84 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Feb. 



S. I. FREEBORN'S REPORT FOR 1888. 



ALMOST 120 LBS. PEK COLONY, AND AN INCREASE 

 OF FROM 265 TO 349. 



ijb S requested, I band you my report, also some 

 jL items of our work and success for 1888. 

 P' I put in winter quarters, in the fall of 1887, 

 ^ 300 colonies— 11") at the home yard, and 185 at 

 Sextonville. They were wintered in two un- 

 derground caves, or bee-cellars, 12x24, made with 

 double doors, and covered with three feet of earth, 

 with sub-earth ventilators at the bottom, and a 

 boxed pipe running out at the top for upward ven- 

 tilation. The one at home has a brick chimney, 

 with a stove ready to fire up should circumstances 

 require; but no Are was built when the bees were 

 in, as it never went lower than 42°, and frequently 

 reached 46° above. The hives were ventilated, 

 mostly at the bottom, by raising them one inch in 

 front of the bottom-board, except the lower tier, 

 which was raised one inch all around. 



They wintered fairly well. Most loss was from 

 the death of queens or from starvation. I lost 

 some by being deceived in the weight of the hives, 

 there being a great amount of pollen capped over 

 with the honey. There was so much that the hives 

 were quite heavy after the bees and honey were 

 all out. I commenced taking out bees Apr. 11th; 

 finished Apr. 14th. The spring was very unfavora- 

 ble, and we did more feeding than ever before, in 

 one season. We fed inside of the hives while the 

 weather was cool, to prevent starvation. After- 

 ward we fed in the open air when warm enough to 

 be safe to do so, to promote brood-rearing, and we 

 kept it up far into June, until clover bloomed. So 

 unfavorable was the spring that there were few if 

 any more bees when clover bloomed than when 

 first taken out of the cellar. From all causes, we 

 lost, up to June 1st, 35 colonies, leaving us at home 

 100; at Sextonville, 165 colonies. Our outfit for the 

 season was 265 colonies; 200 supers, or hives, of 

 empty comb; 75 empty hives; 200 pounds of wax; 2 

 extractors; 10 200-pound barrels left over, and 50 

 more engaged, with two young men to help— one 

 from Canada, with some experience, the other only 

 one year from Norway, 18 years old, without experi- 

 ence, but very anxious to get some, and he got it, 

 too, he thinks. These were my outfit to run for ex- 

 tracted honey for 1888. From the outlook I thought 

 the above sufficient, especially as white clover was 

 badly killed with us, and it was the off year for 

 basswood. White clover amounted to but little in 

 the way of surplus; but with the aid of sumac, 

 lion's-heart, and other sources, bees were in fair 

 condition for basswood harvest, which commenced 

 about July 12th and lasted 16 days. 



Our 165 colonies at Sextonville are near the tim- 

 ber, and were not moved during the season. The 

 home lot had to fly about four miles to get to much 

 basswood. We moved 35 into the timber, and in 

 tended to move the rest; but the roads were so ex- 

 ceedingly rough at the time, that we gave it up. 

 Those that we moved did finely, gathering much 

 faster than those at home, thus showing that, 

 though bees will carry honey from four to six miles, 

 they can gather it much faster nearer home. 



During the 16 days of basswood harvest we real- 

 ized how fully employed 265 colonies could keep 

 three or four men when they fairly got on a ram- 

 page. They worked and swarmed with a ven- 

 geance; and had we used all of our surplus hives 



and combs we could soon have had them filled with 

 young swarms. I think about 1000 would have been 

 their capacity if we had let them have their will in 

 the matter; but by fooling them every way we 

 could, we had only &53 at the end of the season. 



Our surplus of basswood honey was 18,000 pounds. 

 After basswood we moved the 35 that we moved to 

 timber and 76 left at home, 18 miles, to work on 

 mint or any thing else they pleased to get. 



The moving of these bees proved to be the most 

 disastrous of any of my experiences. The night 

 the first lot was ready to go was the hottest night 

 of the season; and for the first time in my experi- 

 ence, being unable to attend to it personally, I was 

 obliged to see the boys start with 3 load? (35 

 swarms), without me. The result showed that 1 had 

 good reason for apprehension, for they had the 

 luck to kill 16 colonies. We moved the rest, and 

 had 90 left out of the 106. They made about 7000 

 pounds of mint honey in the three weeks that it 

 lasted. The mint proves to be a fine honey-pro- 

 ducing plant; it stands drought like a salamander, 

 and rain affects it but little. It seems to me that it 

 might be the most promising plant to raise for 

 honey of any thing in my knowledge, especially 

 where the ground is sandy. 



The Sextonville lot were about 5 miles from the 

 Wisconsin River, but they carried considerable mint 

 honey that distance. It was somewhat mixed with 

 fall honey. We took from them 6000 pounds more, 

 which makes our crop 31,000 pounds of extracted 

 honey, and 600 lbs. of comb honey. With better 

 preparation I could have done better, as I could 

 have used with profit more foundation. I had 

 about 60 hives of full drawn-out comb, but I could 

 riot stop extracting to prepare more. I am glad 

 and thankful to get the crop that I did. 



My profit comes from the sale of honey, as I sell 

 no queens or supplies. To get this 31,600 pounds of 

 honey cost a great amount of work with teams, 

 men, and brains. I don't see how cripples or lazy 

 folks could handle them if they did it the way we 

 did. Our 349 colonies are in the cellars before men- 

 tioned; 130 at home, 219 at Sextonville; one queen- 

 less, and I sold 3 swarms. S. I. Freeborn. 



Ithaca, Wis., Dec. 20, 1888. 



Friend F., the above is indeed refreshing. 

 Ernest remarks that it sounds like old times 

 instead of like a report for the season of 

 1888. Now, besides your yield of honey, you 

 have given us some very important facts 

 which need a little emphasis. One is, that it 

 does pay to have bees as well as every thing 

 else close to their work. The bees that had 

 to fly about four miles did something, but 

 not very much. The 35 colonies that were 

 moved, at once gathered honey much faster 

 than those left at home. I suppose the 

 great secret of your success is the immense 

 basswood forests you have written us about 

 before. If you have a good season next 

 year, if you will send me a telegram at its 

 highest I will try to go up and report for 

 the readers of Gleanings In regard to 

 the mint mentioned in the above letter, I 

 will explain to our readers that friend F. 

 has sent us a sample of the honey, and a 

 package of the plants, with the accompany- 

 ing letter : 



We send you a sample of mint honey, or, as some 

 call it, " bergamot," which to our taste is prefera- 

 ble to the famous white-sage honey of California, 



