Dec. 14, 1905 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL 



859 



Directors^Elect of the National Bee^Keepers' Association 



FRANKLIN WILCOX 



O. A. HATCH 



ERNEST R. ROOT 



see what would happea next ; an' in a little while back they 

 b )th come, the bee goin' into thj hivi aa' the bug- lie^htin' 

 oa the outside. Bitueby the bee come out, aa' off they 

 went a^in ; an' when they come back this time it was dark, 

 an' I'm dumbed if the lig-htnin' bug- warn't on ahead an' 

 lightin' the bee to the hive ! 



"Wall, they kep' this up for several nights; but I 

 noticed that the bee was losing flesh, an' in about a week 

 he was nothin' but skin an' bone. So much overtime was 

 telliu' on him. One eveuiu' he fell to the ground exhausted, 

 an' in a few minits he expired. 



"The lightnin' bug took on awfully, an' crawled 'round 

 and 'round his dead comrade an' acted almost frantic. He 

 flew on to the hive an' jest sot there an' moped, refusin' to 

 eat a mouthful, an' in a few days he follered his friend. 



" I thought some at the time of tryin' to cross the two 

 insects an' raise a bee that could work night an' day ; but I 

 didn't. An' I s'pose if anybody tried it now the unions 

 would raise a rumpus, so I guess I won't bother." — New 

 York Press. 



Mp. Thos. J. Stanley, of the firm of Th^s. C Stanley & 

 San of Minzmola, Colo., called on us recently when in 

 Chicago. The Stanleys are perhaps the largest handlers of 

 comb honey in the United States. Through their manage- 

 ment this season they undoubtedly saved Eistern bee- 

 keepers a good deal of money, by buying up and holding 

 much Western comb honey that might hive been dumped 

 on the honey centers like Chicago and cities further east, 

 and thus cause a weakening of prices. Instead of that, 

 however, honey prices have not only been sustained, but 

 advanced a little over last year's prices. This should put 

 things in good shape for the crop of 1906. 



Mr. Stanley says that carloads of comb honey in the 

 West average 30,000 pounds. 



He also reported that Colorado's honey crop was prac- 

 tically a total failure this year. His firm runs about 2000 

 colonies in S or 6 apiaries, and not only got no honey, but 

 had to feed for wintering. Surely it has been a very dis- 

 couraging season for Colorado bee-keepers. 



-V (£ontrtbutcb ^- 

 Special Clrticlcs 



=/ 



Difference in Honey Results of .Colonies 



IIY C. M. DOOLITTLE. 



A BEE-KEEPER called on me a few days ago, and in our 

 conversation lie brought out the idea that it was im- 

 possible to have the colonies in any apiary give any- 

 where near the same results in honey. Me said tliat some of 

 his colonies gave a surplus of only 10 pounds of section honey, 

 while others produced from 50 to 75 sections, well filled. I 

 told him that I thought tliis could be remedied to quite an 

 extent, but he seemed to doubt it; and as I have many letters 

 on this subject, perhaps it would be well to have a little talk 

 on the matter through the columns of the .\inerican Bee 

 Journal. 



I used to find things very much as this man and others 

 claim they do at this time, but of late years I have succeeded 

 in making each colony produce nearly like results ; that is, if 

 one colony contains 60,000 bees and gives 100 sections of sur- 



plus honey, I am able to secure about that amount from every 

 colony in the apiary having that number of bees ; while a 

 colony having 30.000 bees will give a yield of 50 sections. If 

 I fai^o secure the 60,000 bees in any and all colonies, it is 

 not me bees that are to blame for this state of affairs, but 

 myself; and the bee-keeper who cannot bring each colony up 

 to'tlie standard of OO.OOO at the beginning of tlie best honey- 

 tlow. w-ill not meet with as good success as will the one who 

 can. 



Then, the bee-keeper who fails to make the colony with 

 30,000 bees give nearly half as good results as the colony with 

 60.000, will not meet with the success that he might were he 

 able to do this. I have been years studying on this matter, 

 and this study has shown me that colonics which I pronounced 

 "exactly alike" on June 1st would not be so at the time the 

 honey harvest was at its best. The trouble was that 1 did 

 not have the knowledge that I sliould have had regarding the 

 working force of my bees at all times, nor of the amount of 

 brood in each hive, which was to give this working force at 

 the time of the honey harvest. 



For instance, the colony which I called my best on Jiine 

 1st might become one of the poorest by July 10th, at which 

 time the main honey-flow from basswood would be on. This, 

 as a rule, would come about by one queen not keeping up 

 her laying capacity as well as another, or, in other words, she 

 would not be laying Iter maximum number of eggs from 30 to 

 50 days before the arrival of this main honey-flow. Let me 

 try to illustrate what 1 wish to bring out. 



Near me lives a man who is interested in fancy poultry, 



