1887 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



359 



THE MESQtriTE HONEY FllOM TEXAS. 



I send you by this mail a sample of raes(|Uitt' 

 honey, also some incsciiiite-blossoiiis. F fxtractoil 

 from three hives, April 14, Vti lbs. of honey, e(|ual, 

 evei'y ounce of it, to the sample sent. Our lioiiey- 

 flow has come earlier than common, owing' to the 

 long-continued dry weather; and if the droufiht 

 continues much longer I shall have liouey enough, 

 but no bread to eat with it. Try the sample, and 

 tell me what you thinlv ol it. M. Ukokus. 



Gonzales, Texas, .\pril 18. 18ST. 

 Friend I?., the hoiiev you send is of a iiii*e 

 amber eolor, thoiigli not very light, and the 

 flavor is very good — inneh like some of our 

 best fruit-blossom honey. The blossoms are 

 very pretty and fragrant, even alter so long 

 a trip through tlie mails. If the mescpiite 

 yields honey usually in the quantities you 

 mention, it deserves to liave a place among 

 onr valuable honey-plants. 



A HOME-MADE SAW-TABLE. 



Inclosed j'ou will find a picture of my sawing- 

 machine, drawn byniy boy, age 14. On this T have 



made all of my own hives, crate.s, sections, and oth- 

 er supplies. Last year I made and sold over $1UII.()0 

 worth of apiarian supplies. This machine 1 made 

 myself. I bought the saws and nmndrel of A. I. 

 Root. 



I think we can't jiraise you too much for the good 

 you are doing through Our Homes and the Tobacco 

 Column. To Gleanings and the A B C book I owe 

 most of my success with bees. 



New Vernon, Pa. T). W Btknett. 



F.WORABLE TO MRS. COTT<JN. AGAIN. 



I was much pleased to read your article in 

 Gleanings about Mrs. Cotton. I think she has 

 been somewhat unjustly abused. 1 sent to her in 

 the spring of 1885 for a swarm of Italians, and in- 

 creased to si.x the same year, with B-t lbs. surplus, 

 and last season to 20 and 850 lbs. surplus. 1 should 

 have done better but for the drought. I think, 

 with you. that her prices are high, but T think her 

 hive is very gt)od, especialh' for wintering— no 

 small item, by the by. The only objection I have to 

 it is, that it is not adapted to I-lb. sections, though 

 for my use I should prefer her glass bo.ves. but 

 they are not so good for the general market. 



Fulton, Mo., Jan. 11, 1887. H. S. Huggett. 



Friend H., I am very glad to get such a 

 frank, honest testimony as the one yoti give. 

 When anybody indorses Mrs. Cotton, to the 

 extent of^sayihg that she is e.xactly right in 

 her plans and her prices, 1 begin to feel a 

 little afraid of him. It is natural for hu- 

 manity to take sides on almost all questions. 

 A, part will go to one extreme and a part to 



the other extreme ; bnt what the world 

 needs is cool, nnl)iased testimony from 

 those who will, with unprejudiced pen, give 

 the good and tlie bad points of all these 

 things as they come up. 



Rep0ctj^ ENC©a^?i6i]\[6. 



THE UPS AND J>OWNS IN BEE-KEEPING : $265 



KROM 17 COLONIES, AND 5 SWARMS 



MORE I'll.VN SPRING COUNT. 



STARTED in isstiwith 17 stands; increased to :!(i, 

 and sold 8 at *5.()0 each, before comb-honey time. 

 1 extracted 2.")(i lbs., and secured 12.50 lbs. of comb 

 honey in 1-1 b. sections. 1 received 15 cts. per lb. 

 for the extracted, quick sale, and from 12'2 to Iti 

 cts. for comb, mostly 15 cents, by the case. My 

 honey is mostlj fall honey. My sale of bees and 

 honey amounts to $2«5, and I have 5 swarms more 

 than I started with. That will pay all my exi>enses. 

 I want to say a little about how my bees have 

 wintered. 1 usually put my bees in a row, close 

 together, and set them on prairie hay and pack hay 

 over them. I have had the best results. The bees 

 always come out good and strong: but this spring 1 

 have a good mind to write " blasted hopes." The 

 winter was very open, the bees Hew about every 

 two weeks. They have dwindled down badly. I 

 lost si. X entirely, and the others are rather weak: 

 but I have cleaned them all out, and am going to 

 try to pull them through. I have been in the bee- 

 business -about ten years, on a small scale, but 

 never before have 1 h«d such bad luck wintering 

 bees. I had begun to think that Nebraska was the 

 place to winter bees safely. F. C. LeFevek. 



Juniata, Neb., Mar. 21, 1887. 



Thanks, friend L., for your report. 1 

 hardly see how yon could think of putting 

 yourself into Hbisted Hopes. The fact that 

 yon wintered unsuccessfully last winter does 

 not necessarily indicate tliat you will have 

 poor success in the future. Considering 

 how you made your bees pay. as indicated 

 in the head oi' your article, your reiiort 

 ought properly to come under the head of 

 Reports Encouraging, ought it not? 



FIFTV-SE\ EN DOLLARS FROM TWO SWAK.MS IN- 

 ONE SEASON. 



Last spring I started with two swarms. They 

 cast three swarms each. I saved tlve, one got 

 awaj . I sold 487 lbs. of honey for *.57.24. I have 

 seven swarms yet, all lively and strong. I make 

 my own hi\ es. My first swarm came otf the 2Hth of 

 May. They did not swarm, but made 108 lbs. of 

 honey. My caps hold 28 one-pound sections. My 

 bottom frames are the same width as the f'^ x f'l x 

 I l.")-lti sections, i ordered my fixtures from yon 

 last year. We have some flowers in bloom here 

 now on the ground and on trees. I will send you 

 one of the popi)le-blossoms. The bees work very 

 strong on tbeiu. I have a great many linn-trees 

 around me, and early cherry-trees. 



Kimball. Mich.. Apr. IB, 1887. A. M. French. 



AN AVER.KGK of 215 LBS. OF HONEV FOR THF. 

 I, .AST 5 VE.ARS. 



I wintered 42 colonies in a damp cellar this win- 

 ter, at a temperature of 38 to 40° . with splendid re- 

 sults. All cftjpe out in good sbape. Tbey cow- 



