1880 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



671 



more with it. if she will make a satisfactory 

 settlement with all her customers. 



All pei sons who have sent money to Mrs. 

 Cotton, for which they have received no re- 

 turns, neither in the shape of money nor 

 goods, are requested to send particulars to 

 R. E. Holmes, ('ash. Ilurlbut Nat. Bank, 

 \A est Winsted, Ct. Bear in mind, that this 

 gentleman does not care for transactions 

 where the paities did not receive what they 

 expected, but only those where she has kept 

 the money and returned no equivalent what- 

 ever. Neither does he want facts from those 

 who have sent for her recent book, for the 

 book is. 1 presume, now in the hands of the 

 publisheis; or, at least, a printed statement 

 lias been sent me, purporting to come from 

 her publishers. 



The card below, in regard to the old divi- 

 sion-board swindle, should have had place 

 several months ago : — 



I write you to know whether or not there is a pat- 

 ent on the division board now in use by all bee-kepp- 

 ers. There is one King, in Northern Georgia who 

 claims he has a patent, and intends to prosecute all 

 wtionreusmg the board, unless they pay for it; in 

 fact, a great many farmers have paid him $o CO for 

 the right. By answeiing, you will greatly oblige 

 many of us. J. B. Tkavis. 



Atlanta. Ga., May 19, 1880. 



I trust no one is, at the present time, mak- 

 ing any such absurd claim, or trying to 

 frighten people by it into handing over their 

 money. No patent at all, friend T.; never 

 was, nor ever can be. ttee our back num- 

 bers. 



DOOL.ITTLE ANSWERS QUESTIONS. 



?E see, by November Gleanings, that Doolit- 

 tle is call« d upon to answer a few ques- 

 tions; and. as w° are always willing to im- 

 part all we know of the bee trade, if it will be of 

 benefit to our fellow apiarists, we hereby answer to 

 the best of our ability. 



We are asked, on page 524, what our honey sold 

 for, as it was omitted in our report. We did not re- 

 port the price, for the reason that, since the death 

 of Geo. H Roberts (our honey merchant at Syracuse, 

 N. Y.), we have been obliged to ship our honey on 

 commission. We shipped to four different houses- 

 three in New York, and one in Buffalo. Up to date, 

 we are advised that a little of it has been sold at 82c; 

 more at 20, and a still greater share at 18; the high- 

 est price being obtained in New York. As commis- 

 sion and txpense of getting to market amount to 

 about two cents per lb., the net returns will be pro- 

 portionally less. 



On pa^e 525 we read, "Doolittle advises to extract 

 the honey remaining in the sections, etc." So we 

 do, if our bees all have sufficient stores for winter; 

 but, as a rule, oil do not, and so we adopt the plan as 

 there given, of letting the bees take it below. They 

 are thus fed just what we want them to have, and 

 the sections are much cleaner than they come from 

 the extractor. Instead of letting the bees do the 

 uncapping, we do it for them, and then the combs 

 are always emptied, which is not always the case If 

 the bees are left to uncap them. 



On page 529 comes some pretty tough questions, 

 lor the reason that wc do not relish answering ques- 



tions that we don't understand ourself. Novice 

 says, "Our ABC class would like to know just how 

 you disposed of the 30," that being the difference be- 

 tween the fail of 1879 and spring of 1880, showing a 

 loss of 30. "Did you sell any?" Yes, just one. "How 

 many were lost in winter?" Six in bee-cellar, six on 

 summer stands packed in chaff, or 12 in all. '"Why 

 were they lost?" Now you have got us, and we 

 might just as well say candidly that we don"t know, 

 as to theorize on poor honey, too much cold, damp- 

 ness, and a hundred and one other things that tend 

 toward the destruction of bees in winter. It was 

 simply this: they died. We never claimed to know 

 how to winter bees without loss, and told you all we 

 knew of the matter about a year ago in the A. B. J., 

 to which some felt disposed to take exceptions. We 

 have never been enabled to find a satisfactory reas- 

 on why one of two stocksshould die before spring, 

 and the other come out in good order, when both set 

 side by side, and were as near alike in the fall as two 

 peas, as far as human ken could discern; neither 

 have we found any other apiarist who could give a. 

 satisfactory reason, although we hope such will be 

 the case ere long. In 1878 we prepared 90 colonies 

 (mostly packed in chaff) for winter on summer 

 stands, and our neighbor Cotton, half a mile away, 

 prepared 20 in the same way. In, fact, we helped 

 him prepare them the same as ours were; and in 

 the spring of 1879 we had 19 left of our 90, and he 

 came out with the whole 20 in good order. Now, 

 who will answer, "why were they lost"? Out of 00 

 put into the cellar the same fall, 56 were taken out 

 in good order. So, to be on the safe side, we winter 

 half our bees in the cellar, and half on summer 

 stands. Well, but what was doue with the other 17, 

 as you have told us of only one sold, and 12 lost in 

 winter? We looked our bees all over, and selected 

 out the 31 weakest, and in due time they were 

 doubled up so as to make 17 as good swarms as the 

 very best, and thus we had 70 to start the season 

 with. If it is desired, we will give our plan of 

 doubling colonies, both in fall and spring, at some 

 future time. G. M. Doolittle. 



Borodino, N. Y., Nov., 1SS0. 



Many thanks, friend D. That is exactly 

 what Ave do wish to know ; and, in fact, we 

 wish to know all about everything you do 

 with your bees, especially so long as you 

 make such a sure, safe, and certain business 

 of it as you have done in times past. 1 am 

 sure that more than one of us have felt a 

 deep interest to know about your losses, 

 which you have mentioned in this; for, if 

 you lose now and then, in spite of the best 

 care you know how to give the bees, we shall 

 be less likely to get discouraged, even if some 

 of our best -laid plans fail occasionally. Items 

 from actual experience, by our successful 

 honey-raisers, in both failures as well as suc- 

 cesses, are what we look anxiously for. 



TOBACCO COLliTIN. 



YTf^ your last Gleanings I saw where you stated 

 H that if any one would quit smoking tobacco you 

 — ' would send them a smoker; and as 1 generally 

 smoke a pipe when I am tending to my bees, I 

 thought I would send to you for one emoker on the 

 terms mentioned in Gleanings. 

 Oct. 21, 1880. Samuel Yorsa. 



Glad to hear it, my friend. I do not know 



