1885 



GLEANINGS IN HEK CULTUEE. 



171 



little, and then make the orthodox plan work 

 all riglit. after all. We take great pleasure 

 in sending you a price list. Our girls are 

 not as plentiful as price lists yet ; and al- 

 though as a general thing they go every- 

 where I send them. I am afraid it would be 

 straining my authority a little to direct such 

 a trip as you suggest. But after all, now. 

 may be you are not in the same fix that 

 friend Smith says he is, as related on page 

 til. May be you'are speaking for others. 



WEKJHT OF SECTIONS. 



Ou pajro 82, friend Hutchinson says: " But, sup- 

 pose a section docs lack ' i ounce, or even an ounce, 

 of wei}?hino: a pound, what is the objection? It will 

 pass for a pound section, and dealers prefer a sec- 

 tion that falls short to one that overruns." That 

 may satisfy one man's conscience, and not another's ; 

 liut to say nothing of the moral question, is it not to 

 the interest of the apiarist, at least so far as the con- 

 sumers are his own customers, to give full weight, 

 or a trifle over? I believe it is understood that con- 

 sumers are sometimes of a different mind from 

 dealers. Burdett Hassett. 



Howard Center, Iowa, Feb. 10, 1885. 



Friend H., I think you misunderstand 

 irieiul Hutchinson. We alwayi? sell our 

 comb honey by the pound ; and while it is 

 desirable to have sections weigh exactly a 

 pound, they so seldom do it we always place 

 one on the scales as it is put up. ' Friend 

 Hutchinson meant to say that dealers prefer 

 to have them run under instead of over, even 

 though they do weigh them up when sold. 

 Shall we not be a little careful about ascrib- 

 ing to others a want of conscience V 



LOC.VTING BEES CLOSE TO THE RAILIIOAI). 



What will the damage be to my apiary to have a 

 railroad come within ten rods of it? It comes so 

 my bees have to cross the track for the greater 

 part of their honey. There will be the smoke and jar, 

 both summer and winter. A man tells uie, who has 

 an apiary near the railroad, that it is five minutes 

 before he can see a bee con)e, after a train passes. 

 I mean an apiary of I(i;) to I'lO swarms. 



Fk.vnk H. White. 



Stoddard, ^'ernon Co., Wis., Jan. 20, 1885. 



Friend W., I do not believe your bees will 

 he very mucli annoyed, unless it is on one of 

 the large roads where trains are running al- 

 most every hour. H' the road runs north 

 and south, there would l)e less inconveni- 

 ence from the smoke of the trains if vou 

 were on the west side of tlie track. Our 

 apiary is but a litth^ way from the cars— per- 

 haps 100 yards or more. i)ut we never experi- 

 ence any inconvenience, unless it is when 

 the wind is in tlu- east. So far as the jar is 

 concerned. 1 do not believe the bees would 

 mind it much, if any ; for if it is of dailv 

 occurrence they will soon get used to it. 



BEE CULTURE IN NEW .JERSEY, ETC. 



In June I made 6 swarms in a few days. The 

 weather was too hot for them, and I lost one. They 

 did not do much till buckwheat came, then work 

 commenced. The sun got hot, and combs melted 

 down. I took out 9 frames one afternoon, and 

 washed the hive out with *ater, so that the bees 

 could get in the hive again. I took one hive to the 

 fair, showed it up nicely, and got a special premium 



of the small sum of one dollar. How is that for the 

 Hunterdon Co. Fair? 



I took of surplus honey, about 150 lbs. ; sold about 

 100 lbs. for $20, and have five new swarms at pres- 

 ent. How is that for a beginner in the bee-trade? 

 I talk bees every day, and tell them it is nonsense 

 to wait till they swarm, when one can make a 

 swarm in 15 minutes. Bee culture is a new busines.^ 

 in this part of the country; only four men in this 

 section have frame hives. I tell my friends that I 

 make my own swarms, and they think it impossible. 

 I made 45 hives, and I advertised them, and scatter- 

 ed them almost all over the county, and I have fifty 

 now almost done, and all sold when the season 

 comes. I have about 25 swarms to transfer for my 

 friends in the spring, and I could sell 100 if I had 

 time to make them. We have a factorj- in the 

 place, and we are cutting- hives for King & Aspin- 

 wall, of New York. Xe.xt September, peaches will 

 be ripe. If you liave any spare time, take a trip to 

 Jersey and sec us. We ship some nights, 20 cars 

 loaded down. W.m. E. Sheppard. 



Flcmiugton, Now Jersey, Jan. 19, 1885. 



IIONET FROM RED CLOVER. 



I send you by mail a small sample of rcd-clovor 

 honey. Since I have made the statement that my 

 bees gather honey from red clover, I have had so\-- 

 eral letters from different ones, wanting to know 

 what the color and flavor are like. A great many 

 think it is not true, that there are bees that will 

 work and gather honey fi-om red clover. I would 

 request you to examine and taste the honey, and 

 give your opinion of it as to its color and flavor. If 

 the sample sent is not quantity enough, I will send 

 a larger package. You will see that this honey has 

 the flavor of bumble-bee honey, and, as you know, 

 the most of the bumble-bees gather their honey 

 from red clover. F. Boo.mhoweu. 



(Jallupville, N. Y., Dec. ::2, 18S4. 



The sample sent has the flavor of bumble- 

 bee honey very perceptibly, and it is al)out 

 like the honey called red-clover honey when 

 there hapi)eiis to be a good How wlien red 

 clover is in bloom. It is st) little different 

 from ordinary clover honey that one would 

 not be likely to tliiidv of the dilTerence un- 

 less his attention had been particularly 

 called to it. .Vny one who has robbed 

 bumlile-bees" nests, and tasted of the honey, 

 will readily recall the ])eculiar llavor whe'n 

 his attention is directed to it. 



A SUfinESTJON IN REGARD TO SAVING THE .MANURE 

 FRO.M POULTRY. 



1 have a little interest in your poulti-y column, 

 and should much prefer dry soil to put under your 

 hen-roosts, to ashes. Ashes will ne\itrali/,e or dis- 

 sipate a large ])ortion of the fertilizing projierty of 

 the unmure. L. C. Whitisg. 



Fast Saginaw, Mich., Feb. 4, 1885. 



Thank you. friend ^V . It occurred to me. 

 after that article had gone to press, that I 

 shoidd have advised road dust instead of 

 ashes. If 1 remember rightly, the crop of 

 corn I raised in my bo\hood"l)y use of i)0ul- 

 try manure was managed by mixing the 

 ashes and poultry maiuire just as I planted 

 the corn. As it was immediately covered 

 up, and mixed with the soil to a considera- 

 ble extent, probably a little loss of ammonia 

 ensued. 



