660 



GLEANINGS LN BEE CULTURE. 



Aug. 



long as only one apiary was kept. If you have 

 only a single colony, you will probably remember 

 all about it without book, slate, or stone. 



As the number of colonies increases, the demand 

 becomes more imperative for some aid to the mem- 

 ory. Still, with even a hundred colonies I knew 

 my colonies somewhat as I would know a herd of 

 cows, and a glance over the apiary would bring to 

 mind pretty well the condition of the different colo- 

 nies, and what was to be done. But when it comes 

 to having more than one apiary, especially if there 

 are several, you can't run out and in five minutes 

 see what shape you left any hive in at last visit. 

 With the record-book you can sit at home and look 

 over the condition of all your apiaries, and on a 

 rainy day you can do this just as well, when you 

 would not like to be out looking over your slates. 

 It is sometimes pleasant and profitable to look over 

 the records of past years, and a comparison of 

 them in long winter evenings may be of some 

 value. 



A 20 cent blank book makes a good record-book, 

 and it will be found convenient to have a pencil 

 tied to it with a string. A pencil is better than ink, 

 for it may sometimes get wet. C. C. Miller. 



Marengo, 111. 



There are some things in favor of the book 

 plan. The fact that the condition of the 

 apiary may be noted on a rainy day, and 

 preparations and plans be made for work 

 when the weather clears up, is quite an 

 item in its favor. As you know, we use 

 slates on each hive, and do not make use of 

 numbers. Since we have had the apiary 

 located at the bass wood orchard, we have 

 been filling orders for bees and queens from 

 this place. Sometimes we have gone down 

 with the horse and wagon, and taken with 

 us an order-book. Not knowing the condi- 

 tion of the apiary, any more definitely than 

 memory would indicate, we found that, on 

 several occasions, we were unable to fill the 

 orders which we expected to, at that apiary ; 

 and even after having arrived there, in 

 order to find out where a two-frame nucleus 

 or a select tested queen could be obtained, 

 we might have to glance over the slates of 

 herhaps two dozen hives before we found 

 what we wanted. This entailed the neces- 

 sity of carrying with us a smoker, shipping- 

 box, etc. With the record-book we could 

 have determined beforehand just where the 

 order could be filled ; and instead of run- 

 ning all over the apiary, have made a bee- 

 line for the spot. On several occasions I 

 have gone into our home apiary and made 

 some alterations in one or two hives, in the 

 absence of our apiarist, Mr. Spafford. As 

 we have no numberings to our hives, I 

 could not tell him in the office when I saw 

 him next which hives I had changed, other 

 than by a certain bungling circumlocution 

 which might be something after this fash- 

 ion : 



Mr. Spafford comes in in the morning, 

 and inquires after the work, when this con- 

 versation takes place : 



t; Oh ! by the way, before you came this 

 morning I rilled an order for an untested 

 queen, in the north apiary — let me see— in 

 the third row from the north side, fourth 

 hive from the end, counting from the west." 



Mr. Spafford looks at me a little puzzled, 



" In the north apiary, you say V " he re- 

 peats ; "in the fourth row, and — " 



He has gotten it wrong, and I interrupt 

 him by saying the third row. Several times, 

 as I could not not tell directly, I have had 

 to go out and point out the hive. Now, 

 then, if the hive had been numbered I could 

 have said, " From No. 123 I have sold a 

 select tested queen. From No 206 I took 

 out a best imported." Knowing the loca- 

 tion of the various hives, or about where 

 the various numbers should be, he can 

 make a bee-line for it. To the former he 

 can give a cell or hatched queen, and the 

 latter he can start to raising cells. If we 

 should adopt the book plan, I should not 

 care to dispense with the very convenient 

 slates. If the two could be combined in 

 some way, I should like it better. As to 

 the numbering of hives, I am sure it is a 

 convenience many times. Ernest. 



P0JVEY jSWMgJFICg 



FROM ALL PARTS OF THE UNITED STATES. 



In order to read understandingly the reports given below, it 

 will be necessary to observe the following points: First, the 

 State is given ; then next in their order are the names of the 

 reporters, with their respective postoftlces. To indicate local- 

 ity, the usual abbrevations are used — N.,S.. E.and W., for 

 north, south, east, and west; N. E. for north-east, etc. The 

 letter C indicates the word " central;" E. C, east central, etc. 

 In the following list, the first figure represents the month, and 

 the second figure the date at which the report was rendered. 

 The small letters, a, b, c, d, etc., indicate the answers to the 

 questions propounded in questions a, b, c, etc., just below. 



E decided Jx) send out the same set of 

 questions that we did a year ago 

 last July, in order that we might 

 the better get the comparative re- 

 sults of the two seasons. Although 

 the entire honey crop has not been taken off 

 the hives in all localities, yet a report is 

 rendered which shows quite decidedly 

 which way the wind blows, as affecting the 

 price of honey and the average production 

 throughout the United States. The ques- 

 tions which we submitted are as follows : 



(a.) What is new comb honey wiling at in your 

 vicinity? 



(b.) What is new extracted honey selling at? 



(c.) What per cent of an average crop of honey <lu 

 you estimate has been secured in your vicinity this 

 season? Please answer this question simply by per 

 cent; for instance, 50, 75, 175, or 200 per cent. 



(d.) How many pounds of honey, both comb and ex- 

 tracted, have you taken from your bees, and from how 

 many colonics so far? 



(e.) Was the season witlt you this year goad, average, 

 poor, or bad? 



ARKANSAS. 



W H. Laws, Lavaca. W. C. 8-10. 



a. 15; b. 15; e. 75; d. 1000 from 80 colonies. 



ALABAMA. 



W. P. W. Duke. Nettleborough. S. W. 8-6. 



a. 15; h.lO; c. 200, or a full crop of white honey; cl. 3000 lbs. 

 comb from 40 colonies; e. good. 



J. M. Jenkins, Wetumpka. Q. 8-J. 



a. 10 to 15; b. 7 to 10; c. 100; d. 100 comb, 650 extracted. 16 col- 

 onies; e. average. 



ARIZONA. 



Jno. L. Gregg, Tempe. C. 8-5. 



a. 10 to 12; b. retail 6, wholesales; e. 40; d. 10) colonies have 

 produced 20.280 lbs.; e. rather poor. 



CALIFORNIA. 



W W. Bliss, Duarte. S. E. 8-7 



a. 12>^ wholesale, 15 retail; b 7 to 8; c tU; d. about 7500 lbs., 

 )50; e. poor. 



G. W. Cover, Downieville. N. 8 7. 



ft. 20; b. 30; 0. 100; d. 1000 U|<. n)i]]b f nun 1)3 colonies; e. good. 



