174 



GLEANINGS IN J3EE CULTURE 



Mau. 



j^EPGRTg ENC0aKH6iN6. 



WHAT A IIAI.F-POUND OF BEES DID AFTEK JULY :i8. 



T HAVE thought many times of givlDg: you a lit- 

 a^ tie history of the half-pound of bees that I sent 

 J. to you for about a year ago the 28th of last 

 "*■ July. Thej' arrived here so that they com- 

 menced worl{ about the l.«t of August. The 

 ijueen proved to be a verj- pi'Oliflc one, and notliing 

 but the lateness of the season kept them from 

 swarming. The hive was actually full of bees. 

 Others here said to me that it was the largest 

 swarm of bees thej- ever saw. But I am going a 

 little too fast. I haven't told you about the honey 

 they made. They tilled their hive completely. We 

 toolj 18 lbs. (S boxes and one frame). The whole 

 weighed the above amount. I was so proud of my 

 success that T have been afflicted ever since with 

 the same kind of fever that Mrs. Harrison describ- 

 ed in Gle.\nix«s. I've had the antidote tried on 

 me a great many times, but I'm not cured yet. My 

 e.vperience in 1884 beats any thing 1 have heai-d of 

 yet. This swarm that I have been telling you of 

 throw off a swarm the ith of Juno, a splendid large 

 one, and again the inth. In July that old queen 

 threw off three swarms. I don't know that one 

 could say they swarmed three times, but she laid 

 the eggs for them all, and they kept on swarming. 

 The last came off the 1st of Sept. • I have them now 

 in good condition. They were out for a fly to-day— 

 13 swarms in all, all good large ones but two. These 

 I picked up their queens, and let them go back to 

 their hives. Some of the swarms were lai-ge enough 

 to fill a pail when we put them in their hives. Their 

 frames would be filled with honey in two weeks, 

 except the space they used for brood. 



One of the swarms went away. They went in 

 their hive all right, but in about two hours they 

 came out and went away. We chased them across 

 fields and pastures, but all to no purpose. They 

 could fly faster than we could run. It seems al- 

 most incredible that so many swarms could come 

 from just one queen in so shoi-t a time. 



I am going to tell you of a swarm that came to us 

 in 1883; that is, what they did last summer. They 

 were a pretty good swarm, but not so large as the 

 other one. I fed them in the spring with syrup and 

 i-yc and oats ground. During the summer they 

 filled 190 one-pound boxes. I took off, late in the 

 fall, several bo.xes that were partl3- filled. I think I 

 can safely say there was 10 lbs. of it, although I did 

 not weigh it. 1 sold the honey, most of it, for 18 cts. 

 per pound. 



Now, Mr. Hoot, jou can put this in your waste- 

 basket, if you like. I. just wanted to tell you how 

 well my bees have done. I am looking forward to 

 the time when they will be at woi-k again, with a 

 great deal of pleasure. I love to work with bees. I 

 have often seen poor women trying to get along, 

 perhaps working over the washboard, I always 

 feel as thougli I wanted to ask them why they don't 

 try bee-keeping. It is easy, and I think jjleasant. 

 Mrs. E. E. Coi.l. 



Gi'oveland, Adair Co., Iowa, Jan. 5, 1885. 



My friend. I am very glad indeed to get so 

 good a report ; but why in tlie world didn't 

 you tell us how mucli honey you got in 1884, 

 as the proceeds of that half-pound of bees 

 and queen V— Over UOO lbs. of comb honey 

 from a colony is a pretty good report for any 



locality, and I think a good deal of the cred- 

 it is due to the kind of management you de- 

 scribe in the above. 



A GOOD REPORT FROM MICHIG.XN. 



1 commenced with.')") stands; increased to (3:1; ob- 

 tained 2500 lbs. of very nice white-clover and bass- 

 wood honey in one-pound sections. The season 

 was poor in this part of Michigan. J. J. Roe. 



liiieliiuiiin. Mich.. Feb. 11, 1885. 



report. 



We have a very severe winter. The thermometer 

 is playing between zero and 20 below. On the 3d of 

 February the bees had a good flight; no sign of dys- 

 entery then; lost one, which was a late swarm, and 

 a small one at that. I have "0 now, and hope they 

 will pull through all right, for they have plenty of 

 stores yet. They are all on the summer stands, 

 some packed in chatf and forest-leaves, the others 

 protected on top only with leaves in the caps, and 1 

 can tell no diftorence between those packed and 

 those not imcked. I will report in the spring, 

 thoutili. .1. W. Stirwoi.d. 



HavmoiKl, liid.,Feb. 14, 1885. 



from (> TO 16, AXD "80 LBS. OK HONF.V. 



1 started bee-keeping last April, with six stands 

 of liees that I liought of a neighbor. I also got one 

 of your A H (' books; found it a great help to me. 

 as I had never handled bees before. I got along- 

 very well until one night in the first part of June, 

 when some mischievous boys carried one of the 

 best stands about thirty rods away from the apiary, 

 and destroyed the bees, so it reduced me down to 

 five. They increased to H stands by natural swarm- 

 ing, and gave me 380 lbs. of extracted honey. I 

 have sold almost all of it for 13 cents per lb.; took 

 tliem in on the 2fth of Nov., all in fine order up to 

 date. This is a rather small repoi-t, but I will try to 

 improve from it in the future. E. A. Fi.iGO. 



Oxmead, Can., Jan. 2T, 1885. 



FROM 50 TO 88, AND GOOO LBS. OF IIOXEV. 



As Others are sending in their reports for the past 

 season, I will send mine. I started in last spring 

 with .50 good colonies. They commenced swarming 

 the lOth of June; swarmed rather too much, but I 

 doubled up so that in the fall I had but 38 increase. 

 I have taken off 3000 lbs. of honey in 1-lb. sections, 

 which I sold for from 124 to 15 cts. per lb. I have 

 TO colonies in the cellar, 18 in a pit, the first that I 

 ever buried. AYc have a regular Wisconsin winter- 

 cold, but not changeable. As you know, I got u 

 fdn. mill from you that works finely. I am fixed to 

 make my own hives for this season; will do it all 

 by horse-pcwer. 1 expect you will have to furnish 

 me with sections, at least lor this year. My repoi-t 

 is not large, but keeps inc out f)f Heports Discour- 

 aging. Joux Clixk. 



Fa.veltc. Wis.. I'cb. 8, 18,^5. 



Fi!<>>: oxi; lo I'., AXD 75 lb.s. of hoxkv i.\xi> mouk 



TOO), IX TWO YEARS. 



Having noticed in Gleanings that your ABC 

 scholars have pretty generally reported to you of 

 their success or failure in regard to bee culture, 

 and as 1 belong to the A IJ C class, I will send you 

 my report. Although past fifty, yet quite young in 

 bee culture, and have much to learn, yet I feel 

 well satisfied with my experience thus far, and 

 take great pleasure in taking care of my little 

 friends, the bees, and desire to return my sincere 



