THE AMERICAN APICULTURIST. 



for empt^y frames or frames of foun- 

 dation (generally the former one, — 

 the plan known as the Ilatchinson 

 plan, although that originated with 

 me), while the swarm is in the air 

 and hive them on the returning 

 plan. The next day a virgin queen 

 is given to the parent colony, which 

 destroys the queen cell, so that no 

 more swarming occurs, thus saving 

 all cutting and hunting of queen 

 cells. In this way the labor during 

 swarming is reduced at least two- 

 thirds. Then 1 used to fill the top 

 of the hives with cut-straw, chaff 

 or forest leaves, in the fall, to be 

 removed at the time of putting on 

 the sur2:)lus receptacles and thrown 

 awa}'', only to be gathered and re- 

 newed again the next fall. I now 

 use sawdust cushions which are 

 made at a cost of six cents each and 

 will last, barring accidents, a life 

 time. These cushions are manipu- 

 lated in one-half the time the other 

 material was. 



Next, I so arrange that the honey 

 is taken off by the wide frame full, 

 instead of by the single sect'on, 

 and are handled in all the manipu- 

 lation of carrying to the honey 

 room, sulphuring, etc., up to crat- 

 ing ; in this wa}^ four sections are 

 bandied in place of one, thus sav- 

 ing three-fourths of tiie labor. In 

 this wa}'^ I might go on telling of 

 the labor saved when working for 

 extracted hone}' ; in similar man- 

 ner, how I have bred up a better 

 honey-gathering strain of bees ; re- 

 duced the cost of my hives to the 

 lowest possible figure, etc., etc., 

 till I now count that I can produce 

 a pound of comb honey for 10 cents, 

 or a pound of extracted for 7 cents 

 and yet give me the same price for 

 my labor as before. As my comb 

 honey has netted me 12^- cents per 

 pound this season, it will be seen 

 that I am still on the road to suc- 

 cess if I am not too extravagant 

 outside of beekeeping. 



Borodino, N. Y. 



For the American Apiculturist. 



SHALL WE SELL OUR HON- 

 EY, OR'' GIVE IT AWAY r 



C. W. Dattov. 



During the past several years we 

 have heard farmers complaining of 

 the exorbitant charges of railroad 

 corporations and of the profits of 

 middle men. We should naturally 

 suppose that, under these circum- 

 stances, they would use the railroads 

 as little as possible and find custo- 

 mers for their products without the 

 intervention of the middle man. We 

 should scarcely expect that farmers 

 would sell their hogs for instance, 

 as many are now doing, for three cents 

 per pound, pay freight on them to 

 some distant city, pay a profit to the 

 dealer, to the packer, to the whole- 

 saler, and then buy hams and lard 

 back again when they might as well 

 kill their own hogs, cure their own 

 pork, render their own lard, and sell 

 them to their neighbors direct. 



If one will look around him he 

 cannot fail to see that it is simply 

 custom running wild. It may be 

 wondered what this has to do with 

 bees or honey. It has not had much 

 to do heretofore, but the time is 

 drawing near when it is likely to have 

 considerable to do with the profits of 

 the apiary. 



The profits of the apiary are be- 

 coming more dependent upon the 

 sale of honey. 



The increased production of honey 

 has more than filled the receptacles, 

 and where the beekeeper used to 

 console himself with quietude of 

 home on the down- hill side of his 

 occupation, it is becoming a scene 

 of distress and starvation, so strong 

 an incentive does it require to drive 

 an apiarist into the lioney market. 



It was a true statement that bee- 

 keeping was a fascinating pursuit ; 

 but that saying is too old. Many who 

 loved ease and enjoyment found a 

 livelihood in the product of a few 



