2l() 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Mar. 



he would paste small labels on each package to 

 indicate first, second, and third quality, etc., and 

 then divide the whole lot of several grades among 

 the commission merchants, he would avoid some of 

 the evils of competition hinted at by some of the 

 respondents to the Question-Box. If Jones or 

 Smith stops at A's commission store, and inquires 

 the price of honey, and then goes to B's shop, Jones 

 or Smith will find the same quality, and then there 

 will be no chance for Jones or Smith to go back to 

 A's store and say they can obtain honey at B's shop 

 at a less figure. The commission merchants are 

 generally up in the morning, and wide awake; they 

 know the quality of goods others are handling. So 

 T think Mr. E. E. Hasty is correct in using for ex- 

 ample, the proverb that says, " Don't put all your 

 eggs in one basket." Horace F. GresSman. 



"Water Valley, N. Y., March 4, 1889. 



I am exceedingly obliged to you for put- 

 ting in a good word in favor of commission 

 merchants. There has been altogether too 

 much fault found through the bee-journals 

 and agricultural papers with this class of 

 neighbors of ours. They do have enemies, 

 I know ; and many times it is because they 

 are so far away that the one who intrusts 

 them with his produce can not well get ac- 

 quainted with them as he does with near 

 neighbors. I do not mean that there are 

 not some bad men among them ; but if you 

 consult your nearest bank, I think they can 

 tell you almost every time which ones are 

 honest and trustworthy. Sending produce 

 to somebody whom you do not know is like 

 jumping in the dark. I do not quite like 

 your idea of two one-horse loads in place of 

 one two-horse load. The former would 

 take an extra man, and I think your people 

 had better be educated instead of being en- 

 couraged in such notions. I believe it is 

 true, that commission men, at least the suc- 

 cessful ones, are up in the morning, and 

 wide awake ; and if bee-men are not also, 

 they don't deserve success. 



SOMETHING ABOUT THE SIZE OF THE 



BROOD-CHAMBER. 



C. J. H. GRAVENHORST S VIEWS. 



T NEVER am more delighted by reading the 

 /If American bee-papers than at that moment 

 Til when the author holds with me in an opinion 

 **■ got by carefully conducted experiments. I 

 think there must be some truth in it, if two 

 men, living in different parts of the globe, come to 

 one and the same conclusion, and agree, therefore, 

 with one another. At least I felt so by reading the 

 excellent article in Gleanings, No. 1, 1889, by Mr. 

 Doolittle, under the head, "Something about Bee- 

 hives." He says: "By many carefully conducted 

 experiments I found that queens, as a rule, would 

 not occupy more than 800 square inches of comb 

 with brood for any length of time." In order to in- 

 Bure success, and not to get any pollen in the sec- 

 tions, Doolittle allows 200 square inches of comb 

 above the 800 the queen occupied, so that he has 

 1000 square inches of comb space, or about 1500 cu- 

 bic inches, as the right size for the brood-chamber, 

 regardless of what style of frame is used. " Of 

 course," says Mr. Doolittle, " the frames one has in 

 use will not always give just the number of square 



inches inside of them which is required, but we can 

 use the number which comes nearest to it." That 

 is to say, it matters not whether we allow a few 

 square inches of comb more or less than 1000 for the 

 brood-chamber, but this number is sufficient, and 

 more are not needed. Of course, Mr. Doolittle 

 knows as well as I and many other experienced 

 bee-keepers, that, as we have sometimes dwarfs 

 and giants among men and animals, so we have al- 

 so small and big colonies in our apiaries, according 

 to the fertility of the queens, aside from other cir- 

 cumstances. Now, I think we are on the right way 

 if we have regard to this, and construct the brood- 

 chambers of our hives neither for dwarfs nor 

 giants, but for standard colonies; that is to say, 

 such colonies as are in the best working order. 



As far as I know from what I have read in the 

 American bee-papers, the climate and honey re- 

 sources at the Home of the Honey-bees in Medina, 

 Ohio, and at the home of Mr. Doolittle, are similar 

 if not equal, as in most sections of Germany, so that 

 our standard colonies need only a brood-chamber 

 of 1000 square inches to remain in full working or- 

 der. May be that the standard working condition 

 of colonies is not the same in all countries, accord- 

 ing to the climate and the honey resources, and 

 that in some sections it may be better to construct 

 the brood-chamber much larger than 1000 square 

 inches of comb space; but that must not lead us 

 the wrong way in our own country. 



By using 1000 square inches of comb, Doolittle has 

 in the brood-chamber 50,000 cells for brood-rearing, 

 if one square inch on each side of the comb has 25 

 cells. I have in the brood-chambers of my hives 

 51,000 cells in 9 frames. Now, let us see if 50,000 cells 

 are enough for brood-rearing in order to have a 

 good colony in full strength. No one has made 

 more carefully conducted experiments to find out 

 the number of bees in a swarm than the Baron von 

 Berlepsch, so far as I know. He tells us in his 

 book that a strong swarm of bees in a well-con- 

 ducted apiary contains 20,000 to 22,000 workers. 

 Such a swarm, he says, is in the best working or- 

 der, if it is doubled so that it has 40,000 to 44,000 bees. 

 If every bee lives six weeks at the time of their ut- 

 most working, then the bees will be doubled within 

 six weeks. In order to breed 44,000 bees there must 

 be 44,000 cells, besides the cells for honey-storing. 

 If the queen is very prolific, and deposits only 2200 

 eggs daily, there would be, within 20 days, 44,000 

 eggs in the combs; there are in six weeks, more 

 than 88,000 eggs. The hive would be double filled, 

 even if all swarm bees had lived only six weeks. In 

 order to have a colony of 40,000 or 44,000 bees in full 

 strength it is only necessary that the queen deposit 

 1100 eggs daily during 40 or 44 days. Therefore 11 00 

 square inches of worker comb is sufficient for the 

 brood-chamber, where the climate and honey re- 

 sources are similar, as at the home of Mr. Doolittle 

 or in Germany. C. J. H. Gravenhorst. 



Wilsnack, Germany. 



It rejoices our hearts to get a word now 

 and then from good friends like yourself, 

 away off across the water; and we feel 

 proud to have you indorse friend Doolittle. 

 If your conclusions are correct, bee-keepers 

 should not spend too much time in hunting 

 up better locations. They should bear in 

 mind that success is not achieved in Medina, 

 in Borodino, nor even away over in Ger- 

 many, without hard, earnest work. 



