114 



1012. 



American ^ac Joarnall 



one has to stay over night on expense. 



There are some locations not as 

 good as they used to be, and others 

 that were never very good. The plan 

 to work in the future is, scatter your 

 bees out in lots not so large but that a 

 fairly good surplus can be secured in 

 an ordinary season. It is rather hard 

 to tell by the looks of a location about 

 how many bees it will support, but, as 

 a usual thing, there are plenty of un- 

 occupied locations so one will not have 

 to put a large number of colonies in 

 one location until he has tested that 

 particular yard for honey. Later, if it 

 is decided that the location will sup- 

 port more bees with profit, add them, 

 as the more bees one can keep to the 

 yard the cheaper he can produce honey. 



The disease proposition is another 

 factor we have to contend with in this 

 State. This is not likely to be so much 

 of a problem with the members of this 

 Association, as they are posted and 



know how to combat the disease. 

 Those who do not read and attend con- 

 ventions, and keep abreast of the times, 

 will "fall by the wayside." Disease will 

 clean out the shiftless fellow — the fel- 

 low who produces the poor, crooked, 

 travel-stained kind of comb honey that 

 sells for such a low price that good 

 goods can not compete, leaving the 

 market for the up-to-date fellow with 

 good prices for a good article. There 

 is a little " silver lining " to even as 

 bad a thing as the dreaded disease, foul 

 brood. 



In conclusion, to the best of my 

 judgment the future of Michigan bee- 

 keeping is not quite as bright as it was 

 a few years ago, when the country was 

 in a newer stage and less disease was 

 prevalent. Still, with proper manage- 

 ment and good judgment, bee-keeping 

 is still about as good an occupation as 

 most rural pursuits. 



Remus, Mich. 



Bee-I^eping ^ For Women 



Conducted bv Miss Emma M. Wilson, Marengo. Ill, 



Promoting Interest in Bee-Keeping 



I am to read a paper next Tuesday evening 

 (March 12) before the Magazine Club, on 

 " Pleasure and Profit in Bee-Keeping," and 

 we "'ill have one or two songs by four young 

 ladies to complete the program. The roll- 

 call will be responded to with quotations 

 about birds, bees and flowers, and. at the 

 close, small biscuit and a little square of 

 comb honey covered with whipped cream 

 will be served. How is that to promote in- 

 terest in bee-keeping ? 



ICxcelsior. Minn. Mrs. W. S. WiNGATE. 



" That " is certainly a fine way to 

 promote the interest of bee-keeping. If 

 there could be more advertising in the 

 same way it %\ould undoubtedly help 

 the sale of honey, let more people 

 know just how delicious it is, and in- 

 terest many in our chosen pursuit. 



Whipped cream with honey is some- 

 thing new; sounds good, too. 



Salt and Vinegar in Winter Bee-Food 



I noticed in the American Bee .lournal for 

 January that salt and vinegar should be 

 added to the syrup for winter feed for bees. 

 I would like to know what proportions. 



Hamilton, Va. Miss L. A. Hoi.MES. 



According to the "British Bee-Keep- 

 ers' Guide Book," for spring and sum- 

 mer feeding, one ounce of vinegar and 

 one ounce of salt to 10 pounds of sugar. 

 For fall feeding use one ounce of vin- 

 egar and ;i ounce of salt to Id pounds 

 of sugar. 



pounds, for which I got 15 cents''per pound 

 I could not expect any more, as the farmers 

 failed also, and that more than paid for feed, 

 as each winter they went into winter quar- 

 ters in fairly good condition with the excep- 

 tion of loir. when they went into winter • 

 quarters with plenty of stores. I haven't 

 had to feed any yet. I just looked through 

 my colonies and find them in better condi- 

 tion than I have had them at this time of 

 the year for many years. I find no disease 

 among them. 



During those ,i years I lost several colonies 

 with foul brood, which I think I am rid of 

 now. I have united several colonies, and 

 now I have 45, all in good, healthy condition, 

 and hope to get good returns this year. 



Mrs. Carrie Branch. 



Ennis. Tex.. Feb. 2-. 



You do not say how many colonies 

 you had, but you say you have 45 now. 

 If we take that as the number you have 

 had during the 4 years, that would give 

 you $3.88 per colony. That surely is 

 not bad, taking into account 3 years of 

 severe drouth, and your number may 

 possibly have been less, giving you a 

 still larger average per colony. 



Bee-Report for Several Years 



M> 



bt-LS did nut do wi-ll for the past 3 

 .years, on account of the severe drouth we 

 have had. I am hoping 1012 will be a good 

 season, as we have had plenty of rain which 

 promises success to the farmer. Now. for 

 my report: 



InigoSmybees did real well. I sold over 

 ISoo worth of honey at ii^6 cents per pound, 

 and up to 20 cents. In iqoq the bees did vcrv 

 poorly, only gathering 500 pounds, which I 

 S9ld at 12'= cents per pound. In isio they 

 did poorly, gathering only 500 pounds of 

 honey, for which I got 12'A cents per pound. 

 In I5II they did poorly, again gathering ."loo 



Health and Profit in Bee-Keeping 



Periodicals galore are published for 

 the farmer, but not every farmer's wife 

 knows tliat there is an interesting 

 monthly published for her with the ex- 

 pressive title. The Farmer's Wife. It 

 is now in its 14th year, and is published 

 at St. Paul, Minn. The Farmer, an ag- 

 ricultural publication, is justly proud 

 of having been the means of first start- 

 ing beeward a woman who has made a 

 real success as a bee-keeper. Mrs. W. 

 S. Wingate, of Minnesota, is the woman, 

 and her story is given in The Farmer's 

 Wife, preceded by an editorial note 

 which says in part : 



To know her personally would be to con- 

 vince one that she would work with method 

 and faith to a resultfulfinisli. A woman of 

 warm hearted cordiHiity. her home, her 

 church, and her ueikdiborhood feel her in- 

 fluence. Her husband is a business man in 

 a near-by city, and is in entire sympathy 

 with her in the matter of working out her 



own problems from a woman's standpoint. 

 They are also in hearty sympathy with each 

 other in all social work, both being active 

 workers in the church and in the temper- 

 ance cause. 



With two daughters married with whom 

 her motherly interests keep in close touch, 

 a son and two young daughters at home, and 

 two small motherless boys whom she has 

 taken into her home to care for, she is a 

 busy woman. 



Finding herself a nervous wreck scarcely 

 a dozen years ago. and striking out into this 

 work which brought her strength and its ac- 

 companiment — happiness— she says one de- 

 sire of her heart is to "preach from the 

 housetops" what a blessing the outdoor 

 work of bees is. and if by this " preaching" 

 she can help even one overworked sister to 

 more outdoor life and better health, then 

 she will feel that her life has availed much. 



Here is Mrs. Wingate's story as told 

 by herself; 



Eleven years ago. while living in a suburb 

 of Minneapolis, my interest in bee-keeping 

 was aroused byaseriesof articles published 

 in The Farmer. It appealed strongly to me 

 as an outdoor recreation which would be a 

 pleasant change from poultry-raising, and so 

 1 sent for a copy of " A B C of Bee Culture," 

 and also subscribed for Gleanings in Bee 

 Culture. Every spare moment was spent in 

 studying these, but I finally realized that I 

 must have the bees themselves. 



In .April I invested a birthday present of 

 $10 in a colony of pure-bred Italian bees, veil 

 and smoker, and an extra hive. On their ar- 

 rival the bees were placed at some distance 

 from the house, and for a month they were 

 left to their own devices, as I was afraid to 

 go near them. In the meantime I talked bees 

 with every one I knew who had ever kept 

 any, gained much information, and at last 

 mustered up courage to e.xamine my own 

 and put on a comb-honey super. 



That season the white clover was a failure, 

 and being out of reach of the basswood I 

 did not have a pound of surplus honey. In 

 July a strong swarm issued and was suc- 

 cessfully hived. I then had 2 colonies with 

 ample stores to winter in our cellar. The 

 next spring the fever ran higher than be- 

 fore, and I eagerly embraced an opportunity 

 to exchange a pair of fancy geese and an in- 

 cubator for 4 colonies of hybrids. 



I felt well repaid for both time and money 

 invested, when, in July. I could treat both 

 the family and friends to cakes of beautiful 

 snow white clover honey. The following 

 season I bought an extractor and ran one 

 colony for extracted honey, and a later crop 

 of 2000 pounds did not look as large to me as 

 that one super of 60 pounds. 



In the meantime my interest and experi- 

 ence increased, and I occasionally bought a 

 few colonies when a good opportunity of- 

 fered I soon found that customers were 

 waiting for all the honey I could produce. 



When the sun went down on Aug. i. 1004. 

 our family of 7 was standing around the 

 burning ruins of our pleasant home with 

 practically nothing left but our courage and 

 the bees. It was deemed wise to move into 

 the city, where we located in a new home 

 on ^ lots. For several years I kept 35 colo- 

 nies there, and it proved to be a good loca- 

 tion, as white clover and basswood were 

 within easy flight of the bees. 



Three years ago it was necessary to make 

 another move, and as 1 felt that I coidd not 

 give up my bees, we located in our present 

 home, an hour's trolley ride from Minne- 

 apolis. Located on the shore of a small 

 lake; our 5 acres give ample room for all the 

 bees I can care for. while our garden, or- 

 chard, berries, a flock of pure-bred Rhode 

 Island Reds, and a good cow furnish a meal 

 that our friends may well envy. 



.■Miout the first of April the bees are re- 

 moved from the cellar, the hives well pro- 

 tected with tar-paper, and unless feeding is 

 necessary, they are not disturbed until fruit- 

 bloom. During that time every colony is 

 examined, and the queens' wings clipped if 

 it has not been done the previous year. This 

 one act of clipping the queens' wings greatly 

 simplifies the hiving of swarms, and is the 

 only way in which a woman can really man- 

 age without a man's help during the swarm- 

 ing season. June 1st, or when the white 

 clover first appears, supers having pre- 

 viously been filled either with sections for 

 comb honey or empty extracting combs fpr 

 extracted honey, are placed on the hives. 



About this time the real fun of beekeep- 

 ing begins, for now it is swarming-time. and 

 not for one moment must one lose sight of 

 the bees. \'eil. smoker, and an extra hive 

 are kept in readiness Ito use at a moment's 



