April 5, 1906 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL 



297 



without a good book on bees, not costing more than $1.25 

 to $1.50. 



After you have the book, or books, and have read them 

 until tlu\ are 2s familiar to you as a "nursery rhyme.'' then 

 you arc ready to subscribe !"< >r one, two. or three of i 1 

 papers; and as you wain in knowledge, 1 would advise taking 

 them all. But, hark! Don't make the mistake in substituting 

 the papers for the books. You must read the books in ordei 

 to comprehend and digest what is found in the papers, other? 

 wise it is like feeding the thtee-months'-old babe on meat and 

 potatoes instead of milk. Don't forget that you are a babe 

 in the bee-business when you first commence, and that you 

 want the "sincere milk of the word" for a while. 



In the above you will have all that is really necessary for 

 the first year, or at least all 1 hail when the start was made. 

 Thirty-live dollars was the outlay I made, and I have never 

 paid out one cent since on the bees hut what they have earned 

 for me. And from that $35 beginning, the bees have built 

 the buildings for my home; purchased the farm here and in 

 the State of Arkansas; given me as good a living as heart 

 could wish ; helped me to support the church. Sunday-school 

 and missions; and make others happy, who through misfor- 

 tune and physical disability have a "hard row to hoe" through 

 life; besides something laid away for a "rainy day" or old 

 age. 



And. lastly. 1 must tell you, if you wish to succeed, that 

 you must be enough interested in the bees to look after them 

 often, to see that "no stone is left unturned" that will make 

 them profitable to themselves, tor when they are thus profit- 

 able, they will nearly or quite always be profitable to you. 

 You must be so interested in them that what you do with 

 them will be as play. You cannot succeed in any business 

 where all you do is done grudgingly, or where you are 

 watching the sun all the forenoon t" see if it is not "most 

 dinner-time," and, at 2 o'clock, arc thinking when it will be 

 supper-time. No. no! 



After having been in the business ever since the spring 

 of 1868. there is nothing so fascinating to me as work with 

 the bees. Even in the mid-winter it is a pleasure almost 

 beyond measure to go into the bee-cellar and satisfy my long- 

 ing eyes on the almost motionless cluster of bees as they hang 

 below the frames in their quiet repose, waiting for the "breath 

 of spring" to start them into life and activity again. 



And, remember that the getting of honey, and from that 



money, is not all there is of bee-keeping. The life and health 



you can get out of the work done in an apiary is of far move 



value than all the millions of dollars accumulated by those 



. who have sacrificed their life and health in their getting. 



Borodino, N. Y. 



# 



Baby Nuclei— Feeding Bees- Reading Bee- 

 Literature— Cleaning Oil-Cans— 

 Hives and Spacers 



BY C. W. DAYTON. 



REPLYING to Mr. Doolittle, on page 46, I wish to say 

 that although that second paragraph sounds rather 

 harsh, it was written in a spirit of admiration rather 

 than censure. I remembered Mr. Doolittle's article on "Drift- 

 ing From Our Moorings," and in studying Dr. Miller's book 

 I was surprised to see that he has been so conservative as not 

 to be drawn after the later methods we read so much about, 

 especially those relating to queen-rearing. It is my belief that 

 the whole business has progressed entirely too rapidly for its 

 own good. I tried from 50 to 75 baby nuclei the oast season 

 and I have given it up. and gone all the way back to the plan 

 that was in use in 1880. I shall continue to operate a few in 

 coming seasons in order to be sure my decision is a wise one, 

 and also to test any new ideas wdiich may come up. I have 

 been obliged to do the same in respect to hives and selling 

 honey or else my business would have "run aground" long 

 ago. I have seen bee-men sink thousands of dollars during 

 the past ten years simply by following the prevailing methods 

 of doing business. Or, to put it in a nut-shell, let some one 

 else do their contriving at two ends of their business. 



There are several apiaries about here where the bee- 

 fed in the open air as mine were. Thy sustained heav\ 

 But I have doubts if the owners have a faint dream of what 

 caused their losses. I knew there had been warnings that in 

 feeding in the open air there should be an evening up of the 

 stores, but I fail to call to mind when there was a « i 



that colonies will become so indifferent or dormant as nol to 

 take enough to prevent starvation when they have acc< tfl 

 the feed every day. 



It is said of man that one hour of sleep before midnight ts 

 worth several after midnight. Man will put his nerves in a 

 tension and go without thi earlj sleep. But bees do not imi- 

 tate man They obej Nature. I have consulted with neigh 

 boring bee-men who did not know, or else gave tea 

 which, if they had given fair attention, thej would hav' 

 known could not be SO. There are some 20 bee-men at Chats 

 worth, and I am the only one I can find who takes a De 

 paper 1 look to the bee-papers for verification of m 

 tions. These bee-men must be oblivious as to what is agog in 



thC inlets' so there is not enough profit in the bees they 

 turn their attention toward grain stock or wood, andwhen 



bees are profitable it is becau I the abundance flowers 



and honey rather than management. If there is not skill in 

 production there is sure to be lack of skill in selling the prod- 

 uct And the time has arrived when the sale of the P^ 

 s greatly hampered. Lack of love for the bees and 1 study 

 of their ways and implements for their managemeu t «* the 

 causes of the business not attaining to the height . should. I 

 do several other kinds of work, but these help ith = bees to 



° f th Mo^Pe S o&Thtc^uct two lines of bus^s cause -h 



shed business (the bees) stands. The other way Jt^w 

 the foundation by taking away our profits and merest : ol 

 mind in the bees. Mind is one of the important '"g^ents 



, he foundation. We should choose such lines as will con- 

 tribute to ?he success of the bees. Change prevents the mind 

 lettmg into ruts and staying there. Getting into ruts is nar- 



? ° W i e am n a &£ffio 6 bee-papers, 3 ^1™****% 

 papers. 3 iron and woodworking journals. 2 health Journals 

 several religious papers and 2 popular magaz-nes After 

 studying some of the other papers for awhile and then 

 coming back to bees, I find the mind rested and clear, and 

 thiT study often brings ideas ,n«o the bee-line which are «m- 

 monly used in these outs.de operations, but were never 

 thought of as being applied to bees. . 



Every evening I engage in an interesting chat m some of 

 these papers. But when it comes to work. I depend almost 

 entirely on books. Not papers. Papers I give away. In the 

 books I expect to find the cream. Everything sorted out and 

 boYled down in better shape than I could spare time to provide 

 the ability to do. Of course, different compi ers have differ- 

 ent views or systems, but I soon see which is best suited to 

 my needs, and I know exactly in which book to lo°k *or the 

 nlan I liken the bee-papers to crucibles in the assayer s 

 workshop, but books should be the store-chests for the fine 

 gold-or the summing up of the whole matter 



For illustration: In rearing queens . I of ten use Alleys 

 method but at some times of the year it is almost ,mpossible 

 to get long tows of larva, of the right age. so I change to the 

 Doolittle method In this it is difficult to see the very small 

 hrvx I Take the comb containing the larvae inside a budd- 

 ing close by a window, but in the shade. ^ hen I get the wax 

 and am readv to lift the larva I move the comb out into the 

 sunlight for about a second and the smallest larva can be as 

 easilv seen as if it were under a microscope. Keeping the 

 eyes in the shadows causes the pupils of the eyes to. enlarge 

 ', that the rays of light pass through a larger opemng and 

 more rays of light strike on the retina of the eye-ball and 

 consequently a picture of the larva is perceived by a greater 

 number of optic nerves. This magnifies the object. 

 To Clean Kerosene Oil Cans. 

 I first fill them with water and let them stand a day or 

 two This removes the loose oil. Some of them will be c ean 

 with water only. If you happen to put hot soapsuds nto a 

 can containing "a quantity of loose oil the next can it is put 

 "to mav be almost clean' already, and the oily suds i W make 

 it worse than it was. The soapsuds should clean all but three 

 or tour out o a dozen. Those which still smell of kerosene 

 I put over a fire which is as hot as possible without melting 

 the solder. Kerosene is a volatile oil, and dry heat can re- 

 move what soapv water cannot reach. . 



After the oil has been driven out the ««* 

 which has collected in the seams of the cans will be dried 

 down and smell musty. In such cans drop a hal ounce of 

 beeswax Keep the can hoi to melt the wax. Tilt the can 

 to make the melted wax follow the seams down the corners 

 and around the bottom, and up the opposite seam to the top 

 seams of the can, and it is easy to coat the inside seams and 

 remove the last particle of smell. 



