.S96 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Dec. 



have helped me to get along while working Into the 

 bee-business. Now, I believe that every bee-keep- 

 er can have part of his time during the year, to 

 work at something besides the bees and selling 

 honey. But just what that something is, depends 

 upon how a man is situated. But this year has 

 proved that we must have something besides the 

 bees to depend on for our bread and butter. Some 

 locations will furnish one line of work, while anoth- 

 er location will furnish something else; and it is not 

 everybody that will or can take hold of the same 

 thing and make a success of it. Every one must 

 say for himself what there is within his reach to do, 

 that will pay, so that he may fill up his spare time 

 and make a part of a living, at least, out of some- 

 thing besides the bees. 



I can not say what another could or should do: 

 but as for myself I can not do the same things I did 

 do ten or fifteen years ago. For instance, I could 

 not sell sewing-machines now, for the reason that 

 my eyesight is dim with age; and by reason of age 

 I have quit hunting. For our market I could not 

 make it pay to raise garden vegetables. At first it 

 paid well; but others, seeing my success, went at it 

 and broke down the market. The same was true 

 with grapes. Others raised them cheaper than I 

 could, and sold from 2'/4 to 4 cents per lb., so I quit 

 the grape-business. As to raspberries and straw- 

 berries, the picking and marketing comes just at a 

 time when we are doing our extracting. Besides, 

 others have gone heavily into the business; so two 

 years ago I plowed up my last half-acre of straw- 

 berries, except a small patch for home use, and we 

 have now only about half an acre of rasberries left, 

 and I don't think we shall pick them more than one 

 year more. We are, however, planting out more 

 blackberries. We find the spring work with them 

 is all done before the bee-work comes on. Then the 

 harvesting comes on after we are done with the 

 bees, so we have plenty of time to pick and sell the 

 fruit. In this latitude we have to lay down the 

 bushes in the fall, and cover them up with dirt, to 

 winter them. That is a rough job, but we have to 

 do it to be sure of a crop. Then we have to ship the 

 fruit to other markets, as there are so many in the 

 blackberry-business here that our town can not use 

 over a fifth of them. How long it will pay to raise 

 blackberries to ship, we don't know. When that 

 gives out we must try something else. My son has 

 taught school winters for several years. Last year 

 we had a big crop of honey. Then he said he had 

 taught his last term; but getting so little honey 

 this year, he has a contract to run another term of 

 school, this coming winter. 



HOW TO MAKE ANY RACE OF BEES PRACTICALLY 

 NON-SWARMING. 



Now, I should like to say a few words about 

 question No. 13 in " Our Question-Box." " Is it pos- 

 sible to breed a non-swarming race of bees?" I 

 don't believe it is desirable to have a non-swarming 

 race. If we did have them it would be because 

 they did not raise enough bees to swarm. We all 

 want to have our bees strong, queens prolific, so as 

 to have a host of bees at the commencement of the 

 honey-harvest, for it is bees that gather the honey. 

 For my part I would rather have a very strong col- 

 ony at that time than to have a weak one that 

 would not have bees enough to swarm. But, say 

 that, at the commencement of a good honey-flow, 

 we have all our bees extra strong, can we prevent 

 their swarming? That is the question with me; and 



can we make them more profitable by keeping 

 them from swarming than they would be if they 

 swarmed? I know it is difficult to work bees for 

 comb honey, and keep them strong and not swarm. 

 When the bees are run for extracted honey 

 in a good honey season, give them all the room that 

 the queen can keep full of bees, and empty combs 

 to fill the space, then there will be no swarming, as 

 a rule. Bees will fill a salt-barrel, and swarm out of 

 it; but that is as large a space as they can fill and 

 swarm. I have now standing in my home yard 

 three quadruple hives, each containing four colo- 

 nies of bees, making twelve colonies. They have 

 been in those hives two years. Out of the twelve 

 colonies there has been but one swarm in the two 

 years, and that went back and stayed there. The 

 twelve have wintered outdoors on their summer 

 stands, without a loss, the last two winters. They 

 are the most profitable bees that I have got. The 

 hive is 13V4X 1354 inches, and 43 inches high, using 

 two sets of frames 21Ji inches high, 9 frames in 

 each set. The upper set stands on the top of the 

 lower set of frames, with nothing between them, 

 making a continuous hive 43 inches deep. ] work 

 them for extracted honey. Those bees are no 

 trouble to me whatever, only to throw out the hon- 

 ey when they have it to spare. Besides those 12 

 colonies, I have about 40 colonies in quadruple 

 8-frame L. hives, which I have worked three tier 

 high, making 24 L. frames. I have had them in use 

 now for two years, and part of them three years. 

 When they are worked three tier high with the ex- 

 tractor, they don't swarm. Now, if those bees were 

 kept as they are, and not a swarm come o£C for 20 

 years or more, would they be any nearer a non- 

 swarming race than they were at the start? No, I 

 think not. Put them on just one set of frames, and 

 they would swarm the first year, just like any other 

 bees. Then why do bees swarm? Simply because 

 the queen has no empty combs in which to deposit 

 her eggs. If we don't want swarms, give the queen 

 room— empty combs, not space filled up with found- 

 ation, but good finished combs in which the queen 

 can place her eggs, then she will be satisfied to re- 

 main where she is, and the workers will be satisfied 

 also, as it is just as natural for the workers to be 

 nursing young larval bees as it is for the queen to 

 lay the eggs. 



HOW MANY L. FRAMES ARE REQUIRED TO KEEP A 

 PROLIFIC QUEEN IN BREEDING-ROOM? 



Some say eight frames are enough. I don't think 

 so. It may do for some queens, but not for all. 

 Some queens will fill 12 frames. With me, in work- 

 ing the L. hives three stories high, it is nothing un- 

 common to find brood in all the three stories— the 

 lower story full of brood, the second story about 

 half brood and half honey, the third story more or 

 less brood in three or four combs. Now put that 

 queen on eight brood-frames, and keep her there. 

 That colony will swarm, sure. It is so natural for 

 bees to swarm that I don't think it possible to pro- 

 duce a non-swarmir.g race of bees; but I am sure 

 that we can manage the bees in a manner to pre- 

 vent swarming. Either have a hive roomy enough to 

 prevent swarming, or work the bees in such a way 

 that they can not swarni. When you have a big 

 working force, take away the queen. E. France. 



Platteville, Wis., Oct. 2.5, 1887. 



Friend F., as you put it, it seems that the 

 bee-keeper had better occupy his spare time 

 in doing that which is most to his liking. 



