nu 



GIKANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Oct. 



AUSTRALIA AS A BE3E-COUNTRY. 



ANOTHKK STATEMENI'. 



fOUR issue of May 1.5, 1887, contains a letter 

 from Mr. L. Chambers, latelj' a South-Aus- 

 tralian bee-keeper and manufacturer of api- 

 cultuial requisites. The tenor of his letter 

 wouiil ead your readers to suppose that 

 bee-keeping' in South Australia would be an easy 

 and extri'iiioly profitable business. I am sure, from 

 my personal knowledg-c of Mr. Chambers, that he 

 would not wiin.illy misrein-esent our facilities and 

 (lilflcultios in bee-keei)inK'; but his natural enthusi- 

 asm ha,s led him into one or two errors which I am 

 desirous of correcting:. Our season certainly lasts 

 four or five months; but the honey-How during that 

 term (except in a few favored localities) is spas- 

 modic and irreg-ular. As to our having no winter- 

 well, compared with your winter, of course, we 

 can't call our wet season a winter; but the last 

 three or four months have proved that we get suffi- 

 cient cold and wet to stop all brood-raising in Ital- 

 ian stocks. 



Mr. Chambers quotes the " red gum " as a pro- 

 ducer of many hundred-weights of honey per sea- 

 son. Well, sir. it seems to me a difficult job to give 

 you any thing like a true estimate; but I certainly 

 should like an acre or two of those several-hundred- 

 weight trees in my neighborhood. I think your 

 query as to one hundred pounds per tree is much 

 nearer the mark. 



The Italians and their crosses are proving much 

 superior to black, and we are specially favored in 

 having an island set apart by our legislature, for 

 raising Italians only. With regard to that pest, foul 

 brood, nearly all bee-keepers here have had some 

 experience with it; but I never yet met one who 

 had cured it by three sprayings with phenol. As an 

 eradicator of the disease, most of us have found 

 phenol useless; as a preventive, especially useful. 

 Mr. Muth's method with salicylic acid is advocated 

 here, and I personally have found it suceessful. 

 Mr. Chambers' estimate of 400 or 500 lbs. per colony 

 per season is often realized here; but in most dis- 

 tricts, I venture to affirm that that result is excep- 

 tional. I append some reports culled by me from a 

 number sent in by members of our bee-keepers' as- 

 sociation, and you must understand that they are 

 selected, and do not represent average reports. 



TABULATED REPORT OF SOME OF THE BEST 

 YIELDS IN AUSTRALIA. 



The increase mentioned in the second column rep- 

 resents natural and artificial swarin.« from colonies 

 mentioned in the first column. 



With Mr. Chambers, I glory in snyiiig that we 

 have a capital country for honey-produceis; but I 

 must also admit, that, like every other country, we 

 have difficulties— bad seasons, and plenty of hard 

 work, before we can have or expect success. 



With. regard to my own bee-keeping doings, I am 

 not a professional. My hees atford me constant 



pleasure, and are, in fact, my hobby; but I must 

 tell you that T find it a hobby that pays its own way, 

 and the last report in the foregoing list is my own. 

 Frederic A. Joyner. 

 Adelaide, Australia, July 18, 1887. 



Friend J., we are under obligations to you 

 for giving us actual figures in regard to this 

 matter of yields of honey. Thanks, also, in 

 regard to "the reports about foul In-ond. I 

 believe your experience just about agrees 

 with that of Mr. Cowan, as giveti in Ids re- 

 cent visit. 



HO'W A BEGINNER MADE BEES PAY. 



A VISIT TO MRS. ClHADDOr'K'S APIARY. 



K. HOOT:— I am a beginner in bee culture. 

 1 want to tell you my little experience in 

 connection with the work. To begin with. 

 T will tell you that, for the past seven 

 years, I have been living in a country 

 home in Appanoose Co., Iowa, the land of white 

 clover and honey. Three years ago last spring, 

 George B. Replogle, whom I had the good fortune 

 to claim for my neighbor, presented me with one 

 colony of bees. I must confess that I had always 

 gazed at the little creatures with a suspicious eye, 

 and was quite unwilling to approach them. Their 

 actions in the past had not impressed me favorabl.v 

 at all times. But I am always glad to form new 

 acquaintances, and so I determined to become bet- 

 ter acquainted with these busy little workers which 

 I now had in my possession, and had allowed to be 

 sheltered in one corner of my front yard. 



Their former ovvner, knowing that I was entirely 

 ignorant of the manners and customs of the bee- 

 tribe, kindly took upon himself the task of instruct- 

 ing me in regard to them, and it was not long un- 

 til friendly relations were established between us. 

 Well, with occasional lessons I succeeded in man- 

 aging the inmates of the little dwelling, and pre- 

 vented their swarming, not wishing more than one 

 colony until my knowledge was extended some- 

 what. I began a course of reading In ?jee-ology. 



Mr. Replogle loaned me the ABC book, also 

 Gleanings. T read them with much interest and 

 profit. The following year I went on reading, and 

 the bees went on working. During the summer 

 they increased to three colonies, and. to reward me 

 for my protecting care over them, they gathered 

 in a sui'plus of honey which tempted me, when I 

 discovered that I might convert the gift they had 

 furnished, into silver. This I did until I found, on 

 counting the pieces, I had sold six dollars' worth of 

 honey. 



Last season 1 increased to eight colonies, and re- 

 alized f 13.00 from the sale of honey, besides having 

 all the family wanted to eat, which was not a little. 



Last spring I sold out, preparatory to moving to 

 Illinois, where I expect to make uiy future home. 

 My bees brought me between thirty-seven and forty 

 dollars. I felt amply repaid for the little care I 

 gave them, and must say that 1 am glad for having 

 had the opportunity of forming an ac(iuaintance 

 with the bee-family. 1 take great pleasure in work- 

 ing with them, and have overcome the nervousness 

 and timidity which I felt at first. 



A short time ago 1 had the i)U'asurc' of visiting 

 the apiary of Mrs. ('haddock, who lives about 

 twenty-five miles from my home, f found her sit- 



