236 



(;1J';a.\i.\'(;s in ukK cu]/ruiu<:. 



Apr. 



know the fate of the others, except 15 that are in 

 the cellar. 



" Storm-kinff passed by their darkened door." 



If these 15 should live till May flowers offer their 

 precious cups of nectar, the children may still have 

 honey on their bread and butter. 



Shall I quit? If I do I shall not be much the loser 

 financially, calculating- from the beginning; and I 

 think I am wiser and better from experience and 

 after reading- our wise and prudent apiarists. Their 

 terms are almost household words; from " Harbi- 

 son's sandy strain, from Perrine"s floatingskeps, and 

 the dizzy heights of the tiny towns of King and Muth 

 to"— the perfected "home of the honey-bee." 



Bedford, Iowa, Feb. 28, 1885. Marcus Wight. 



Friend W.,I should say, by no means quit. 

 If cellar wintering turns "out tlie best in 

 your locality, winter in the cellar ; l)ut, have 

 you given nicely made chaft" liives a thorough 

 trial':' Yesterday morning, while waiting 

 for the train, one of our bee-men at a neigli- 

 boring town remarked that he had already 

 lost 20 out of 40 ; but on further questioning 

 he admitted tliey were in Simplicity hives, 

 and he was not siire lie fed tliem enougli in 

 the fall. Our apiarist reported Tliursday, 

 March -5, that our 198 colonies had all pass- 

 ed safely tli rough the severe weather of tlie 

 past eight weeks. At times the thermometer 

 has been 18 degrees below zero, and it was 

 below zero more or less every few days for 

 a period of five or six weeks ; but. as I told 

 you last fall, they were put up in excellent 

 "order, and had every thing just as it should 

 be, or as near as we knew how. 



OUR FRIEND GALLUP AGAIN. 



He Tells Us Something About the Great 

 Honey Crop of 1S84. 



IS CALIFORNIA A GOOD PLACE FOI5 A M.\N TO 

 MAKE A LIVING? 



fHE article on page 2^, Jan. No., has called out 

 scores of letters of inquiry; and if you will 

 allow, I will give some statements of general 

 interest. The aggregate yield of honey in 

 1884 for California is about nine million 

 pounds— enough to give every man, woman, and 

 child in the United States a feed of California 

 honey, and still have some left for company. A 

 writer in one of our papers says it would load 600 

 freight cars, or a train nearly 5 miles in length; or, 

 put up in a style of bottle largely used here, and 

 placed 8 feet apart, it would reach from San Fran- 

 cisco around tne globe, and meet again at the Gold- 

 en Gate, and still there are millions of tons of this 

 sweet not gathered, for reasons that I can not stop 

 to enumerate now. 



The most frequent question that I am asked is, 

 "Could I,with 1000 or 1200 dollars, inakca coml'ortable 

 living in California?" With that amount you could 

 purchase a bee and stock i-anch combined, and 

 already stocked with bees. I know of three places 

 now, and two of them are within one mile of a 

 schoolhousc, and the other is within one mile of 

 the celebrated San Juan hot springs, where there 

 are from ;5!)0 to .500 campers, every summer. Hut if 

 you could not make a living with that amount, it 

 would be the easiest thing out to let some sharper 

 get it away from you, and -vvithout it you could cer- 

 tainly get a good living. 



My oldest sou has been out here oh a visit from 

 Northern Iowa this winter; and what astonished 

 him was, that he could not find a single person that 

 wanted to go back cast to live. We tramped some 

 ten days among the bee-keepers, and the most of 

 them came here broken down in health, and with- 

 out money, and have gained their health, and have 

 good homes, and are perfectly satisfied with their 

 lot. Health is worth every thing; and as near as I 

 can learn we have the most healthful climate in 

 the known world. While we were tramping we saw 

 a large swarm of Italian bees with their combs, 

 brood, and stores, all built on a bush right in the 

 open air, and within two rods was probably the 

 parent stock in a hollow live-oak tree. This was 

 the 18th of February. The comb looked clean and 

 nice. It was about 18 inches from the ground, and 

 the sheets were about 18 inches long. The colony 

 was a powerful strong one, and they were carrying 

 in the pollen on all sides at a wonderful rate. We 

 left them there undisturbed. There is no patent on 

 that hive. 



Bees are in remarkably good condidion; and if we 

 have but a small supply of spring rain which we 

 usually have, the season must be a good one. A 

 man can stick down a fig antf grape cutting here, 

 and then (literally) sit down under his own vine and 

 tig-tree, and there is none to make him afraid. 



I am nearly 65; came here 8 years ago, complete- 

 ly broken down in health; have regained my health, 

 and am strong and vigorous, and would not hesitate 

 to commence again with 520 dollars, or even less, 

 and raise an orchard that would astonish an eastern 

 man as to growth and productiveness in three 

 years. E. Gallup. 



Santa Ana, California. 



Thank you, friend G. At the bee-keepers' 

 congress in New Orleans there was some 

 stir about the extravagant reports made 

 about California, and I believe the decision 

 was, by those who ought to know, that con- 

 siderable exaggeration had crept in some- 

 liow. Those who are restless and uneasy, 

 and want to iind a better country, should al- 

 ways keep in mind tliat some people will 

 make a living anywhere, and help others to 

 make a living ; and tlien, again, there are a 

 great many who iro)t't make a living any- 

 where, ])ut who will hinder others a good 

 deal. This latter class would probably only 

 waste more money by moving to C'alifornia. 

 We are glad to rejoice witli you in your 

 greiit honey crop ; and one of the best 

 things about it is, that it is beautiful honey 

 too. 



WINTERING BEES. 



OUll FIMKXD DAN WHITE UTTERS SOME WORDS OF 

 WISDOM. 



fHIS problem has been discussed enough to 

 have the thing solved; but as this has been 

 a severe winter, and bees have suffered by 

 it, the pollen theory and every other theory 

 will come up again. As far as I can learn 

 about here, there has been a general cleaning-out; 

 especially bees in singlc-walled hives are all or near- 

 ly all gone. I expect to hear like reports from all 

 the Northern States. Some have lost heavily in 

 chaff hives. I have to report a loss of 7, being the 

 first time for me to lose a colony in a chaff hive. I 



