1885 



GLEAN1NC;S i^ liEE CULTUKE, 



49 



but if it bears honey any thing like the 

 gaura. it will indeed be an acquisition. AVe 

 are going to have a plat of them down ontlie 

 rich creek-bottom land, if we can get the 

 plants to growing nicely in the greenhouse. 

 Now, if any other brothers or sisleis can 

 furnish seeds of eilher we shall be glad to 

 liear from them. 



FROM 87 TO 1:J7, AND 8000 LBS. OF HONEY. 



SEND j'ou my report for 1884, this being- my first 

 Sanson in tiie business. I procured i'S colonies 

 of black bees during- the summer of 1884, and 

 44 colonies last January, all in box hives. I 

 lost one colony in wintering; transferred 12 in 

 February to Simplicity hives, and had to run the 

 rest in box hives. About 100 swarms came out. I 

 crowded them into .% hives. I saved every swarm 

 that came out. I have 2 Italian and 4 hybrid colo- 

 nies. I got about 3 tons of extracted honey, and 

 one ton of comb honey in 2-lb. sections. I have it 

 nearly all sold; got 10 cts. for extracted, and 12': for 

 comb honey. I have 127 colonies now. All of them 

 have plenty of stores for winter, though a few are 

 weak in bees. They are starved-out swarms that 

 came to my apiar/ this fall. Bees commenced 

 swarming about the 20th of March. The honey-How 

 commenced the 1st of May, and was over the 1st of 

 June. We did not get any summer or fall crop, on 

 account of the dry weather. My best hive made 240 

 lbs. of extracted honey. Some of my box hives 

 made 125 lbs., about half comb. I did not have 

 much comb foundation this season. 11 1 could 

 have had plenty of foundation and hives, my reitort 

 would have been better. Most of the honey I got 

 was g-athered from cat claw, and is rcrj/ white and 

 fine flavored. 1 don't think it can be cxcelloil. We 

 have some fine honey-plants here; most of them 

 are not mentioned in any bee literature I have read. 

 D. M. EnWAitiJS, 86—127. 

 Uvalde, Texas, Dec. 11, 1884. 



FItOM 17 TO 47, AND 2500 LBS. OF IIONF.V. 



I herewith send my report lor 1884. The 2t!th of 

 April I took 45 colonies from the cellar (having lost 

 two in the cellar). Aboiit 25 were heavy, find I he 

 rest light. The ])rospect at that time was bright; 

 but cold, wet, unfavorable weather tlicn coming- on, 

 they began to dwindle; and in spite of all I could 

 do, the middle of June found me with only 17 good 

 colonies and 8 light ones. At that time they began 

 to gain, although I did not get a new swarm until 

 the 20th of July ; and about that time the fun com- 

 menced. The 3d of August, three swarms came 

 out. The 16th of August, the last (an after swarm) 

 issued. I then had 47 all told. From the middle of 

 July until the middle of August I took off 51 lbs. 

 daily, Snnda>s excepted; and when a day was 

 missed I would take oH' 100 lbs. next day. Not a 

 heavy yield, perhaps, but a good even one. The 

 honey was all choice— white and alsiUe clover, wild 

 raspberry, and flreweed. I took the first premium 

 at the North Aroostook and the Maine State Fairs 

 on comb honey. The three swarms that came off 

 the 3d of August I put on to wired fdn.. with side 

 boxes,andahalf-stoi-y on top, containing 28 1-lb. sec- 

 tions. In just two weeks each swarm had filled its hive 

 and the 44 one-pound sections. The second swarm, 

 hived the I6th of .August, filled 7 frames. 



KASPBERRIES BY THE HUNDRED TONS. 



The wild raspberry is a fine honey-plant, and is 

 quite plentiful here. Last year the traders began 

 to buy raspberries for the Boston market. At three 

 of our villages they bought and shipped 94 tons. 

 At the same villages this year they bought over 100 

 tons, and probably Avhere one ton was picked, ten 



j rotted on the ground. 



I As the result of my little apiary this year I got 

 nearly 2500 1-lb sections filled; 600 lbs. of extracted 

 honey, and most of my hives (the Simplicity) have 



; now ten frames each. Had I not been very busy, T 



' should have taken out spare combs, and extracted 



I 50O or 6,;0 lbs. more. When the prospect looks the 

 bi-ightest, we often fail of getting honey; aud when 



, it looks dark, a favorable turn of the weather will 

 give us a good crop of surplus honey. It seems 

 that a bee-keeper should always be prepared. This 



1 has been my experience. E. Tarr. 



Castle Hill, Maine, Dec. 22, 1884. 



FROM 37 TO 60, AND 800 LBS. OF HONEY. 



I commenced with 37 colonies; have sold bees and 

 queens enough, perhaps, to pay for the care of them 

 during the summer. I now have 60 (several are 

 nuclei); have taken about 800 lbs. of honey, 400 lbs. 

 comb, and 400 extracted, comb is ready sale at 12i4 

 cts. per lb.: extracted, 10 cts. per lb. I used a few 

 of the Mb. section boxes as directed in A B C 

 book, and am much pleased with the result. 

 My bees worked in them readily. Queens never 

 troubled the boxes. Owing to the short crop 

 of honey the past season I got only about 1(X) well- 

 fllled sections, but they were very nice. The queen 

 which I bought of you last fall did me good service 

 during the summer, and is all right yet. You wish 

 to know how the dies (which I bought of D. S. Giv- 

 en) answered for making fdn. By pressing half 

 sheets 1 could make good fdn., but could not press 

 whole ones, for want of power. The bees accept it, 

 and draw it out readily. I am now of the opinion 

 that it would have been cheaper to have bought 

 foundation, all things considered. 



My report is not so encouraging as some I see 

 in Gleanings; but, please do not put nic in Blast- 

 ed Hopes yet, for I am not discouraged; I have just 

 planted my vines for a grapevine apiary. 



W. D. Tharp. 



Williamsburgh, N. C, Dec. 25, 1884. 



PRETTY WELL DONE FOR AN A B C SCHOLAR. 



As Others are sending in their reports for the 

 past season, I thought 1 would send in mine. My 

 report for 1883 was very discouraging, but I was 

 not ready for Blasted Hopes. I cherished a faint 

 hope that I would have better success this year, 



^ and I have not been disappointed. I commenced 

 the season with 15 colonies— 9 strong and 6 weak. 

 Fed about 75 lbs. of sugar. The spring was very 

 wet aud cold up to about the middle of May; just 

 honey enough for brood-rearing. I increased to 30 

 colonics, but lost two from moths, and three by 

 robbing, and doubled up two, leaving me 24 colonies. 



; Found a tree in the woods; saved the bees nicely, 

 thus making 25, all in good condition for winter. 



I Now for the cash profits. I ran for extracted hon- 



j ey alone, taking 1700 lbs. of honey. Sold $116.00 

 worth at from 10 to 12' |. cts. i)er lb., and stored 

 away between 450 and .50.) lbs. for home use. I am 

 not good authority in such mattei-s; but I think I 

 have done very well for an A B C scholar. I also 

 made a regular hand on the farm, and with the 



