1887 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



689 



poor, many of our apiarists got discouraged, and 

 either gave up the business for the present or else 

 let their bees take care of themselves, to a great ex- 

 tent. My own have been taken care of in a very 

 slijtshod manner for the past two seasons, as there 

 was more profit to me in giving my time to 

 my orange - groves. The prospect now is, that 

 next season will give us a full crop again, and 

 J now feel that 1 can again invite brother bee-keep- 

 ers to come to this country, with as good a prospect 

 of their being successful in their line here as any 

 where else in the I'. S. They must remember, how- 

 ever, that the ordering of the honey crop does not lie 

 with me; and as I am thoroughly human, my 

 judgment may err. 



The two who seem to have best success along this 

 river this season are Mrs. Dr. Goodwin, located 

 three miles north, on the peninsula, who took, I am 

 told nine barrels of honey from about 4.") colonies; 

 and Mr. Storer, five miles south, on the main land, 

 who took 1.5 barrels from about 1^5 colonies. These 

 barrels, I suppose, hold about 400 lbs. each. I have 

 so far received no other reports that compare with 

 these, although there may be others who have done 

 as well, whom I have not heard from. The comb- 

 honey producers have not reported yet. The season 

 has been exceptionally dry through the summer 

 months, but I do not think that its being so short- 

 ened the crop to any extent. W. S. Hart. 



Hawks Park, Fla., Aug. 33, 1887. 



CAUSE OF SOUTHERN HONEY GBANU- 

 LATING. 



I should advise you not to lay out any more 

 money on bees and stipplies just at present. 

 Takewhat you liave, and make them bring 

 some return. 



DUES IT PAY TO KB",EP BEES .■* 



KEEPING BEES IN DIFFERENT API- 

 ARIES. 



SOME EXCELLENT SlIfiOESTIONS EROM THE l)A- 



UANTS. 



K. G. W. BECKHAM, of South Carolina, asks 

 in Gleanings, Aug. 1.5, p. 63t5, the cause of 

 his honey candying. 1 believe his honey 

 and ours of this year, or what surplus we 

 got. was gathered from the ))ines, secreted 

 by a plant-louse, as illustrated in Cook's Manual, 

 P'ig. 133. I saw large drops of it dry on the pine 

 buds, and they were nearly^as white as granulated 

 sugar. I left two cases of this honey, which was ta- 

 ken during May, our honey season, to have them 

 completed. Two weeks ago, when removed, the bees 

 had taken it nearly all below, leaving me a lot of 

 nice combs in sections for next year's use. 



This is my lourth]year with bees. 1 began in 1884 

 with 4 colonies; expenses, $85.08. I received on 

 hives, etc., $3!i.tJ7. No surplus Jhoney received. I 

 began in 1885 with 6 colonies; expenses, $34.39. Re- 

 ceived 45 lbs. of honey, valued at^#«.00. I began in 

 ]88tj with 10 colonies; expenses, $16.80. Surplus 

 honey, 41 lbs. Value, $5.00. Keceipts in full. $15.00. 

 I began in 1887 with 11 colonies. Increased to 17; 

 expenses, $11.35.3. Surplus honej', .37 lbs. Value, 

 S4..50. Value of stock on] hand, including bees, 

 *75.00. Expenses for the 4 years, $137.53. Receipts 

 for same, including stock on hand, $130.17. So you 

 see I am out over $7.00 in money, and my time in 

 manipulating; the bees. Zi Would you advise my 

 keeping bees with the expectation of getting a 

 profit"/' G. W. O'Kei.lev. 



Harmony (Jrove, Ga., Aug. 3», 1887. 

 I should say that the hrst thing \ ou need 

 to do in order to make your bees pay in the 

 future, is to cut down the items of expense. 

 We can manage to get along on much small- 

 er outlays, if we only think so, many times. 



J5^ EAR MR. ROOT:- The reading of the answers 

 j<| oj to (^uery 3, and of the remarks that you add- 

 W^ f''!' have called to my mind one of our great 

 ""■^ arguments in favorof keeping bees in sever- 

 al locations a few miles apart. A great 

 many imagine that the dividing of bees into several 

 apiaries is attended with more expense than profit. 

 Yet it is a fact, that we have succeeded better with 

 a number of small apiaries than wo used to do with 

 only one or two large ones. Leavi ng aside the ques- 

 tion of overstocking, there is a decided advantage 

 in keeping bees in different places, as the yield is 

 not everywhere the same. Taking the present 

 season as an instance, in our locality, the yield of 

 different apiaries only a few miles apart is quite 

 different, and we find a profit in apiaries placed on 

 the lowlands while the crop is a total failure in oth- 

 er places. On the other hand, in wet seasons the 

 yield on the hills is very great, while it is almost 

 null on the bottoms. An apiarist can have no idea 

 of the difference that a few miles will make, owing 

 to rains, the soil, and the pasturage, until he tries 

 bee-keeping in different apiaries. We have apiaries 

 located a few miles north of us, in the hills, that 

 usually yield a good crop of clover, and that pro- 

 duce little else; on the other hand, our lower api- 

 aries, on the Mississippi bottoms, yield nothing 

 but fall honey, but in this they never fail. There- 

 fore, on the principle of not putting *all of one's 

 eggs into one basket, we believe in spreading the 

 bees and occupying ditt'ercnt fields. We do not 

 agree with those who think that bees can go safely 

 four or five miles for honey. We have apiaries 

 three miles apart, that yield altogether different 

 crops, both in quality and quantity, and such would 

 not be the case if bees could travel as far as rep- 

 resented. Our home apiary is only two miles from 

 the river bottoms, and our bees hardly ever reach 

 it. We have seen seasons when we were comiielled 

 to feed, while those who had bees ne.xt to the bot- 

 toms harvested a fair crop. The crop of each of 

 six different apiaries ditters in quantity, quality, 

 taste, and color. C. P. Dadant. 



Hamilton, Hancock Co., 111., Sept. 8, 1887. 



Why, my good friend, you have suggest- 

 ed a very important point indeed, and one 

 that I fear has been a great deal overlooked. 

 This matter of putting your eggs all ui one 

 basket is a serious one in many kinds of 

 l)usiness ; at least, where a new hand starts 

 out bv putting all the eggs he has got, or 

 can scrape up, into one single basket, if 

 the basket is ui)set, he is down completely ; 

 and since >ou suggest it, I have noticed a 

 very great difference in the honey-flow, 

 even in a short distance. When friend 

 Doolittle claimed that bees coidd fly four or 

 Ave miles, you may remember that I was 

 very slow to be convinced; and with the 

 facts you have given above, I still think 

 that, even if it be pnssibletox bees to fly such 



