bees to go in the mail, but unless you tell 

 them when you are sending, or put them in 

 the class of mail matter that they are 

 allowed to open, tiiose instructions are 

 entirely defeated. But, if you go to the 

 oflTice with your bees, and say to the post- 

 master: " Here are some bees; what is the 

 postage?" he is bound tiien to tell you that 

 they are not mailable. N. Camerox. 



Lawrence, Kansas, Jan. 15, 1878. 



For the American Bee Journal. 



Doolittle's Report. 



My mind has often reverted to the great 

 achievement of G. M. Doolittle, that ap- 

 pears on page 347, in the October number of 

 the Amekican Bee Journal, in securing 

 10,284 lbs. of box honey from (w colonies out 

 of 80, worked for box honey. It is truly 

 splendid, and has led me to a closer scru- 

 tiny of the report than if it bad been smaller; 

 and it has brought to light some facts 

 which I wish to be made as general as the 

 report itself. I do not charge, that Mr. D. 

 intended to deceive, as I think it has always 

 been his custom to give the old stocks 

 credit for the honey made by the full force 

 of old stocks and increase, which is calcu- 

 lated to mislead the public, and especially 

 novices grievously. Briefly I will state 

 what i believe to be facts in the case. 



He says the average yield per stock 

 worked for box honey was 158 lbs. each. — 

 Now we are left to infer that though he 

 increased to 1.52 stocks, the increase gave 

 him no box honey. And yet, he says in an 

 article headed, " Increase, and preventation 

 of increase," read before the iNational Bee- 

 keepers' Association, in New York, Oct., 

 16, and which appears in the November 

 American Bee Journal, page 370, 

 "Thus it will be seen, that we make our 

 new stock from 2 old ones, and they are nil 

 in the best possible condition to store box 

 honey;" and again he says in his report. 

 "Thirteen old stocks that were weak were 

 broken up into nuclei, to raise queens 

 from." 



Now, we will figure a little. If, as be 

 says, 1 new stock is made, from 2 old stocks, 

 and all equally strong, and he had 05 old 

 ones that he worked for box honey, then he 

 had 65 and 32, equaling 97 old and new to 

 box. I am credibly informed that he boxed 

 110 stocks, the 13 wanting to make up that 

 number (110) was probably by doubling up 

 the nuclei that raised the queens for his 

 increase. Thus his nuclei played an impor- 

 tant part in his yield, by giving his new 

 stocks fertile queens, which we know to be 

 a great aid, and should be considered. 



A boss carpenter says, "/ built that 

 house!" Yet, he did not. He supervised 

 and aided; many men put their muscle to 

 the work. 



" Anvils rang, and hammers beat 

 Before the worlt was called complete." 



And so this aid was extended in the 

 building up of that pyramid of honey, by 

 Mr. D's 30 nuclei. But I have digressed a 

 little. He has boxed those 110 stocks, 28 or 

 30 boxes, (2tt>., Betsinger Sectional Boxes), 

 to each hive, in the Betsinger Sectional 



Case, which gives him 60 ft>s. capacity for 

 each hive. The result is 10,284 lbs. ot box 

 honey, or 93>^ lbs. of honey to each of the 

 110 stocks, gross weight. Now, ivood and 

 glass is not honey. There were used to 

 box this lioney 5.000 boxes, weighing 2 oz. 

 each, 625 lbs.; 10,000 lights of glass, (41 

 boxes), 50 lbs. to the l>ox, 2,0.50 lbs.. Tare, 

 2,675 lbs.; leaving 7,609 lbs., or an average 

 of 69 lbs. each, of what the world calls 

 honey. 1.58 minus 69 equals 89 difference. — 

 Why, this does not look so large, does it? — 

 And yet, I believe it strictly true as to the 

 first average, 93>^ lbs.; the tare may be 

 slightly incorrect on the last average 69 lbs. 

 If I am wrong, Mr. U. will please correct 

 me. I have no other object than to review 

 his report, as I would the balance sheet of 

 a banker's statement, ere it went to the 

 public, if it were laid before me for inspec- 

 tion. And this 69 lbs. average is presuming 

 that the other 42 stocks of increase gave no- 

 box honey. 



I do not wish to belittle Mr. D's. report. — 

 His success the past season has been good. 

 He is an energetic enthusiast in his voca- 

 tion, which, added to a good season and 

 good appliances, has made that success- 

 possible. 



May 1 give you Mr. Doolittle's report in 

 my simple mathematics, and you shall 

 judge if it be correct: I had 80 stocks in 

 spring; 13 weak. Increased to 1.52 colonies, in 

 good condition for winter. I have taken of 

 box honey, 10,284 lbs.; of extracted, 803; 

 total, 11,177 lbs. Forty-two of this increase- 

 1 presume to be madti after the box honey 

 season, leaving 110, and 2 used with the 

 extractor make 112 stocks. An average of 

 100 lbs. to the hive, gross weight, tare as- 

 above, 26.75, or 24 per cent., nearly. 



This is splendid for an average, and 

 should satisfy the ambition of the most 

 aspiring. Chas. D. Hibbard. 



Auburn, N. Y'., Dec. 4, 1877. 



For the American Bee Journal, 



The Honey-Producer's Future. 



WHAT SHALL IT BE? 



Who can tell? I cannot. Even the young- 

 est of ns have lived long enough to see sev- 

 eral new kinds of food preparations come 

 into existence and general use. These sev- 

 eral new kinds of food appeared to contain 

 elements which the human system sooa 

 learned to demand. This does not seem to 

 be the case with honey. Our product seems- 

 to be only a luxury, that a part of humanity 

 like occasionally. Many persons cannot 

 bear it. It is said that once honey was used 

 very extensively. That statement is true. 

 It is also said, that at that time honey was- 

 the principal " sweet" known to man. It is- 

 further stated, that within tiie last few cen- 

 turies cane sugars have sprung into market 

 and into general use, and honey has stepped 

 to a back seatft All true. Had we no sweet 

 but honey, the natural constitutional de- 

 mand for sweet would place it, with its sev- 

 eral acids, as a stajjle commodity. 



For three years 1 have placed the choicest 

 of pure machine-extracted honey upon the 

 tables of my neighbors at ll>ic. per lb.» 



