214 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



April 2, 1903. 



wind, if I can find such a place conveniently near. They 

 will breed out nicely protected from the wind and exposed 

 to the sun, and I don't think if you can give them that, that 

 it is advisable to go to the extent of further protection. 



Mr. Fluegge — I think having only six colonies of bees 

 as I have, it would be pretty hard to get wind-protection 

 from four sides. I think it would be easier to protect the 

 hives partly. 



Mr. Wilcox — I never knew an east or south wind to do 

 any harm. 



Mr. Fluegge — I think a southeast wind, or a directly 

 east wind, coming over Lake Michigan, does harm to our 

 bees in the spring. 



Mr. Wilcox — If you were 200 miles from the lake it 

 wouldn't do them much harm. 



Pres. York — I have a slip of paper which reads : 

 " Speaking of wild bees, if the person who asked if there 

 are any such bees, will call at 68th and Morgan streets, 

 Chicago, next summer, he will never doubt that there are 

 wild bees there I" 



(Continued next week.) 



Contributed Articles. , 



Mouse-Proof Honey-Hou —Poor Honey 

 Crops— Co-operation. 



BY F. GKEINER. 



THE following is a sort of confidential letter intended for 

 publication : 



" On page 729 I read : ' After sections are cleaned out 

 pile up in honey-room and cover up mouse-tight.' " 



This practically admits that the honey-house of the 

 writer, Miss Emma Wilson, harbors mice. I wonder how 

 many readers of the American Bee Journal put up with 

 such conditions, are pestered with mice in their houey- 

 rooms. If there is any thing objectionable in a honey-house 

 or workshop of a beekeeper it is mice. They will soil our 

 sections, destroy combs, frames, separators, quilts, cush- 

 ions, etc. Why tolerate the nuisance? A honey-house 

 must be bee-proof, anyhow, at least bee-keepers (except the 

 Coggshalls) think so. If it is bee-proof, is it not mouse- 

 proof ? If it is not, it can and should be made so. I have 

 never had any damage done by mice in my honey-house and 

 workshop combined. They simply cannot get in, that's all ! 



Still, I believe in keeping all supers, empty or full, cov- 

 ered to keep out dust, spiders, flies, etc. All filled or honey- 

 containing supers or hive-bodies are kept covered with bee- 

 escape boards, not only to prevent the above-named things 

 from making our honey unsightly, but to make a sure thing 

 still surer— to make it impossible for bees ever to find it. I 

 have had some sad experiences in this line. Once I left a 

 window open when going to dinner. On my return the bees 

 were in possession of the building, and bushels of them 

 were collected and clustered at the windows. By nailing 

 blankets over the windows from the outside, except over 

 one, and by other tactics, I finally became master of the 

 situation. 



At another occasion the bees had entered a lot of 

 stacked-up supers through a crack in the floor of an upstairs 

 room, said room having been fitted up in a loosely built car- 

 riage-house temporarily for my use. A great deal of dam- 

 age had been done in this second instance, the bees having 

 had a long time to put in their work. On being sent for, 

 and arriving late in the afternoon, I had hard work to clean 

 out the bees and restore order. I learned a lesson that I will 

 never forget : To stack my supers upon regular hive-bot- 

 toms, close the entrance with blocks and cover up bee-tight. 



REPORTS OF THE HONEY CROP. 



Mrs. E. Burdick, from New Mexico, says on page 730 : 

 " Bees have not done anything — only one full super per 

 colony." A full super does not count anything with Mrs. 

 Burdick. It would with me, as I will show further on. 



I recollect another bee-keeper from the South reporting 

 about a year ago: "Had a poor season; averaged but 16 

 gallons per colony. A year ago my average was 22 gal- 

 lons." 



Mr. Doolittle, if I mistake not, has told of harvesting 



120 or 130 pounds of comb honey per colony in a poor honey 

 season. Many others have made similar reports during the 

 year, or years, past. When reading them I am at a loss to 

 know what a poor or a good season is. It seems to me that 

 as long as bees can gather enough fortheir winter supply, 

 the season must be called a normal one. Dr. Miller, when 

 he had to feed a ton or more of sugar had reason and might 

 talk about a poor honey season. When the season is such 

 as to enable one to take any surplus, it must be called favor- 

 able ; and when the average runs up as high as 50 or more 

 pounds it has been an exceptionally good one. A surplus 

 yield of 400 or 600 pounds goes beyond my comprehension, 

 and I find no term to express it. 



All bee-keepers may not look upon this matter as I do. 

 For the sake of clearing this thing up let us take the first 

 case of Mrs. Burdick and see what it means. Her bees had 

 done nothing, only filled one super. If the super contained 

 24 sections, and the honey was either clover or basswood, it 

 would have bought, judiciously sold, not less than S3.50. 

 With no other work on hand one might attend to 300 colo- 

 nies in 3 yards without other help. The income from the 

 honey sold would present the neat sum of over §1,000. The 

 number of colonies have probably been increased also, and 

 some may be turned into money. We will not count that, 

 nor what may be obtained by selling wax. An income of a 

 SI, 000 in a poor season is not very bad. Let them come. I 

 have lived well with smaller yields. 



The second case — the 16-gallons average — means more 

 than ISO pounds of surplus per colony. For good table 

 honey, in glass, I obtained this year 10 cents net. I might 

 not have been able to sell many tons at that price. Let us 

 put it down to 7 cents. At this low price each colony would 

 have turned out the owner $10.50, or 200 colonies would have 

 given an income of S2,100. This does not look to me like a 

 bad thing in a poor season. I can't'help wondering how 

 much some people engaged in bee culture expect to make, or 

 what would satisfy them. 



In a paper read at the Bee-Keepers' Convention in Buf- 

 falo, Mr. P. H. Elwood said, "The bee-keepers are poor." It 

 cannot be possible that they are, with such honey-yields. 

 The bee-business would be like a veritable gold-mine, as 

 compared with farming, if in poor seasons such yields were 

 being secured. If it is true that they are poor, then bee- 

 keepers do not get the large yields they report. 



The point I wish to make is, that things are often not 

 called by the right name. The bee-keeper need not flatter 

 himself, and tell about it, how much better he can manage 

 than his neighbor. Other up-to-date men would do equally 

 as well as he, in a poor season, with the same chance. 



CO-OPERATION ,\MONG BEE-KEEPERS. 



For the purpose of disposing of their honey, this seems 

 to be uppermost in the minds of many, as gleaned from 

 numerous articles in dilferent bee-periodicals. Perhaps a 

 move of this kind is all right, and may result in good, as re- 

 gardsthe producer, if successful. From my own standpoint, 

 with conditions as they surround me, I see no need of it 

 whatever. I try to produce what is wanted, and sell it for 

 what I can get for it. Producers of other articles of food 

 are situated precisely as I am, and do as I do. If by co- 

 operation we aim to distribute our product evenly, the gen- 

 eral public would be benefited ; but if our aim is to control 

 prices, keeping them up or raising them, the move will be 

 decidedly wrong. Many writers are of the opinion that 

 honey is low, or too low, in price. They dwell upon the 

 subject. It is my opinion that honey is sold at a higher 

 price, comparatively, than other things — too high to encour- 

 age and increase consumption. Twenty-fiv^ years ago 

 honey sold for not materially more, although a very fancy 

 lace-trimed lot brought me. f. o. b. here, 15 and 16 cents. 

 At this price the bulk honey sold in New York (on commts- 

 .sion) in 1876. In 1886 it sold in Philadelphia at 14 cents. 

 Since then prices ranged between 12 and 15 cents, according 

 to the supply and demand. 



The farmers' wheat, 25 years ago, brought here $1.50 

 per bushel. He did no better at that time than he does now 

 with 75 cents per bushel. The farmers' income has been 

 reduced to one-half, while the bee-keepers' income has al- 

 most held its own, during the same period. He ought to do 

 well. 



The greatest obstacles to co-operation are to get the bee- 

 keepers io co-operate ; and lack of available capital. 



Ontario Co., N. Y. 



The Premiums ofifered this week are well worth working 

 for. Look at them. 



