996 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Dec. 



extractor). I made over 1300 pounds of nice sec- 

 tion honey, nearly all of it wbite. I had one large 

 swarm come off the last of August. I put it in a 

 nine-frame hive, and it filled and sealed all the 

 frames. I have never known bees to make honey 

 so late in the season, and so clear and white. I 

 have no idea what they gathered it from. 



Honey is in small demand here this fall, and but 

 little money to be got on it. 



Roseburg, Mich., Nov. 20, 1889. Jno. Mitchell. 



1000 COLONIES ON AN AREA OF FOUR MILES SQUARE. 



There are at this time at least 1000 stands of bees 

 here, located on land not to exceed four miles 

 square. I have 204 stands myself in one place. 



The sage and wild flowers make this county a 

 bee's paradise; then there is the alfalfa, wheat, and 

 corn they work on ; and, in fact, all kinds of flowers. 

 Now for results: 1 had 120 stands of bees last 

 spring, and I divided about the middle of April to 

 increase to 200. Every thing went nicely for about 

 two weeks. They were making enough honey to 

 live on; but the weather turned cold, and it snowed 

 in the mountains clear down to the valley, on each 

 side of the valley, which is about 15 miles wide here, 

 and kept the weather so cold as to keep the bees in 

 the hives, and about 30 of the divided hives starved 

 before I knew it. The 28th of May, I divided again, 

 and filled them up, and did not put on a super until 

 the middle of June, which is a month later than 

 usual here. Then I got 10,000 sections of nice white 

 honey and 2000 pounds of extracted honey by the 

 15th of September, and all have enough to winter 

 on. I took from one stand of bees this year, for an- 

 other person, 254 sections of nice white honey, first 

 class. 



If you think this will do for a poor year, the next 

 time you come to California just come down here 

 from Reno, Nev., and see us. Henry Trickey. 



Bishops, Cal., Nov. 11, 1889. 



^ef0to Di?C0a^eiN6. 



HONEY CROP A FAILURE. 



Honey in this.locsility is a failure this year, due 

 perhaps to the excessive rainfall. The usual quanti- 

 ty of pollen was within reach of the bees, and I had 

 much trouble from their storing it in the sections. 

 I should like to know the conditions which give rise 

 to such trouble. We never had this experience be- 

 fore. If any back number of Gleanings states the 

 cause, I should like to have it. 



Strafford, Pa., Nov. 9, 1889. Chas. H. Harrison. 



VERY DISCOURAGING — GOING TO BRIMSTONE THE 

 BEES BECAUSE THEY DON'T PAY. 



You will have to put me in Blasted Hopes. I com- 

 menced last spring with 75 colonies, mostly strong; 

 increased to 83, with 600 lbs. of comb honey; but this 

 is not the worst, for I expect to have to sell for 10 or 

 12 cts. per lb., for I am informed of a lot of 80)0 lbs. 

 which sold for 10 cts. If this is not discouraging, 

 pl3ase tell what is. In regard to reports encourag- 

 ing, I think there are two discouraging to one en- 

 couraging, if they could be written up. You say, if 

 one can not keep bees without brimstoning some, 

 they had better go out of the business; but by the 

 time this reaches A. I. Root, some of mine will be 

 dead by its me. 1 Nelson Dewey. 



Adrian, Mich., Nov. 10, 1889. 



0ai^ QaEgTON-Be& 



With Replies from our best Authorities on Bees. 



All queries sent in for this department should be briefly 

 stated, and free from any possible ambiguity. The question 

 or questions should be written upon a separate slip of paper, 

 and marked, " For Our Question-Box." 



Question 150.— a. Taking one year with another, 

 what is your average honey crop in pounds? and from 

 how many colonies, on the average? State whether for 

 comb or extracted, b. Do you think you would in- 

 crease or decrease your annual income by keeping more 

 than your present number of apiaries, and employing 

 more help? 



a. 100 pounds of extracted, b. I think we should 

 make more income by keeping more apiaries and 

 employing more help. 



Wisconsin. S. W. E. France. 



a. I think something less than 40 lbs. of comb per 

 colony, from about 200 colonies, b. Yes, if I could 

 get the right help. 



Illinois. N. C. C. Miller. 



Until the past three years it had been 75 pounds, 

 about 25 colonies. We could do better by keeping 

 more. Indeed, we have increased to over 70 now. 



Michigan. C. A. J. Cook. 



a. About 80 pounds of extracted, from an average 

 of 100 colonies, b. Different apiaries in different 

 localities would certainly increase the yearly in- 

 come if they are well attended. 



Louisiana. E. C. P. L. Viallon. 



a. I consider 45 to 50 pounds of comb honey a good 

 average yield, excepting in seasons of failure like 

 the past in this vicinity, b. I think I could increase, 

 but may be I would not. 



Ohio. N. W. H. R. Boardman. 



a. About 80 pounds during the past 17 years, with 

 an average of about 45 colonies, spring count. 

 Mostly comb honey, b. Increase by keeping more 

 if I could attend to them myself; but I have too 

 many "irons in the fire " to keep more. 



New York. C. G. M. Doolittle. 



a. I can not say. I have not kept a sufficiently 

 careful record for about ten years to state positive- 

 ly, b. Decrease in this locality, with the poor sea- 

 sons we have had during the past five years. If 

 the apiarian expects a profit, he must do his own 

 work. 



Illinois. Mrs. L. Harrison. 



a. I am unable to say. Our last four seasons 

 were too poor to keep a correct account, b. Poor 

 seasons and prices of honey did not encourage my- 

 self and neighbors to increase our apiaries. The 

 tendency is the other way. 



Ohio. S. W. C. F. Muth. 



My average honey crop for the last ten years fig- 

 ures about 1580 pounds. My number of colonies in 

 spring has varied from 17 survivors of a winter, 

 when my apiary mostly perished, to 121, when they 

 didn't perish. The average is 77. To establish out- 

 apiaries, and run them by hired help, would evi- 

 dently run me behind hand. 



Ohio. N. W. E. E. Hasty. 



a. 1 have no means of knowing what my average 

 honey crop has been. Some years none, as in 1887 

 and '88. This year I have about 30 pounds' per colo- 

 ny of surplus, and I guess it might be called comb 

 honey, for it is still in the comb (brood-combs), and 



