April, 1912. 



American ^ec Joarnall 



Mr. Wilder, from what I know of it. it is a 

 very good business; but as you have had 

 years of experience. I want your opinion of 

 it as a business. 



How many pounds of surplus honey will 

 a colony of bees store in a season if they are 

 properly cared for ? About how many colo- 

 nies should be kept in one location ? 



Mr. Wilder. I know if any one can give me 

 the above information you can. and what 

 you say about it will be true. 



Runtyn, Tenn. Charles Wesi.ev. 



M)' opinion of bee-keeping as a busi- 

 ness for an energetic man is all such a 

 man could e.xpect. When bee-keeping 

 as a business is not satisfactory, the 

 man is usually more at fault than the 

 business. To us who are going at it in 

 a business way, giving it our best en- 

 ergy and thought, it is indeed a lovely 

 and pleasant pursuit, and we like it bet- 

 ter and better as the seasons come and 

 go, and there is no reason why others 

 should not find it the same. 



As to the amount of surplus, this is 

 a question of season and location, and 

 ■ every bee-keeper will have to solve the 

 question for himself, by keeping a rec- 

 ord of the amount of surplus honey ob- 

 tained, for two or more seasons. But 

 if I were called on to make a rough 

 guess from what I know of the ques- 

 tion from correspondence and experi- 

 ence I would say, one super from each 

 normal colony in the spring, and an- 

 other during the summer and fall flows, 

 or about 50 or (iO pounds. For the 

 average locations, from 40 to 60 colo- 

 nies are enough bees to stock it. 



A Successful Bee-Business 



Mr. Wilder:— I am making a success at 

 bee-keeping. My bees are all in good condi- 

 tion, and the past season was a good one. as 

 well as the previous seasons. My success 

 from the start has been largely due to your 

 advice and correct methods, for which I am 

 grateful to you. W. H. Henderson. 



Cireenville. Fla. 



I believe any one who has the ability 

 and will take up and carefully carry 

 out the methods of any successful bee- 

 keeper, will succeed at bee-keeping. 

 But, alas ! Only every now and then 

 one will do it. No wonder we have 

 failures, and will have right on, so long 

 as successful men's methods are 

 ignored. But if they were studied and 

 put in force, we would not lose another 

 member from our ranks, and our in- 

 dustry would soon be what it ought to 

 be, and should be. 



When I have studied out another 

 bee-keeper's methods who has been 

 successful, it's all plain to me how he 

 has succeeded; and when another man 

 has carefully carried out my methods, 

 I can't see how he can fail. He's bound 

 to succeed. But only a few will do it, 

 and others never will, so there is no 

 use to grieve when one " faints by the 

 way." Let's be encouraged so long as 

 a few will follow us up in our methods, 

 and continue to bring them plainly be- 

 fore others. 



near your bees, swing up burnt chunks 

 of wood or sticks several feet from the 

 ground, and they will surely settle on 

 them, and all you will have to do to 

 hive them will be to untie the cord 

 holding the burnt knot or chunk, and 

 carry it to the prepared hive, and shake 

 the bees off into it. 



Or, you might place something over 

 the entrances of other hives when a 

 swarm issues, for a few minutes, until 



Having Troubles With Swarming 



Dear Mr. Wilder ;--It is swarming time 

 with my bees here now. and I am liavini; no 

 end of trouble by swarms issuing and enter- 

 ing other hives and getting killed. How can 

 I prevent this great loss and get my bees to 

 enter the supers and store honey there,' 

 Your advice will be greatly appreciated. 



Rock Hill. S. C. ,) K. Comer. 



There probably are no suitable trees 

 near your apiary for the bees to settle 

 on. If you ha'-eu't anv tre?': or bushes 



they settle on some object, then remove 

 whatever is laid or spread over the eii- 

 trances, and you will overcome ^this 

 trouble. 



You should always keep over from 

 the previous season a few sections in 

 which the bees have partly built the 

 comb, and these should be inserted 

 about the middle of the newly prepared 

 supers, and the bees will enter them if 

 they are in a condition to do so. 



Southern 



Beedom^ 



Conducted by Louis H. Scholl. New Braunfels. Tex. 



Texas Bee-Keeping and the Census 



The 11)10 census does not seem fair 

 in its figures concerning Texas bee- 

 keeping. Although we knew, and pre- 

 dicted before hand, that Texas would 

 not make a very good showing in the 

 1910 census, on account of the unfavor- 

 ableness of the last two years, we ex- 

 pected a better report. 



The census figures show a decrease 

 of 39 percent from 1900 to 1910 in the 

 number of colonies— greater than any 

 other State — while we have believed, 

 and believe yet, that there has been a 

 considerable increase during the last 

 10 years. We believe that there are 

 more bees kept in Texas at the present 

 time than 10 years ago, although the 

 figures do not show it. We know of 

 large numbers of colonies personally 

 that were not enumerated in the census 

 report aside from our own large num- 

 ber. We are sure many others can say 

 the same. 



The trouble lies with the census 

 enumerations, including only the bees 

 kept on farms and not those kept by 

 the extensive bee-keepers, who, for the 

 most part, reside in the cities and 

 towns, and operate their out-apiaries. 

 If such is the case, it can be seen at a 

 glimpse that Texas does not show up 

 fairly on tliis account. And that is un- 

 doubtedly true. 



That there is a decrease in farms re- 

 porting bees kept on them together 

 with a decrease in the number of colo- 

 nies kept, is due mainly to the two dry 

 seasons following each other, of which 

 the census year was the worst of the 

 two. Since the 1910 honey season was 

 far below the average, which atTects 

 the farmer bee-keeper much more than 

 the experienced extensive bee-keeper 

 who knows how to care for his bees 

 during an off year, the reports must 

 necessarily be very unfavorable. 



The census figures do not do justice 

 to the State of Texas, in our opinion, 

 at least we believe there are more than 

 238,107 colonies of bees kept in this 

 State. A great number of colonies 

 were not enumerated because they were 

 not reported by the bee-keepers who 

 live in the towiis and cities. As there 

 are a large number of such bee-keepers 

 in Texas who own many apiaries, the 

 number of colonies reported would 

 necessarily be greater if enumerated. 



In spite of the above Texas can still 

 he proud of the distinction of having 



the largest number of colonies of bees 

 even under the 1910 census. With a 

 fair enumeration its number of colonies 

 would be larger, especially if taken 

 during a more favorable year than that 

 of 1910. We are now already anxious 

 to know what the next census will 

 show. 



Bees and Poultry 



Although we believe absolutely in 

 " specialism " in bee-keeping as well as 

 in other lines of work and industry, and 

 practise this in our own bee-keeping, 

 we have mixed poultry-raising with it 

 to a considerable extent. We began 

 many years ago keeping only a small 

 flock of pure-bred fowls with the only 

 end in view of producing eggs and 

 chickens for our own table. Since our 

 pure-bred poultry attracted attention, 

 and others desired such stock, we soon 

 found ourselves engaged in producing 

 hatching eggs to fill orders for sittings. 

 This proved remunerative, and in- 

 creased our already possessed national 

 love for pure-bred poultry. The result 

 was that we improved our flock from 

 year to year, and also enlarged upon 

 the number kept, caused by the increas- 

 ing demand for eggs and young stock. 

 Of late years we have added room to 

 our quarters, and also added several 

 other varieties of poultry, due to the 

 demand for stock and eggs of the va- 

 rious kinds added. By being able to 

 supply just what was wanted, according 

 to the different views and ideas of 

 many people, just that many more 

 " shekels " could be added to the poul- 

 try-business income. And now we 

 have come to a point where it is neces- 

 sary to enlarge further, and a 25-acre 

 poiiltry farm 2 miles west of our city 

 residence is the outcome. This is 

 looked after by a special assistant, who 

 will help us to produce eggs and young 

 stock by the hundreds instead of doz- 

 ens, as we used to do. 



But why do we mention all this about 

 the poultry business, which has noth- 

 ing pertaining to bee-keeping in it ? 

 There is a reason. We have found out 

 as we went along gradually, that there 

 was money in poultry properly kept, 

 and by keeping the right kind of stock. 

 We found, further, that poultry-raising 

 can be combined so well with bee- 

 keeping that it is a wonder so few bee- 

 keepers are combining it witli tlie pro- 

 fession. As practically all of the work 



