNDLKY, Mitchell, Iowa, Sept. 10th, '75. 



Has not Mother Nature giveu you western 

 people the advantage, in the larger quantities of 

 basswood suiiplied by her forests ':■ Docs it not 

 more than compensate for the lack of clover '( 



And your western basswood honey has such 

 a nice riavor. 



MK. HOOT, Sir ;— Yesterday, the 8th L received iii'- 

 extractor la good condition. Am well p'taseu with 

 ihe machine. 1 extracted 140 lbs. yesterday troni :w 

 trames. Uecs doing splendidly. There wilT be more 

 honey gathered this year than for several years past, 

 ij. VV. Kennedy, Carrol lioii, Mo., August li'Jlh, 'I.'! 



To A. I. ROOT & Co., Gentlemen :— As I sec j ou 

 have no report from this Territory, I write yoti a few 

 items. 



Bees have done well in this part of the globe, botli 

 ill increase of swarms and honey, with very little dis- 

 ease among them, though there is some foul brootl in 

 our miilst, in all cases of which, our conventions ad- 

 vise destroying bees and comb, so as to eradicate 

 it tiom our midst. At the last convention the whole- 

 wale price of honey was fixed at *Joc for extracted, and 

 •J.'j for comb. A good round jnice, don't you think so y 

 It will have to come lower than that befcire we can 

 drive the adulterated stulV (called by the above name) 

 tliat comes from East and West. 



Our iirincipal bee pasturage in spring is fruit and 

 locust blossoms, though we liave almost every vari- 

 ety, in fact our cily loots like one vast llower garden 

 when they are iii blossom. Summer Alsikc and whits 

 clover, and sweet or Caliiornia clover which lasts un- 

 til frost comes and even alter, but oia- farmers do not 



DEAR MOVICE:— rermit me a word to friend 

 Moore regarding the "house Apiary." On page 10'.) oi 

 <iLE.VNiN<JS lor Sept. he says, '-The idea that you and 

 Mr. Coe advance, that bees will not sting in the house 

 is all iiosh ; it won't go <iovvn.'' Now if "bosh" ana 

 '•n}t,n^t (JO ((own" mean anything naughty, 1 am sorry 

 they implicate '•Novice,'' as »«■ alone aic rei-ponsibic 

 lor the "idea'''' in question. 



Mr. Moore is using a "Eaulkner House,"' and is no 

 doubt entirely correct in saying that he "would rather 

 by half handle bees out of doors," and that he "thinks 

 less of it every year he uses it. " But the "idea''' that 

 we "a<h'anrea" referred to"Coe's Apiary,"' which Mr. 

 Moore has never tested or even seen ; tonsequently, 

 he is not iiualilied to judge of its merits. As yet it has 

 not been olfered for sale, neither will it be, iiil thor- 

 oughly tested by practical bee-kcejiers. if it proves 

 vaiuaiile to ilie'lrattrniiy, and capable of overcom- 

 ing some of the dillicuHies now exi)erieiiced in bee 

 culture, the labor and money expenued in ))erffecting 

 it will never be regretted. A. tj. COE, 



Mont Clair, X. J., Sept. lllh, "7r.. 



From all accounts there was but little honey taken 

 tills season in Caliiornia. Most of our A]iiaries have 

 no surplus, and many even have lo feed. 1 aid not get 

 a natural swarm this season t>ut of 170 bee hives. 1 

 get between S ami '.HH'O lbs. of extracted honey. Com- 

 pared with last year's crop of -.i'iooo lbs., it is a poor 

 season. The frost in April was the cause. 



1'. I'HlLLiri'i, Los Angelos, Cal., Sept. 0th, ''v. 



My bees have done nicely the present season, and 



I have several tons of comb honey ready for market. 



J. K. CiiANE, Rridport, Vt., Sciit. 3d, '7r>. 



We have not had a very good season for honey. 

 The vield from clover was "fair which gave us plenty 

 of new swarms, but basswood was a failure. I win- 

 tered but one of 17 swarms. Uoiight six more ia June 

 for fJ4.iO, have increased to IS and taken -JOO lbs. hon- 

 ey, -"'0 lbs. box, balance extracted. 



Daviu Hall, Warsaw, N. Y., Sei-d. iSth, 'lo. 



