746 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Oct. 



enough. Now number each place in the group, and 

 also give each group a number, in some natural or- 

 der, and you have the whole thiny so you can carry 

 it in your mind, and tind or record any hive easily 

 without having a number posted up at all. In your 

 memorandum a hive is 5—3 <>i- 1 1 — 8 or 1-3— ti ; the 

 first luimher designating the group, and the second 

 the position in the group. My practice is not quite 

 equal to my preaching, as ray groups stand rank 

 and file, and do not ha\'(' lf>catini! objects enough. 



R. E. H.4STY. 



I believe I shall side in with friend Hasty; 

 Itiit if 1 aiu riyht. there has been hardly 

 enough said in regard to having the hives 

 dilier enough in ai)f)earant'e. I am forced 

 to believe that it is quite unfortunate that it 

 is so expedient in many respects to have 

 hives all exactly alike ; and I have been 

 wontlering if it would not be well to say, 

 have your hives exactly alike on the inside. 

 Then let the outside show some portico, 

 .some Simplicity, some chaff hives, and may 

 be some tenement hives, if the proprietor is 

 not too much averse to the latter ; then 

 adopt the grouping plan and you are all 

 right. Our apiary of 500 hives is, as you 

 know, in groups of 7 pretty good-sized apia- 

 ries — the greater part of the -500 ; and at the 

 angles are groups of 6 more, with a smaller 

 number. See the picture of our apiary in 

 the front part of the A B C book. In larger 

 groups, bees do. however, make a good many 

 blunders. While this does little harm in the 

 way of queen-rearing, it probably does more 

 or less harm in throwing two or "three dozen 

 bees into some hive not their own, every 

 little while. I wonder if anybody can tell 

 how much harm this latter really does do. 



Question Nn. ,9.— Which is cheaper and better in 

 the long run— to jmrchase a comb-foundation mill 

 and make foundation for your own use (providing 

 you have 150 colonies), or to buy your foundation 

 outright of a dealer ? L. J. W. 



Purchase a mill, and make the foundation. 



Paul L. Viallon. 



Make your own foundation, if you have that 

 many bees. <)■ < >• Poppleton. 



Buy it. Who would think of getting machinery 

 to make one buggyV Mrs. L. Harrison. 



1 should suppose this would depend upon one's 

 circumstances. From my small experience, I should 

 say it is best to own the machine. A. .J. Cook. 



Very much better and cheaper to own a mill or 

 Given press, unless only starters are used in the 

 supers, and no increase in the number of colonies. 



Dr. a. B. Mason. 



1 use Foster's molds, and like them much. WMth 

 them a pound of wa.\ can be worked as well as 50 

 lbs., and the cost of the machine is but a ti-ifle. 



G. M. DOOLITTLE. 



It depends on your capacity for handling beeswax. 

 Some apiarists succeed, others get so tired of the 

 business that they sell their mill and buy their foun- 

 dation. Dauant & Son. 



If you have your own help to work your wax, you 

 had be^fbuy a mill, if your dealer charges you 

 more than 10 cts. per lb. over the value of wax. 



K. Wii.KiN. 



That depends. If your time is worth nothing at 

 the time of making, perhaps it is better to buy a 

 mill. If I could get a good price for sawing wood, T 

 think I should rather buy the foundation. 



C. C. Miller. 



We bought a l:J-inch foundation-machine before 

 we had 150 colonies. I am satisfied it is cheaper. 

 Wo hire a good deal of help by the month. We 

 make our fovnidation rainy days, when we have no 

 employment for them at other work. F,. France. 



Recent changes in the manufacture and use of 

 comb foundation cause me to believe that it is bet- 

 ter to ))urchase than to manufacture. I believe 

 this branch of our business will pass into the hands 

 of two or three specialists. Economy and comfort 

 will demand it. Specialty has a myriad of advan- 

 tages. .Iames Heduon. 



I suspect that ten years hence some one will read 

 over this question, and laugh merrilj-. Some of us 

 laugh now. I use less than five dollar's worth of 

 foundation in a year, and, of course, could not af- 

 ford to run a mill, if it were given to me. I do not 

 deny, however, that there are some apiaries where 

 large amounts of foundation can be profitably used 

 —notably where the honey all comes in one grand 

 rush, and is stored by Italian bees. B. E. Hasty. 



It depends very much upon the man. The mnk- 

 i)!|/ of foundation has no connection with the prac- 

 tical management of an ajjiary; i. e., there is no 

 reason why a bee-keeper should be a foundation- 

 nuiker. The interest upon a machine and fl.xtures 

 will pay freight on foundation, and the time sjjent 

 in learning and making will nearly pay the profit. 

 Foundation-making is a trade. Let us buy of those 

 who by years of practice have learned how to make 

 a good article. Most of the "fishbone" in comb 

 honey is the i-esult of foundation bunglingly made 

 by men who think they must have a mill, in the 

 same sense that they have a honey-extractor. 



w. Z. Hutchinson. 



In addition to the reasons given aliove, I 

 think it depends a good deal on whether the 

 apiarist takes a notion to make his own 

 foundation or not. If you take a notion 

 that you want a nice patch of strawberries, 

 you will have it, especially if the notion 

 holds out. After you get it, and you take a 

 notion you would rather raise strawberries 

 than do any thing else you ever did in your 

 life, you will be quite apt to make a straw- 

 berry-farm a paying business. When you 

 get over the notion, the business will begin 

 to run down. Now. this is true not only in 

 bee culture, but in using machines. You 

 can not make very much of a success at any 

 thing luiless you put your whole heart in it. 

 Very likely, ten years hence (or may be a 

 little longer! we shall laugh at the idea of 

 one man trying to do so many things, just as 

 we now laugh at the time when our country 

 stores used to keep dry goods, groceries, 

 drugs, l)Ooks, and boots and shoes besides : 

 and I confess there is much less care and 

 worry, and oftentimes much more satisfac- 

 tion, in concentrating all our energy on one 

 line of work, and by this means furnishing 

 a product superior to what the world has 

 been in the habit of having. 



