Gleanings in Bee Culture 



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At Borodino, New York 



KEEPING LOTS OF BEES. 



" How many colonies of bees should one 

 keep to be a well-to-do apiarist? I became 

 interested in bees two years ago, and bought 

 five colonies. I have fifteen now; and my 

 sales, since I began, have been about $156. 

 I have been figuring a little on keeping 50 

 colonies, and from my experience so far I 

 thought I might average $500 a year from 

 that number; but I have just read that no 

 apiarist becomes well-to-do unless he keeps 

 a lot of bees. The writer of the article ad- 

 vocated keeping several out-apiaries, num- 

 bering from 50 to 100 colonies each, be- 

 sides having as many colonies in the home 

 apiary as his field would support. If I must 

 engage in bee-keeping on such a large scale 

 in order to become well-to-do I shall feel 

 somewhatlike abandoning the whole thing." 



"Much will depend upon the way you in- 

 terpret that expression, 'well-to-do;' as well 

 as the meaning of those four words, 'a lot 

 of bees.' We will consider the last four 

 words first. Some would construe these to 

 mean a lot of bees in each colony. How 

 often has it been reiterated that a colony of 

 bees numbering from 50,000 to 75,000, and 

 even 100,000, produces the best results, 

 while one from 10,000 to 15,000 gives its 

 keeper little if any surplus! In spite of the 

 prevalent idea that bees w^ork for nothing 

 and board themselves, the colonies num- 

 bering between 10,000 and 20,000 are the 

 rule rather than the exception, and, conse- 

 quently yield only a small surplus, even 

 though a bee-keeper may count his colonies 

 by the hundreds or thousands. 



"With such small colonies a much greater 

 proportion of the whole colony must stay at 

 home to care for the inside needs of the 

 hive, thus leaving few fielders, than in case 

 of the colony having 100,000 bees where 

 10,000 can care for the inside work, and 

 90,000 can go to the field, thereby rolling in 

 an amount of honey that is sure to insure 

 success. 



"Then, too, these 90,000 fielders should 

 come on the stage of action at the right 

 time for the best nectar-yield, whether from 

 clover, basswood, buckwheat, or what; 

 otherwise they may not be as satisfactory 

 as the smaller ones; for 90,000 bees on the 

 stage of action at the end of any flow of nec- 

 tar become consumers instead of producers; 

 and unless another flow comes before they * 

 live out their 45 daysof useful life the stores 

 of the hive will constantly decrease, and the 

 keeper of such colonies be compelled to feed 

 lor winter. From a financial standpoint 

 the man who can keep 500 or 5000 colonies 

 of bees so that each colony will have from 

 74,000 to 100,000 active fielders when the 

 main flow of nectar is on, will far outshine 

 fche man who is contented with only 50 col- 

 onies. 



"As to the expression, 'well-to-do,' sup- 

 ])(is there is a bee-keeper who is capable of 



bringing up to the necessary standard 500 

 or 1000 colonies of bees in several out- 

 apiaries, and that he is able on the average, 

 year after year, to do as well with them as 

 our questioner hojies to do with 50 colonies, 

 his income each year would be from $5000 

 to 10,000, and, doubtless, in the eyes of the 

 world he would be considered well-to-do. 

 Yes, and I must confess that, by the great 

 majority of the masses, this would be the 

 feeling; for in the up-to-date newspaper 

 lengthy articles are devoted to one who has 

 been separated by death from his millions, 

 but merely a scanty inch in some obscure 

 corner is given to the one who has secured 

 eternal life by believing on our Lord and 

 Savior Jesus Christ, with a fortune in this 

 world of only $100 left for his burial. 



"But let us come back to our questioner: 

 He can keep his 50 colonies w ithout the ex- 

 treme exertion, racking of brains, and the 

 muscle required by a larger number. He 

 can have time to examine into the minutite 

 of affairs inside the colony; to go into scien- 

 tific research, to study nature, and, from 

 this, nature's God. In short, his powers can 

 be spent in the uplifting of himself and 

 those about him above the sordid things 

 which come to the one whose only god is 

 money. But can a man be considered 

 ' well-to-do ' with an income of only $500 a 

 year? The majority of the families in the 

 United States do not have that income, and 

 many of the preachers of the gospel, who 

 are successful in winning many souls for 

 Christ, do not have a larger salary. A good 

 definition of 'well-to-do,' from my stand- 

 point, would be, contentment, with godli- 

 ness, is great gain." 



[Mr. D^olittle is absolutely right when he 

 emphasizes the importance of a large force 

 of bees of the right age m time to go to the 

 fields. We alto wish to indorse his senti- 

 ments regarding the "well-to-do man." — 

 Ed.] 



Cotton Smoker Fuel. 



It is unfair to jump on a fellow just because he 

 has said something you think isn't so: but wlicn 

 you walk all over him afterward it is stamping it 

 In. You fellows can keep right on using cotton 

 rags and waste for smoker fuel. It's wholly your 

 party: and if you prefer the sort of fun which it 

 brings I wish you happy days, (rrmsu cotton 

 waste is an entirely different proposition, and I 

 didn't say any thing about it, but merely talked of 

 cotton. The grease gives a very different result, 

 also a stink : and, furthermore, greasy waste is 

 prone to spontaneous combustion— particularly so 

 with some oils. A handful of it in a workman's 

 pocket called his attention to its presence by con- 

 suming a sizable portion of the front of his overalls 

 and trousers, and anointed him with a large and 

 rosy blister. Happy days! 



Well, boys, if you will fill two smokers, one with 

 cotton rags or dry waste and another with burlap 

 or wood in some form, then work ten colonies with 

 one, then ten with the other, and so on, you may 

 be inclined to leave me alone and let me catch my 

 breath. If you can not wait to try the trick, ask 

 Latham. 



Providence, R. I.. Jan. 29. Arthur C. Miller. 



