1889 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



997 



all sealed over. b. That would depend upon the 

 locality and the honey-flow. 

 Ohio. N. W. A.B.Mason. 



Between forty and fifty pounds per colony, from 

 five hundred to a thousand colonies. Comb honey. 

 We think we are entitled to about fifty pounds as 

 an average, with good swarms. It is very doubtful 

 whether the net income would be increased. 



New York. C. P. H. Elwood. 



a. For the past 10 years my average sales have 

 been about nine tons per year, comb honey, from 

 an average of about 3r>0 colonies. This is averag- 

 ing the ten years, and is simply an off-hand esti- 

 mate, as it would take too long to look up the ex- 

 act figures, b. Yes, possibly for ten years to come, 

 as I am learning more and more about the business 

 every year, and especially how to economize. 



Vermont. N. W. A. E. Manum. 



a. 75 pounds to the hive, with about 300 hives to 

 the apiary, extracted honey, b. If I had abun- 

 dance of energy to expend I would have more 

 apiaries; but not now feeling capable of looking 

 after things rigidly, I am best off with a small num- 

 ber. 



Larger boats may venture more, 

 But little boats must keep near shore. 

 California. S. W. R. Wilkin. 



I can not give exact figures for more than a part 

 of the time, but I should estimate my average 

 yield per colony at 45 pounds of comb, or 90 of ex- 

 tracted. This includes the season of 1886, when I 

 did not get a hundred pounds of surplus from my 

 whole apiary, and the very poor season of 1887. 

 This was from an average of about 90 colonies, 

 spring count. I think I could increase my income 

 somewhat by keeping more bees. 



Illinois. N. C. J. A. Green. 



a. Our average, for 15 years or more, is between 

 31 and 22 thousand pounds of extracted honey from 

 350 to 400 colonies, b. Our six apiaries are managed 

 by a single man, excepting a few days when we are 

 in a hurry to put the supers on the hives; then we 

 employ another man; and when we extract we 

 have work for two men and a boy besides our apia- 

 rist. We could increase the income by increasing 

 the help and the apiaries, but it would involve more 

 responsibility, and we do not wish to try it. 



Uliaois. N. W. Dadant & Son. 



a. My average crop for about ten years was a 

 minute fraction over 110 pounds per colony, mostly 

 extracted. In estimating yields, I count all colo- 

 nies there are in the yard, both large and small, at 

 the commencement of the honey-flow, before any 

 new colonies are made. Number of colonies varied 

 from 30 to 140, and averaged nearly 100. My best 

 average yield was from 108 colonies, spring count, 

 b. Annual income would be decreased unless the 

 number of colonies was increased as well as the 

 number of apiaries. 



Cuba. O. O. Poppleton. 



Our greatest yield from an apiary has been 100 

 lbs. per colony. Certain colonies ran up to over 

 300 lbs. Our average yield has been not far from 

 40 lbs. per colony, for a series of,'years. Extracted 

 honey, and from 150 colonies, b. It has been our 

 endeavor to increase our 'colonies, and establish 

 out-apiaries. We have thus far employed but little 

 help to run two apiaries. A very little more help 



at the right time would enable us to run two more 

 apiaries, with increased income. 



New York. E. Rambler. 



I can not answer this ()uestion. J have not kept a 

 record. It lies between fifty and a hundred pounds 

 of extracted honey, taking all of the years together, 

 I presume. Where one sells bees, both spring and 

 fall, changing his number of colonies constantly, 

 and raising both comb and extracted honey in the 

 same apiary, as well as increase, unless he keeps a 

 careful record - book it is impossible to answer 

 question a. Question b. is also just as knotty. I 

 know but very little, and believe but very little, in 

 regard to overstocking. As far as the help ques- 

 tion is concerned, it would be very profitable to in- 

 crease the number of colonies, for the cost of help 

 pro rata would decrease. That is one point against 

 out-apiaries; but in regard to overstocking, 21 

 years' experience is not enough for me. Although 

 I have taken much pains to pump such bee-keepers 

 as I met, who ought to know most about it, I must 

 say 1 have never yet found one who could shed one 

 clear ray of light on the subject. It is the most 

 obscure problem in bee-keeping, that of overstock- 

 ing, and yet very much hinges on it. 



Michigan. S. W. James Heddon. 



a. The last four seasons, my honey crop averaged 

 29,000 pounds extracted and 500 pounds of comb 

 honey, from 350 to 300 colonies, spring count. Four 

 years ago I had only 8000 pounds for my crop, hav- 

 ing lost a large proportion of my bees the previous 

 winter, b. How can I tell what I could do till I try? 

 Do you suppose Grant, Lee, Sherman, and other 

 officers in the late war knew what they could do 

 until they tried? Trial proved their capacity to 

 vary greatly. Some were competent to handle 

 100,000 men or more. The outside limit of others 

 was 10,000, and others proved themselves unfit to 

 handle any. As in war, so in bee-keeping and other 

 pursuits. Capt. Hetherington has proved himself 

 competent to manage a large number of colonies; 

 so did Adam Grimm; so did Harbison, till he found 

 something to suit him better. In my own case I at 

 one time thought of running up into the thousands ; 

 but poor health warned me to curb my ambition. 

 At present, had I the strength and inclination, lack 

 of pasturage and locations would bar the specula- 

 tion; for should bee-keepers increase in the future 

 as they have in the past two years it would soon be 

 hard to find an unoccupied field. 



Wisconsin. S. W. S. 1. Freeborn. 



Well done, friends. A beginner might 

 well take courage from the above replies. 

 Yet there is, however, a glimpse now and 

 then of blasted hopes. I notice, also, that a 

 good many of the friends have settled down 

 to the idea that they prefer to take life a 

 little easier, even if they do lose some dol- 

 lars that might be made by shouldering 

 more responsibilities. There is a good 

 point here. I now call to mind quite a few 

 among the bee-friends who have made their 

 lives unhappy and perhaps unprofitable by 

 trying to do too many things, or, if you 

 choose, too much. Better have a little, and 

 do it well, than to attempt great things, 

 and be for ever worried to death, and in hot 

 water all the time. Many of us are a little 

 older than we were fifteen or twenty years 

 ago, and I trust, also, a little wiser. Con- 

 tentment is better than riches. 



