1889 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTUKE. 



667 



a little, and replied that said price was all he could 

 get for his lumber drawn to the city, many miles 

 away, he replied that " he had to go to the city oc- 

 casionally, and when going he could draw a load of 

 lumber just as well as not, so that the drawing cost 

 him nothing." Seeing my opportunity, I said: "I 

 have been hesitating about buying this whitewood 

 lumber for some time, because I prefer pine at the 

 same price; and as you are going to the city occa- 

 sionally, I should be pleased to have you put on a 

 load of pine the next time you are there, and draw 

 it back to me on the same terms you draw this 

 whitewood lumber there." 



Did he draw it for me? Oh, no! but he said he 

 would do so for 15.00 a load. Now, Dr. A. B. Mason, 

 it costs you just as much to move those bees as it 

 would to hire it done; hence I say that the cost in 

 moving bees does figure in the matter of honey-pro- 

 duction at out-apiaries. I believe that it costs the 

 doctor much more to move those bees himself than 

 it would to hire it done; and if he will stop to think 

 a little I believe he will agree with me. Suppose 

 he had put the same energy that he has put into 

 the bees into some other calling in life, say dentis- 

 try, would he not have received as good pay for his 

 time as he now receives from the bees? Undoubt- 

 edly; for I know of dentists that average their $10 

 a day, or at least it is reported that they do. Now, 

 if a dentist (as I believe Dr. Mason is), and having 

 your time fully occupied with that specialty with- 

 out " dabbling " with bees, how much would it take, 

 doctor, to hire you to move bees for me, were you a 

 near neighbor of mine? The point I wish to get at, 

 is, that every man deserves pay according to the 

 skill and energy which he puts into his profession, 

 and that the bee-keeper is worthy of just as much 

 pay for the skill, energy, and labor performed as he 

 would be were he in any other profession in life. 



In answering the same question, the Rambler 

 says that the cost should be about 25 cts. per hour 

 for labor performed by a man skillful enough to do 

 such work as it should be done. I would ask him if 

 he would work for that price during the hurrying 

 part of the season of some four to six months, 

 when many who have put no more thought into 

 their profession than he has in the bee-business, 

 get three times that pay for their labor. I would 

 not. Look at what he expects to do in a little more 

 than four minutes; prepare a colony of bees for 

 shipment or hauling, carry it to the wagon and see 

 that it is properly loaded, go with it five miles, then 

 unload it, carry it to the stand it is to occupy, see 

 that it is properly placed thereon, then take off the 

 fixings that were used in shipping, getting it in 

 proper shape to work during the season ; doing all 

 this for less than two cents! Surely bee-keeping 

 must be light and pleasant work, for " the bees 

 work for nothing and board themselves," while it 

 costs only about two cents to do all of the above, 

 where a skillful apiarist is permitted to furnish the 

 muscle. Brethren, let us hear less of this non- 

 sense, else the consumer will ere long think we 

 should give them what honey they want to eat, and 

 bring it around to their doors in the bargain. 



QUEEN-CELLS OVER A QUEEN-EXCLUDING 

 HONEY-BOARD. 



On page 590 of Gleanings for July 15th I see Bro. 

 Stachelhausen says that in his locality, during the 

 horsemint honey-flow, queen-cells will be destroy- 

 ed over a queen-excluding honey-board. I am very 

 much surprised at this, unless by mistake he has 



let a queen hatch above, in which case the cells are 

 always torn down which are already built, and 

 those in process of building are deserted; but so 

 long as there is no queen at liberty in the apart- 

 ment where the cells are, I have never had a single 

 cell destroyed, out of thousands so reared, at all 

 times of the year, when bees could fly, and cover- 

 ing a period of over six years. I also have had re- 

 ports from many who have tried the plan, and Bro. 

 S. is the first one who has ever reported such a 

 thing as a failure in getting queen-cells built and 

 matured over a queen-excluder. I am now having, 

 after our honey season is over, and bees trying to 

 rob, queen-cells built and completed, virgin queens 

 from one to ten days old kept in nurseries, virgin 

 queens hatched and mated, and laying queens do- 

 ing good work above queen - excluding honey- 

 boards, with the old queen doing duty below, just 

 as I gave in my book, and have been having the 

 same success ever since the basswood opened. By 

 the addition of a little wire cloth, I believe I have 

 perfected the plan of having queens fertilized, as 

 I give in the book, so it will work at any time and 

 in all localities. G. M. Doolittle. 



Borodino, N. Y., Aug. 2, 1889. 

 Very good, old friend. I am glad you 

 have taken up this side of the question. 

 The only plea that can be made in favor of 

 charging nothing for your work with bees, 

 that I know of, is that it is recreation out- 

 side of office hours. I think if Dr. Mason 

 had as many out-apiaries, however, as some 

 of the Wisconsin brethren, he would begin 

 to think that the bees were the business, and 

 recreation of some other kind would in time 

 be needed. In summing up the expense of 

 any such work, I think the operator should 

 charge the time, or mention the amount of 

 time consumed. Even if it were done 

 nights and mornings, or outside of regular 

 business hours, statements for print should 

 figure in the cost. Our agricultural papers 

 give glowing accounts of what may be done 

 with many of our rural industries, omitting 

 entirely to mention the time occupied, and 

 brain and muscle consumed, for it does 

 take time, brain, and muscle to make a suc- 

 cess of any of these enticing industries. 



AMONG THE BEE-KEEPERS OF VER- 

 MONT. 



A VISIT TO J. E. CRANE AND J. H. LARRABEE. 



K. CRANE has an attractive home toward the 

 outskirts of Middlebury. In the rear of the 

 modern house, with its lawn - bordered 

 porches, are connected buildings of similar 

 style containing the stable, work-shop, and 

 honey-room. Here he and one of his men were 

 busily engaged weighing and crating comb honey 

 for market. Crates taking 20 sections were placed 

 upon the scales, and filled, the laRt few sections be- 

 ing changed until the weight came out even 

 pounds. Piled near by were a lot of filled crates 

 ready to be shipped. Part of the sections were 

 glassed; the rest were in paper cartons, neatly 

 printed with his address. 



Mr. Crane, who has long been known as a produc- 

 er and dealer in comb honey, has probably mar- 

 keted all together more than any one else in the 

 State, if not in New England, and is, therefore, not 



