550 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



July 



a, b. This depends upon distance and other 

 tilings. It will cost from 10 to 15 cents percolony to 

 move them a distance of 10 or 15 miles, figuring 

 hauling, etc. It depends, of course, a great deal 

 upon the condition of the hive and season of the 

 year. In the spring and fall, when there are no 

 supers to trouble with, I can prepare 20 colonies 

 (one load) for hauling in about an hour. I always 

 use a notched cross bar in the bottom of the hive to 

 hold the frames apart, and also have the ends of 

 the frame rest in notches, so that all I need to do is 

 to screw down the cover and tack a screen across 

 the portico. Geo. Grimm. 



a. With me a teamster has made ordinary wages 

 in hauling my bees 20 miles for 12'/2 cents per hive. 

 He would take on SO hives with four horses and a 

 trail (a wagon hitched on behind), at a load; but 

 with me I would add another I2y 3 cents for prepar- 

 ing the hives to ship (I do not use close-fitting 

 frames), and the disadvantages from bees, mixing 

 up by change of locality. Besides this, and what 

 would deter me from moving much more than the 

 cost, is the dread of mishaps from teams, although 

 I have been hauling them a great deal for the last 

 thirty years, with no greater loss than the breaking 

 of a wagon-tongue; but I know there is constant 

 danger; but with two men (one of them a bee-man), 

 with two horses easily detached from the wagon, 

 they can be moved with almost positive safety, b. 

 Ordinarily I would say, certainly not. K. Wilkin. 



a. I winter my bees in a cellar at the out-apiary. 

 There is no cartage expense. If they were brought 

 home, the cost would depend on many things— time 

 in preparing bees for cartage, number of colonies 

 to be carted, distance, and whether one or two 

 horses, etc., were employed. As I fix my hives for 

 carting, I would estimate the cost of moving 100 

 colonies to and from the home yard at 15 cents per 

 colony, for a distance of not over five miles, b. I 

 do not consider the carting much of an item. I 

 would itemize the foregoing as follows, from the 

 home apiary: 



33 hives at a load, distance 5 miles, cost 

 of team per trip, $2.01). Three loads, #6.00 



To home apiary, 0.00 



Two hours' work preparing 33 swarms 

 for cartage, about 4 minutes to a 

 swarm, 25 cents per hour, or for 

 the 100 colonies for two movings, 3.00 



Total $15.00 



The above team's work, I think, could be done 

 even cheaper for the distance, in my locality. 



Rambler. 



The above seems to cover the whole 

 ground so thoroughly that I do not know 

 that I have any thing to add. I was quite 

 interested in what R. Wilkin has to say ; 

 for in California they do a great deal more 

 moving of bees than we do ; and it will for 

 ever remain a mystery to me how they car- 

 ry bees up in the canyons, especially such a 

 one as I first passed up in company with 

 friend Wilkin, and Mr. and Mrs. Mercer. It 

 seemed to me that the only way to get up 

 there was to carry one hive at a time, by 

 hand, through the worst places. Our folks 

 here in Ohio would have said, without hes- 

 itation, that it would be madness to think 

 of driving a horse and buggy through such 

 passages, leaving bees entirely out of the 

 question. 



We solicit for this department short items and questions of 

 a practical nature; bat all questions, if accompanied by oth- 

 er matter, must lie put upon a separate slip of paper with 

 name and address. 



Please do not forget those apple-barrels that were 

 the shape of a stovepipe. Please tell Ernest to give 

 us Our Own Apiary at least four times a year. 



Dorr, Mich. John Short. 



COCKROACHES. 



Mr. W. L. Coggshall, West Groton, N. Y., sends me 

 some cockroaches, with two of the egg capsules. He 

 asks me to give habits, etc., through Gleanings. 

 As I have already done so on p. 882, 1888, it is not 

 necessary to repeat it. They are doubtless about 

 his hives for warmth and shelter, and possibly for 

 honey. A. J. Cook. 



Agricultural College, Mich., June 5, 1889. 



O. O. POPPLETON AND THE ORANGE-BLOSSOM HON- 

 EY. 



I protest against the statement made by Mr. O. O. 

 Poppletou, regarding orange-blossom honey, page 

 444. It is the surest crop of honey of any during the 

 year; but bees are not always in condition to store 

 it in great quantities; but it always starts a boom 

 in brood-rearing, and with me it is the best season 

 for queen-rearing. They worked 6 weeks on it this 

 spring. The conditions were good. 1 have had 5 

 years' experience. Nellie Adams. 



Sorrento, Fla., June 5, 1889. 



ARE BEES TAXABLE PROPERTY V 



Are bees taxable? T am the assessor of this town- 

 ship. I was also assessor last year. I have not list- 

 ed bees for taxation, neither have my predecessors. 

 I told the pro-ceding assessors they were not. I 

 gained that impressiou from Gleanings. 



D. P. Lister. 



Lac-qui-parle, Minn., June 10, 1889. 



[We have for a good many years paid taxes on 

 our bees. The matter was discussed at some 

 length in Gleanings several years ago. Doolittle 

 and some others thought bees should not be taxed, 

 while I took theground that they were just as much 

 property as horses, sheep, or cattle. In some 

 places they tax thern and in others they do not. I 

 prefer to have our bees taxed, because it gives me 

 a clearer conscience.] 



FROM BOOMING TO DOING NOTHING. 



I wrote you last week that " bees were booming 

 here." They were at that time; but the very next 

 day the weather changed from warm and pleasant 

 to cold and wet, and the bees have done nothing for 

 nearly a week. Hence some of my neighbor bee- 

 keepers are getting a little "blue; " but, not 7— oh, 

 no! I have lots of courage yet in reserve, hence I 

 am hoping, and shall continue to hope to the last. 



Bristol, Vt., June 10, 1889. A. E. Manum. 



ON THE VERGE OF STARVATION. 



Bees have been on the verge of starvation for 

 several weeks during the continued cold stormy 

 weather that has prevailed. Mauy have actually 

 perished, and those not actually dead are badly de- 

 moralized. I have visited a number of apiaries, 

 and tind this condition prevailing everywhere. 

 White clover is coming forward now, so that they 

 are getting enough from day to day to just barely 

 keep the wolf from the door. Careful watching 

 and feeding has saved mine, but not without con- 

 siderable damage. H. R. Boardman. 



East Townsend, ()., June 11, 1889. 



