GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



June, 1919 



might add, had under 50 colonies and tho 

 other 250. Which, queried the puzzled one, 

 ■R'as the one to copy? 



Whichever you prefer, was my answer. 

 For side liners can make a choice. Commer- 

 cial beekeepers may feel they can not afford 

 the slower quieter method, being compelled 

 to be as swift and expeditious as possible. 

 If their bees get rough — very well then, 

 they get rough. Which disposes of that 

 point. If the work is less pleasant — 

 let it be less pleasant. Which disposes 

 of that point. If it is more tiring — it is 

 simply more tiring. Eesults are what they 

 are after, and they necessarily use whatever 

 method will produce the best results, meas- 

 ured in dollars and cents. 



The side liner, on the other hand, need 

 not work after this fashion unless he pre- 

 fers. He may so prefer, for he may wish to 

 increase his bees to the largest number that 

 he can handle during the time at his dis- 

 posal. So he, too, may use the slapdash 

 system with his bees and apply the dollar 

 measuring stick to his results. And still be 

 a perfectly proper side liner. Or he may — 

 and I fancy most of the genus Side Liner 

 will — prefer the quieter method that lets 

 him smoke his bees very little, lift out his 

 combs gently, and find his work such real en- 

 joyment that it passes out of the category 

 of work into that of leisurely delight. It 

 will take more time per colony — but that 

 may be an argument in its favor! Where 

 every minute holds 60 seconds of pleasure, 

 why reduce the minutes? Besides, one is 

 learning and observing during these slow 

 processes, gaining an intimate personal 

 knowledge of the ways of the bees. 



So it depends on the results one is after 

 how one should work. Moreover, one isn 't 

 of necessity under the compulsion of doing 

 it always the same way. Some glowing day 

 of blue skies and birdsong and uninterrupt- 

 ed hours, one may choose to turn his work 

 into a long slow delicious unforgettable de- 

 light; and some other day, with other af- 

 fairs pressine, he may be nmbitious to see 

 how efficiently and quickly he can accom- 

 plish whatever needs doing. Many a begin- 

 ner has started by the slow method, and 

 after a few seasons passed on into swifter 

 ones, which from a practical point of view 

 is a perfectly logical procedure. 



For beginners may well eir, if err they 

 must, on the deliberate side of the question. 

 Therein lies greater safety for the inexperi- 

 enced. Later, will come the quicker more 

 businesslike handling, and short cuts will 

 be discovered. For instance, the beginner 

 examining for brood, goes clear across the 

 hive, frame by frame. Then gradually the 

 solidarity of the brood-nest becomes a fact 

 to him; instead of just something he has 

 read of, it is a part of his own experience. 

 So some day when he finds brood in the sec- 

 ond comb from one side, he will look quick- 

 ly at the opposite side, and from the location 

 of the two combs that mark the sides of tho 

 brood-nest, he will decide on the number of 



combs of brood without looking at each one. 

 He will ti]) up his hives to look for queen- 

 cells from below. He will relentlessly shake 

 the bees from the combs when it suits his 

 purpose. And in that way his work will be 

 done more quickly — and his bees will be 

 crosser. 



Yet when people talk about doing 75 colo- 

 nies a day, they keep my imagination stam- 

 mering, trying to keep up with them. 

 » * * 



If you are keeping book accounts of your 

 little side-line venture, you would like to 

 liave your records such that at a glance you 

 can tell from year to year what your crops 

 have been. The simplest way is for the 

 sum total of your cash sales to represent 

 your full crop. If you use a considerable 

 amount of honey for your table, and perhaps 

 to give away, your sum total of sales does 

 not represent the full crop. Some further 

 notation is required of the amount retained 

 for family consumption. 



I have known side-line beekeepers and 

 chicken-raisers who have actually paid cash 

 for all they put on their own tables, so as 

 to keep the little business venture indepen- 

 dent and with all records accurate. (Usual- 

 ly in this case they pay a wholesale price 

 for the honey and eggs, just as a merchant 

 will do for the things his family buys from 

 his store.) But some people object to pay- 

 ing for what is raised right there on the 

 place. In that case, if you would still like 

 to have the sum total of sales represent the 

 entire crop, you can regard the honey re- 

 served for family use as your wages, enter- 

 ing it among your cash sales like any other 

 sale. Then make an entry for the same 

 amount among your disbursements, charging 

 it to labor. This in no way alters the cash 

 balance, but it does make your sales sheet 

 include your entire crop. And it is honest 

 with yourself, too, and with the bees. It's 

 not juggling figures, either. It is as tho 

 you were paid for your labor, and in turn 

 you paid for the honey used. The amount 

 of honey consumed at home is negligible in 

 the case of a big producer, but is a sizable 



per cent of the backlotter's crop. 



* * * 



JUNE. 

 June, ^■ou nre mine 

 With your shimmer and shine! 

 YoTir radiant gleaming 

 And delicate dreaming 

 Have lun thru my veins like Arcadian 



wine ! 

 .June, you are mine! 

 Roses and tees 

 And the sun on the trees — 

 These are the part of you, 

 Out of the heart of you, 

 Open old doors with mysterious keys — 

 Roses — and bees. 

 June, I am yours, . 

 By all magical lure-s ! 

 Bees in their coming 

 And going and humming 

 Have woven my heart in a web that 



endures — 

 June, I am yours ! 



