20 



(iLEANINGS IN HEE CULTURE. 



Jan. 



Thej don'l make boney. It's got to be in the flow- 

 ers, or the bees can't get it out, but I'm bound to 

 stick till the Lord Bends the early and latter rain, 



according to promise. It's the only thing to do. 

 Vmi know what Poor Richard used tosny: A roll- 

 ing stone gathers no moss.' After a man has got 

 every thing fixed to keep bees, it's the foolisbest 

 kind of folly for him to surrender and admit he is 

 licked because there happens to be one or two bad 

 seasons. There's nothing in Ihis world that I know 

 of that is always on the high road to prosperity 

 without work, and sometimes there's a deal of wait- 

 ing too." Reported by Eugene Secok. 



Friend Secor, you are lucky in having 

 Deacon Smith for a neighbor. Don't mind 

 the apples. When he gets a going, ji st give 

 him plenty of rope, especially if he exhibits 

 as much wisdom as he has in the above. 

 While in California I was greatly impressed 

 with the very idea the Deacon has brought 

 out. When 200 lbs. or more of nice honey 

 was obtained per colony, a few years ago, a 

 great many started in the business. Some of 

 them have held on to the bees for a couple 

 of years: but at the present time a great 

 many are deserting their bees, or are offer- 

 ing to sell them for a mere " song, 1 " as you 

 express it. Xow, 1 do not mean that one 

 should keep on devoting his whole time, 

 and making outlays, while the seasons are 

 so unpropitious that there is little or no in- 

 come. I believe it is prudent to stop out- 

 lays, and let the bees stand still while there 

 is" nothing in particular to be done with 

 them, keeping a careful watch, of course, 

 that they do not get out of stores and so 

 starve to death. It would be very strange 

 indeed if no more crops of honey w r ere to be 

 secured, such as we had five or ten years 

 ago. If we talk with men in most kinds of 

 business, especially those who raise crops, 

 you will find a good deal of the same state 

 of affairs. It is terribly expensive to learn 

 a trade, and rig up for the profitable work- 

 ing of any kind of business; aud he who 

 abandons, as soon as or shortly after he has 

 got ready for business, must expect to do it 

 at a great sacrifice. Work at something else 

 Lf you choose, while your regular business 

 can not be followed ; hut do not let things 

 go to ruin, or swap them off hastily. 



A GOOD QUESTION. 



tin IJEES BUILD HEAVIER COMBS AT ONE II MI. 



THAN AT ANOTHEliV 



If-* S ('. C. Miller had made some observa- 

 ^fl'. lions on the subject as above, we sent 

 jf* llic following to him: 



Friend Root:— On page so:;, you and .). A. 

 Golden tail to understand why bees build 

 hea\ icr comb at some times than at others. I have 

 noticed for several years, that, during a rushing 

 flow of honey :it any season, and from whatever 

 source, whether clover, buckwheat, or aster, the 

 comb is invariably thin and light; but when honey 

 (Mimes slow ly, the combs are heavier. White clover 

 was almost a total failure here, but buckwheat and 

 asters yielded fairly well. Rukdktt Hassett. 

 Howard Center, Howard Co., Iowa. 

 Mr. Miller replies as follows: 



I do not know that it i6 of practical importance to 

 know why and when bees build heavier or lighter 

 comb; still.it is a matter of interest, and a practi- 

 cal bearing may attach to a subject, although such 

 practical bearing may not appear on the surface. I 

 have some doubts as to the cooler weather of fall 

 making bees slower about drawing out wax, thus 

 making the comb heavier. Bees keep up the heat 

 in the cluster, summer or fall; and if the wax is 

 soft enough to be worked, I suspect they will work 

 it thin one time as well as another. But it is not 

 unreasonable to suppose that, like the human fami- 

 ly, bees will be more lavish in the use of any article 

 which is plentiful. It is not likely that the secre- 

 tion of wax is in exact proportion to the amount of 

 nectar gathered daily. Suppose a heavy flood of 

 honey is being gathered. The bees will secrete wax 

 enough to take care of it, and this secretion is a mat- 

 ter of time. It can not be started or stopped in a 

 minute. When they stop gathering honey at night, 

 the manufacture of wax keeps right on through 

 the night; and it a heavy rain should occupy all the 

 afternoon it is likely the same amount of wax will 

 be secreted as if the bees worked in the field all 

 day. And 1 see no reason, if the bees work all 

 day in the fields, why there should not be just as 

 much wax secreted, whether the field allows a bee 

 to gather a load in 2.i or -ti > minutes In other words, 

 there should be no difference in the wax production, 

 whether the bees store two pounds a day or twice 

 as much. But if the wax is secreted, it will be used 

 in some way, and I suspect that bees are likely to 

 build thicker combs if they have a double supply of 

 wax. If this be the case they might be expected to 

 make thicker cell-walls when the harvest begins to 

 wane. 



Thinking this matter over last evening I said to 

 myself, " If your theory is true, facts ought to sus- 

 tain it. Last summer the yield « as very slow, and 

 you ought to find very heavy comb." 80 1 got a 

 section of honey out of the cupboard to examine. 

 Sure enough, it appeared tome the cell-walls looked 

 thick; but then. I had no other comb to compare it 

 with. I cut out a cubic inch, as nearly as I could 

 estimate it, and chewed it. The resulting wax I 

 rolled into a round ball, and it measured just about 

 half an inch in diameter. That seemed to me like 

 a good bit of wax; but, as before, 1 had nothing to 

 compare with. Friend Boot, try a cubic inch of 

 honey, perhaps of two or more different samples, 

 and tell us how much wax you get from it. Here is 

 another fact that is confirmatory, so far as it goes: 



Last summer the bees made more trouble than I 

 remember ever before, in making bits of white comb 

 where not wanted. In a good many instances they 

 made little sheets of wax arise perpendicularly from 

 the separators, as if trying to increase the width of 

 the separator. They also plugged up crevices as if 

 with propolis, only they used pure white wax. So far 

 as I could judge by looking on, the bees were busy 

 every day; but a total crop of less than a ton from 135 

 colonies shows that the daily yield must have been 

 small, requiring little wax, and allowing plenty for 

 thick cell-« alls and an overplus to be used as bee- 

 glue. By the way, in every lot of bee-glue I think 

 more or less wax will be found on melting. 



SIZE OK APIARIEB. 



The item on page 933, with its comments, "Advan- 

 tages of Small Apiaries," reminds me that it is not 

 safe to base general conclusions on one or two data. 

 \ sijim H apiary "of 12 colonies gave almost enough 



