402 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



May 



will be much more abundant than when electric 

 shocks are less frequent. 



When the lightnings flash and threaten our lives. 



The bees « ill be sure to till up ! heir hives. 



By the use of scales we are enabled to ascertain 

 the'value of the different plants from which come 

 our surplus. 1 deem it very essential that we 

 should know this, as I find there is a great variation 

 in the amount of nectar secreted by honey-plants in 

 different localities. For instance: Clover may yield 

 abundantly near the home apiary, when three miles 

 away, but little honey will be gathered from that 

 source, although the bees in the out-apiary may ap- 

 pear to be working lively; when, by consulting- the 

 scales, we discover that but very little is being- 

 stored there, when if we had no scales to indicate 

 to us the scarcity of honey in that vicinity, we 

 should be at a loss to know why the sections are 

 not being filled as fast at this out apiary as at home. 

 It is but very little trouble to prepare a scale hive. 

 Simply set the scales level both ways and place the 

 hive on them, and prevent swarming if possible; 

 and every morning, early, balance the scales and 

 record the gain, or loss, for the past twenty-four 

 hours. I use common cheap platform scales, that 

 cost but $3.50 each. It will be seen that there are 

 many advantages to be derived by the use of scales 

 in the apiary. I would not think of running an api- 

 ary without having a colony on scales; and if I had 

 twenty apiaries, I would have twenty sets of scales, 

 one set for each apiary. I give the records of two 

 seasons, to show the difference in the length of 

 time bees have to gather a surplus here in Vermont. 



RECORD FOR 1875. RECORD FOR 1885. 



Date. Lbs. Date. Lbs. 



June 17 5J4 June 15 ... 1 



18.... 4 16.... 2 



19 .... 5 ort , i^ 



20.... 6 u 20 --- 1 g 



21.... 554 g 22.... 3 $ 



26 •••• r > S. 28.... l A 5 



27.. ..13 5 1 a 



28.... 8 29 ... — 



29.... 9 July 10.... 5 



30.... 9 _ 11 12 



July 1....12 .„ 1R 



2.... 8 6 1-J.-..18 



3 ... 9 g 13. ...21 



*•■•■ m I 14... 27 



6 ••• 2 m 15. ...30 



7.'.'.'. 7 — 16 ...33i/ 2 



8.,-K 17. ...30 



9...19J4 „ ql « 



10 ..18 18.... 31 o 



11... 20 19.... 28 % 



12 20 21) 18 S 



1Q 0111/ • «U .. lo (g 



14 .. 17 O 21.... 8 pq 



15. ...17 % 22.. V s 



16 • -.15 g> Season closed. 



17 11 03 



is.... 9 m 



19.... 5 



20.... 4 



21.... 2 



22.... 



Season closed. 



It will be seen that in 1875 there were 31 days in 

 which there was a surplus, while in 1885 there were 

 but 18 days in which there was any gain, though in 

 1885 my surplus was all gathered in 12 days, the rest 

 being stored in the brood-combs. A. E. Manum. 

 Bristol, Vt. 



There is one thing that surprises me in 

 the above report, and I am still more sur- 

 prised that neither yourself nor the editor 

 of the Bee Hive seems to think it any thing 

 remarkable. In 1875 your best yield in a 

 single day was 20* lbs. This is remarkable ; 

 but when we read that, ten years later, one 

 colony made 33^ lbs., in a single day, we be- 

 gin to think your bees must have gained 

 skill and wisdom, as well as yourself, dur- 

 ing the ten years past. May be I have for- 

 gotten, but I do not remember any such re- 

 port of one hive in one day since the time of 

 friend Hosmer. You must have a wonder- 

 ful basswood pasturage in your vicinity. I 



think I might almost promise to make a 

 trip to Vermont to sit down beside a hive 

 of bees and see them " lug in " even 30 lbs. 

 of honey between daylight and dark. Please 

 tell us, will you not? something about your 

 wonderful basswood pasturage. I once had 

 a colony that made me a clean 10 lbs. on 

 clover during one day, and that day was 

 Sunday too, so I could watch them a great 

 part of the time— at least 1 did in those 

 days, years ago. In 1885, however, the 

 best that clover could do was 3 lbs. We hope 

 clover has improved with you since then. 

 If using white poplar for sections in your 

 vicinity has been the means of sparing the 

 basswood, you have still another reason to 

 thank God for white poplar. Your figures 

 above teach us another lesson : If basswood 

 is to be cut down, and no more be planted, 

 at the rate it is now going it will be almost 

 the ruin of bee culture. How much profit 

 would you have had during the two years 

 given above, without basswood? Is any- 

 body planting basswood orchards but my- 

 self? Ours is big enough now so that Er- 

 nest is talking of locating an apiary right 

 near the basswood orchard. He has bought 

 a pony already, to ride back and forth— so 

 much toward the enterprise. 



DOUBLING IN TEN DAYS. 



THE MERRY HUM OF SWARMING AND OF INCOMING 

 LADEN BEES; THE BOY BEE-KEEPER, AGAIN. 



E had almost drifted out of the brotherhood 

 since leaving the merry hum of a hundred 

 colonies of golden Italians at the old home- 

 stead in romantic Georgia; but this season 

 finds us again in the ring. In addition to 

 our individual interests, a near neighbor with four 

 colonies of good Italians insisted on turning the 

 same, as they stood, into our hands. These bees 

 were in single-story Langstroth hives, and stood on 

 their winter stands, without having been so much 

 as examined this spring, when we took charge, and 

 one had swarmed and fled to the woods. Ten days 

 thereafter we had increased, without the use of 

 foundation, to eight colonies; and to-night, at the 

 end of the thirteenth day, we have here nine full 

 colonies and two two-frame nuclei with queens. 

 We have taken about 25 pounds of comb honey, 

 and some of the hives are literally packed with 

 honey to overflowing, as was one of the original 

 colonies when the tender comb fell down and two- 

 thirds of the bees were drowned in the honey. In 

 consequence of this disaster this colony has played 

 little part in our increase. To begin with, we made 

 an artificial swarm from one colony, giving three 

 frames of brood and six empty frames on the old 

 stand; in ten days they sent out a good swarm from 

 a full hive, and retained a lively young queen. Of 

 course, these bees had plenty of brood and workers 

 to commence with; but they have "got there, Eli," 

 at a lively rate, and it takes our best to keep tbem 

 in the hives, as they have the swarming mania 

 worse than any thing. The " Boy Bee-keeper " is 

 again with the ABC class; but when it comes to a 

 spring run and a big honey-flow, just pass us the 

 cake. We think some of Bro. Root's colonies could 

 score 100 pounds in any ten days this spring, if he'd 

 just send 'em down here. Charlie R. Mitchel. 

 Ocala, Fla., Mar. 30, 1889. 



