1885 



gleani:ngs in jjee culture. 



125 



hive, but all stains caused liy the propolis are eare- 

 I'ully scraped away with g-lass. Another and im- 

 portant reason for their honey being- so nice, is the 

 source from which it is gathered; viz., the willow- 

 herb. 



From the above it would seem that tlie 

 Wilkins sisters are troubled with propolis 

 and stains from letting the bees have access 

 to the sections, as well as we are. I tell 

 you, friends, we don't want bees tramping 

 over our nice white basswood sections. 



VEXTIL.VTroX. 



Dr. \\' biting recommended raising the I 

 iiive from the bottom-board. Tins is equiv- | 

 alent to the plan of ventilating the Simpli- ' 

 city hive, and I do not believe any tiling can ; 

 be invented more simple than the entrance ' 

 adjustment of the Simplicity hive, for ac- ' 

 commodating tlie bees as they go out and in. 

 and for giving all tlie ventilation that may 

 be needed. 



MY URPORT KOK 1884. 



T COMMENCED the spring? of 1884 with 24 colonies, j 

 4^ all blacks; increased to •")": ol)tained 24J7 lbs. | 

 ■l'' comb honey from top story, about 800 lbs. in ' 

 ■*■ section boxes; the rest in brood-frames: ten 



colonies made no surplus; average weight of ' 

 hives, put in cellar Nov. U'S, "iH lbs. Kroin all reports I 

 1 read, 1 think my yield fully u)) to the average; i 

 but the slow sale or no sale at paying i)rices nuikes | 

 me wish I had never engaged in the business. : 



A WOKIJ IN FAVOH OF THK ZINC IK ).\' KV-ltO A l< OS. 



I used the zinc honey-board on nearly all of iiiy i 

 hives; in only two did I lind the queen in upjier I 

 story; almost invariably 1 found brood in upper ! 

 story when I used wooden honey-boards. This ; 

 lroul)le cost me more than the zinc li<)nc.\-b<iard. i 



BOKHARA CI.OVKH. 



I invested .')l) cts. to test the merits o! this clover | 

 lor all purposes recommended by difTei-ent writers. 

 I now e.vpect to expend $.50.00 in the ne.\f two years, 

 trying to eradicate the noxious weed from my j 

 premises. I admit that bees work upon it, but my 

 stock refuse to touch it, with the excei)tion of one 

 horse. K. K. Uahcock. | 



Klroy, Wis., .Ian. 22, 1S8."). j 



Friend B., Bokhara clover is not intended 

 to be used for stock, although if <Mit at the 

 jiroper age, they will use it lo some extent. 

 .\11 you have to do to eradicate it is to cut it 

 oft" before it goes to seed. You can very 

 (|uickly wind it up by this treatment, if 

 you try to dig up the plants, no doubt you 

 will lihd it a tough job. 



A TRUE REPORT. 



I Started out last spring with 47 swarms, partly 

 Italians, partly blacks, and partly hj lirids. They 

 increased to 103 swarms. I received 80(1 lbs. of comb 

 and 400 lbs. of extracted honey. The latter was sold 

 as fast as I could extract it, at 10 cents per lb. The 

 comb honey I have still on hand, except about ifOO 

 lbs., which 1 sold at 15 cents per lb. This makes my 

 income for the season $85.00. My expenses for tlie 

 running year were, for hives, sections, comb foun- 

 dation, extractor, shipping-cases, etc., $274.08. My 

 report is true. T sold all of my bees last fall, but 

 75 swarms, and I want to sell about 40 or 50 swarms 



more. I will try it with the rest once more, and run 

 for extracted honey only, as it sells the best here. 

 If I do not make enough another season to cover 

 my expenses and labor, I shall quit the business. 

 Duudas, Wis., Jan. 28, 18^5. G. "W. Albrecht. 



FROM 21 TO 47, AND 1723 LBS. OF HONEY. 



Spring count, 21 colonies; increased by natural 

 and artificial swarming to 47 strong colonies. I got 

 1.500 lbs. of extracted and 22:5 lbs. of comb honey. I 

 sold all of my honey at 10 and 15 cts., right at home. 

 I think I could have sold 2000 lbs. more, if I had had 

 it, up to date. 1 got 4 colonies from a farmer near 

 by. who was gcing to brimstone them, but I went to 

 him and turned them out, and took them home, and 

 gave each colony 30 lbs. of good sealed basswood 

 and clover honey, and I have 43 combs of good 

 sealed honey left for spring feeding. 1 have 8 col- 

 onies on their summer stands, 24 in bee-house, 19 in 

 clainp. WiLi,iAM Seitz. 



HMSlisford. Wis.. Dec. 22, 18H4. 



FUOM A BK(il.\XER WHO STARTED f.AST SPRlNli. 



I bought one bo.v hive at i?7.00; and a Jones hive 

 with bees at sf7.0i); got no honey from box hive, but I 

 got 3 swarms put in the Jones hives. Sold 3 swarms 

 for ;?(). 75; got one swarm from the colony in Jones 

 hive, and made one in Sept., just for practice, and 

 it did well. I fed it right along, and the queen laid 

 up to October 12th, and went into winter strong, 

 packed all in one big box filled with chafl'. They 

 are all in good shape up to date. I extracted 375 

 ll)S. of honey— good honey at that. I got about 10 

 11)S. of wax : paid $'M for extiactor, $1.00 for smok- 

 er, and 30 cts. for veil. I made my own capjiing- 

 knil'c, as I am a blacksmith. 1 sold my honey at 15 

 cts. per lb. The most honey made by any colony 

 for one week was 45 lbs. I had a big time getting 

 my experience with them, as they treated me very 

 indifferently at times; but as I got to understand the 

 nature of thein 1 got along better, and by studying 

 Gi.EANiNdS it brought ine out all right. 1 liave a 

 good situation, right in a valley, where basswood is 

 plentiful. Now, is this a fair average for a begin- 

 nerV The liees 1 now have ai-e worth $50.00. 



DrxcA.v Peer. 



Zimmenuuii. (an.. Jan. 22, 188.5. 



FUOM 12 ( OI.O.NIES TO 24, AND 8:^) I.US. OF HONEY. 



1 have seen no report from this vicinity (friend 

 Pond is the nearest), so I will send in a short one. I 

 startt'd last spring with 12 colonies, most of them 

 not very strong. Our best honey season is usually 

 during fruit-bloom, and the trouble is to get colo- 

 nies strong enough to take advantage of it. Last 

 year 1113- bees gathered but just about enough to 

 pay expenses and winter themselves, and this year, 

 up to Sept. 1, 1 thought this season was to be a rejie- 

 tition of last, as I had taken only 150 lbs., and hardly 

 any honey in the hives. Hut as friend Pond says, 1 

 never saw brood-rearing kept up to such an extent, 

 and my 12 colonies more than doubled, without 

 much effort on my part. 



The first 10 or 12 days of Sept. were the hottest of 

 the st-ason, with warm nights, and every thing seem- 

 ed to l)e favorable lor the secretion of honej . 

 (joldenrod and asters were in their prim(% and in 

 about ten days over tiO:) lbs. of honey flowed through 

 my hives, and by way of the extractor into my 

 honey-room, making (juite a different report from 

 what I expected. I got 20 cts. per single lb., 16^' cts. 

 per lb, in ti-lb. lots or more; I sell none for less than 



