GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



A COLONY OR TWO OF BEES 



How They May Reduce the Cost of Living 



BY W. R. COMINGS 



{The writer of the following article, Mr. \V. R. 

 Comings, superintendent of the public schools of our 

 -neighboring city of Elyria, a place of 15,000 inhabi- 

 'tants, deserves more than passing notice. Mr. Com- 

 ings was formerly superintendent of our own Medina 

 "schools, and during that period, in the late 70's and 

 •early 80's he had much to do in shaping the future 

 ■policies of a number of the boys, particularly of our- 

 :self. It is not too much to say here that we feel more 

 "indebted to him for our educational training than 

 any other teacher we ever had. Always up to date, 

 he is most of the time a little ahead of the world. 

 His schools in Elyria show that in every room. Well, 

 when he took up beekeeping, it was presumed, of 

 course, that he would use modern methods at the 

 .start, and he did. Not only that, but his progressive 

 mind has been looking toward new and old fields. 

 He writes: — Ed.] 



Why do I keep bees? First of all, for 

 the fun of it. Second, to reduce the cost of 

 high living-, ov, rather, to have a taste of 

 high living without any cost. 



Formerly the annual purchase of honey 

 for the family was not above half a dozen 

 pounds a year. Honey was a luxury, and 

 rather expensive, as I fancy it is to a great 

 many people. But if bees would pay their 

 own way, why not have honey in plenty"? 

 And then I had a little sportive desire to 

 see what I could do \vith bees, and so last 

 year a colony was ordered of my good 

 friend Root. 



The interest I have taken in those bees 

 has amply repaid me, for all along it is a 

 bit of nature study with an incentive. But 

 I have nothing new to add to the beekeep- 

 er's lore. I have an arg-ument to present. 

 But first let me remark that there were 

 many dark forebodings about those bees. 

 The good wife had visions of their flying- 

 straight into the faces of all the neighbors 

 .and the neighbors' children, and there are 

 jio less than six families living within sixty 

 feet of that miniature apiary. But no one 

 has been stung besides myself, and one is 

 •soon immune to the poison-punctures. 



Well, that colony doubled the first season 

 and produced sixty pounds of delicious 

 sweetness. This year the two colonies in- 

 •ereased to four, and the season's crop was 

 '285 pounds. Enough honey has been sold 

 to eliminate all costs, and there is honey on 

 the table every day. Hereafter my honey 

 costs me nothing. 



Are not these facts sufficient justification 

 for my preachment, which is that every 

 householder should keep a colony or two of 

 bees. They make little work, occupy almost 

 no space, turn out a good product, reduce 

 the cost of high living, eliminate largely the 

 •craving for expensive sweets and chocolates. 



and provide a diversion for the tired man 

 after business hours or on holidays. 



The next step might be a goat or two if 

 one cared to go that far; but I stop with 

 the bees, and shall continue to buy milk as 

 long as possible. 



Elvria, Ohio. 



SHIPPING FULL COLONIES 1000 MILES BY EX- 

 PRESS 



BY M. A. PETERS 



While living at Spring Valley, Ohio, in 

 the spring of 1910, I was the happy pos- 

 sessor of 72 fine colonies of bees that had 

 wintered in fine shape. If I remember 

 rightly, there had been some willow and 

 dandelion bloom. I suddenly decided to 

 move to Ft. McCoy, Fla., and take 42 colo- 

 nies with me. The problem arose as to how 

 to ship them. The railroads would not ac- 

 cept them by freight, and eight-frame hives 

 partly full of honey were too expensive to 

 go by express. Therefore I resolved to use 

 light shipping-cases % x 4 inches wide, and 

 the snug length of a Hoffman top frame 

 bar. The sides were to be made of wire 

 cloth, and tacked every 11/2 inches. Those 

 cases were made two inches deeper than the 

 frames. There were cleats nailed inside of 

 both ends higli enough to make the frame 

 level with the top. 



One frame one-half or two-tliirds full of 

 honey- and some brood were put in each 

 case, directly in the center. Each colony 

 was carefully shaken into the case; the lid 

 nailed, and two screws put down through 

 into the top-bar of the frame to prevent 

 turning sidewise. About ten of those were 

 nailed into a light skeleton crate ready for 

 immediate shipment by express. Empty 

 hives had been sent on ahead by freight to 

 receive those when they arrived at their 

 destination. The hives containing combs 

 were sent on immediately after. 



The bees arrived at their destination jiot 

 much the worse for their long ride, although 

 it seems to me that it would have been bet- 

 ter if they had been provided with a little 

 water, as they seemed very thirsty when 

 turned loose. 



Bees properly crated in this manner could 

 be safely shipped 2000 miles. Plenty of 

 sealed honey must be provided for such a 

 trip, as the consumption of honey seems to 

 be considerably above the normal. 



I shipped by freight several hundred fine 

 newly drawn combs wired four times across. 

 Those came through with scarcely a break. 

 I put about 100 into a box, and packed 

 them verv tightlv. 



Fort McCoy, Fla. 



