606 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



July 15 



picture which I hope will reveal some of 

 the characteristics of this only too rare in- 

 dividual. You make your visit in June, 

 and long- before you reach his residence you 

 will find all roads thickly set to sweet clo- 

 ver and catnip, the fragrance of which has 

 attracted the bees who are flitting indus- 

 triously about among the sweet-scented 

 blossoms. Upon arriving at his home you 

 will find him busily engaged in putting on 

 supers and hiving swarms; but he will find 

 time to greet you warmly, and will evince 

 great delight in showing- you through his 

 apiary. You will find his family enthusi- 

 astic on the subject of bees, and at the din- 

 ner-table you hear much of the blessings of 

 apiculture, which enables the family to pur- 

 chase all household necessities from the 

 sale of honey. The host will tell of having 

 twenty-five acres of sweet clover, which he 

 cuts for ha3% and the same acreage of cat- 

 nip, which will enable him to keep 300 col- 

 onies instead of the usual 100. From the 

 product of these colonies he hopes to be able 

 to purchase the next season an adjoining 

 SlO.OOO farm. 



It is not necessary to describe the lazy, 

 careless bee-keeper, as he is well known. 

 If he would devote the time he now spends 

 in writing to the bee journals of his fail- 



ures, to the sowing of sweet clover and cat- 

 nip seed he would be much more useful to 

 the community. He will tell j'ou that he 

 does not take a bee journal, for the reason 

 that his bees do not pay, and he can not af- 

 ford to, not realizing that one of the main 

 reasons why they do not pay is his own lack 

 of knowledge in handling-. 



When I started bee-keeping on a large 

 scale my neighbor bee-keepers did not aver- 

 age a surplus yield of over 50 pounds per 

 year to the colony. I immediately set about 

 improving the bee pasture, and my average 

 yield of surplus for eleven 3'ears was 150 

 pounds to the colonj', and for the last six 

 years it has been 300 pounds. 



My increase has always paid all ex- 

 penses, including 10 per cent interest on the 

 investment. I produce chunk, extracted, 

 and section honey, and sell all at 15 cents 

 per lb. in this and neighboring- towns. My 

 net profit for eleven years was a little over 

 400 per cent, and for the last six j'ears it 

 was a little over 800 per cent. Last year 

 my home apiary, of which I am now writ- 

 ing, 75 colonies (spring count), gave me 407 

 lbs. to the colon}'. 



Some may wish to know how I came to go 

 into the bee business. For their enlighten- 

 ment I will state that, about seventeen years 



GANDY IN HIS HOME APIAKY. 



