666 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTUKE. 



Aug. 



horses, and work on the farm, rather than to work 

 among the bees. 



" Now I have explained this picture, I will present 

 you this one, which is a view of this apiary you are 

 running, as I make a practice of giving each new 

 man a view of the apiary which he runs for me. 

 This view was taken eight years ago, while Mr. 

 Will Hinds was taking care of it. You will observe 

 that the yard looks very much different now from 

 what it did then, as there were no fruit-trees on the 

 plat at that time, while now the hives are nearly all 

 shaded by pear and cherry trees that I set out here 

 the second year after I located the apiary, and near- 

 ly all are in bearing. I located this apiary here by 

 request of Mr. H. B. Williams, who owns the land. 

 He was anxious for me to do so, as he said he be- 

 lieved the bees would be a benefit to his crops. I 

 chose this spot because the ground is descending, 

 as I prefer to locate an apiary on a side-hill when I 

 can, to secure good drainage; and I believe the 

 bees can locate their respective hives much better 

 than on a level plot, especially the yonng queens 

 when they go out to mate; and as the honey-house 

 is at the lower side of the apiary, I find it much 

 easier to carry the honey down hill than on a level. 

 Again, as each and every hive can be seen from the 

 honey house, the attendant can be watching for 

 swarms while at work inside; and if a swarm issues 

 he can locate the hive at once. This picture some- 

 what misrepresents the apiary, as one would imag- 

 ine by looking at it that the ground is quite de- 

 scending; but, as you know, it is not any too much 

 so. The picture also represents the hives as being 

 set on the amphitheater plan, when they are not, 

 but instead are set in straight rows. I have three 

 apiaries located on level ground ; and I find in the 

 spring, when the snow is melting, that snow-water 

 often settles around the hives, making it too damp 

 for the welfare of the bees. Here I stand in front 

 with a brood-comb in my hands, and Mr. Hinds is a 

 little way further up, with a swarm-catcher in his 

 hands; and a little further up stands Mr. Williams; 

 and a little to the right, standing on the edge of the 

 ledge, is a neighbor's boy; while back of the boy, 

 in the distance, is a mountain two miles and a half 

 away. I am sorry this apiary does not face east or 

 south east, as nearly all my other apiaries do; but 

 instead it faces south-west; however, perhaps the 

 bees do as well as though they faced some other di- 

 rection, as four years ago Mr. McFarland took from 

 117 colonies, 6pring count, in this apiary five tons of 

 comb honey and 500 lbs. of extracted honey, and in- 

 creased to 176 colonies." A. E. Mandm. 



Bristol, Vt. 



Friend M., we are exceedingly obliged, 

 not only for your excellent pictures, which 

 we think our engravers have succeeded won- 

 derfully in copying, but as well for your 

 pen-pictures. The group of helpers is won- 

 derfully lifelike and suggestive. No wonder 

 you enjoy your work. Your boy Fred looks 

 as if he might do a pile of work, and possi- 

 bly a pile of mischief, if it were the order of 

 the day. We are very glad indeed to see 

 one lady among your number ; and it will 

 doubtless be encouraging to her sex to know 

 that she succeeded in getting a crop of hon- 

 ey that would be a credit to almost any of 

 the men-folks. Very likely your helpers 

 have different plans and ways of working; 

 and may be they are as unlike in their dis- 

 position as in their looks; but the very 



thought of having such a lot of friends, not 

 only willing but capable, round about you, 

 to lend a helping hand, when many duties 

 press, is in itself inspiring. We can not all 

 very well set others at work, for God has 

 given us different talents and abilities ; but 

 we can, each and every one of us, be helpful 

 to those round about us ; and in my opinion 

 it is right in this line where the greatest 

 happiness and enjoyment come to every hu- 

 man being. " Not to be ministered unto, 

 but to minister." Your apiary on the hill- 

 side was a very attractive and suggestive 

 picture to me when I first set eyes on it. In 

 our first apiary, as you may remember, we 

 had a honey-house in the center, and the 

 hives all around it ; but although the honey- 

 house had a door at each end, there was al- 

 ways something going on behind the house, 

 which we could not see. For this reason I 

 decided that our apiary at the Home of the 

 Honey-bees should have no building, tree, 

 or other obstruction, in the center. But 

 your arrangement of hives placed on the 

 hillside, facing the honey-house, fills the 

 bill exactly. Providence permitting, I hope 

 to see it some time, friend M.; and may be 

 you or Fred, and perhaps some of the other 

 helpers, if they are not too busy, will go 

 with me to the top of the mountain, away 

 off in the background. Hills and moun- 

 tains, with running springs at their bases, 

 will probably be hobbies of mine so long as 

 I live ; and when I come to visit you, I want 

 you to point out to me all the springs and 

 all the running water that is to be found 

 round about your home. 



COST OP MOVING BEES. 



FRIEND DOOLITTLE RECONSIDERS SOME OF THE 

 ANSWERS. 



ITH your permission, Mr. Editor, I wish to 

 say a few words regarding some of the 

 answers to question 134, relative to moving 

 bees to and from out-apiaries. Dr. Ma- 

 son's answer to that question was simply 

 astounding to me. Ts not the bee-keeper to have 

 any pay for the labor which he or she preforms? 

 He says it does not cost him any thing, generally, 

 to move bees, for he has his own horse, etc. Has 

 he got such a kind of horse that it does not cost 

 him any thing to keep him? If so, 1 wish he would 

 purchase one of the same kind for me and ship it 

 out here. If he will do this for me, using that same 

 kind of time which he uses in moving bees, that 

 kind which costs nothing, I will say "thanks" to 

 him for his pay, and mean it from the bottom of 

 my heart. The whole thing reminds me of a little 

 incident which happened several years ago, when I 

 was obliged to economize as closely as possible the 

 money which came in from the bees, to make it 

 meet the outgoes which I had to furnish by way of 

 hives, etc. ; for I resolved, after the first outlay on 

 the bees in the beginning, that I would not pay out 

 a cent further on them unless they brought it in to 

 me to use for them. Having this in view, I went to 

 see a neighbor who had some nice whitewood lum- 

 ber, thinking that I could buy it cheaper than I 

 could hire a team and go to the city and buy pine. 

 When I asked the price of the lumber, he said it 

 would be $30 per thousand feet. When I demurred 



