American Ttec Journal 



Nov. 22, 1906 



"small affair" is multiplied just so 

 mauy times ; and when we have to re- 

 peat the same operation two, three or 

 more times, it is multiplied that many 

 times more. And that is not all. 

 There are many other operations dur- 

 ing the season, which can be performed 

 to better advantage and in less time 

 on account of uniformity in all our out- 

 fits. As said before, in handling one 

 or two hives the difference, one way or 

 the other, may be very small, amount- 

 ing to seconds only ; but the many 

 multiplications make them grow to 

 minutes, the minutes to hours, and 

 who knows, if correct accounts were 

 kept, but what these little savings 

 would amount to days, possibly weeks, 

 during the season 7 

 ha. Salle, N. Y. 



How Many Colonies to Keep 



BY H. H. MOB 



On page 880, Mr. Doolittle has an in- 

 teresting article on " How Many Colo- 

 nies to Become Well-to-Do," and re- 

 quests Messrs. Miller, Dadant, etc., to 

 reply. Personal experience from some 

 of us "lesser lights" might be of in- 

 terest. Before I give my personal 

 views, however (it will be purely my 

 personal experience and views, which, 

 of course, may apply to no else), I 

 would like to make clear a few points, 

 imoortant in the consideration of the 

 subject. 



To begin with, it would seem plain 

 that if only dollars and cents were in 

 view, bee-keeping would not be an at- 

 tractive occupation. This would seem 

 plain from Mr. Doolittle's quotations, 

 and conceded in general. Of course, 

 the point is not quite clear as to how 

 many dollars, exactly, are needed to be 

 well-to-do. 



A paper by Mr. Hutchinson was read 

 at our State convention two or three 

 years ago. I did not feel that all the 

 advice given by Mr. Hutchinson was 

 financially sound or good. This point 

 is more plainly brought forward in the 

 recent edition of his book, "Advanced 

 Bee Culture," in " What will best mix 

 with bee-keeping?" Mr. Hutchinson's 

 reply is, "More bees." In spite of 

 what Mr. Hutchinson says about the 

 prop, I am obliged to keep the prop for 

 good and sufficient reasons. But I 

 also want to keep my bees. I also 

 further notice that most beekeepers 

 keep a prop. Mr. Hutchinson is an 

 editor, and used to sell queens. Dadant 

 makes comb foundation and handles 

 supplies. Doolittle is a queen-breeder, 

 from which I understand he derives no 

 small revenue, and is also a most in- 

 teresting writer. 



Why should / throw away the 

 prop, or my bees ? True, my move- 

 ments among bees may be a little slow, 

 as compared with an expert ; but it is 

 because I want to see, to study, to ob- 

 serve, and experiment. In other words, 

 I like to live, and I like to live among 

 bees. The quotation Doolittle gives 

 fits my case exactly, and I think the 

 quotation is most beautiful. I like to 

 live among bees, but I must also pay 

 my bills— hence, the need of a prop. 

 From 70 to 100 colonies are all I can 

 handle to advantage. I want time to 



listen to their music, and watch them 

 at their work. 



It would be hard now for me to do 

 without the honey which necessitate 

 bees. Nor could I do without my bees. 



Of course, locality, etc., have much 

 to do with the considerations of this 

 question. I think a man with a family 

 would need $700 to $1000 a year to live 

 comfortably, and also to have a little 

 for a rainy day. With bees alone I 

 doubt if a man could be successful in 

 this locality. But this country is a 

 land of "milk and honey." Dairy- 

 ing is decidedly in the lead, when it 

 comes to making money by the farm- 

 ers. Now, I want to assure bee-keep- 

 ers that milk goes nicely with honey — 

 particularly plenty of rich cream. 

 Further, I want to remind Mr. Hutch- 

 inson that according to the Good Book, 

 the land of milk and honey is the ideal 

 country. (Read the Bible and see if I 

 am not correct.) Then if you still 

 have any doubts, come here and I will 

 prove it to you. If I had depended 

 upon my bees the past season, I be- 

 lieve I should have been decidedly 

 without a prop. Seventy colonies 

 in this locality the past season would 

 not have yielded $200 at the best, and I 

 don't believe I could live on that. 



Nor do I wish to follow Mr. Hutchin- 

 son's advice to keep the prop and 

 discard bee-keeping. I have, as a rule, 

 found bee-keepers interesting people, 

 clean and intelligent, and I want as 

 much of both as I can get (together 

 with a living). I know one's occupa- 

 tion influences one. I want the beau- 

 tiful and wholesome influence of bee- 

 keeping. 



But I have not touched upon the 

 most interesting field of Nature-study 

 that bee-keeping is. I have almost 

 come to regard it as necessary to suc- 

 cessful bee-keeping. For instance, 

 there has been published a lot of inter- 

 esting play-things from a not-far- 

 away bee-keeper. It is a " two-queen 

 plan," and the real purpcs>, as I un- 

 derstand it, is to get strong colonies. 

 The plan is given as a sure road to 

 wealth (?). Well, a year ago the past 

 summer, when the plan first came to 

 my attention, I had the ideal condition 

 so strongly advocated by the "two- 

 queen plan." Every colony crowded 

 with bees and bubbling over. All dur- 

 ing July this condition existed, and 

 July ought to be a honey-month. But 

 it was not, and all my bees were con- 

 sumers, and often not producers. Thus 

 a direct loss, and not a gain. But the 

 study of honey-conditions and the bees 

 were equally most interesting. 



Don't for a minute forget that the 

 bees have helped " to clothe my back, 

 put food in my mouth, and given me 

 conveniences to travel with," also com- 

 fort and happiness. 



Woodford, Wis. 



Wintering Bees— Hearing 



BY GRANT STANLEY 



As wintering bees on summer stands 

 is probably best for the majority of 

 bee-keepers, it is very important that 

 we see that our bees have plenty of 

 well-sealed stores at the approach of 

 winter. There is little danger, indeed. 



of their having too much in an ordi- 

 nary brood-chamber. Bees certainly 

 will not rear brood when there is 

 scarcely sufficient stores in the hive to 

 carry the colony through until such 

 time as they can gather for themselves, 

 and, of course, they have no knowl- 

 edge of being assisted by their thought- 

 less owner. More bees die of starva- 

 tion in wintering than from all other 

 causes combined. Let us remember 

 that in order to have strong, prosper- 

 ous colonies in spring, it will be neces- 

 sary to provide the conditions by which 

 this is brought about — in fact, summer 

 conditions must be manifest as near as 

 possible — warmth and food. We know 

 that during the summer months the 

 hives are crowded with bees, for the 

 reason of natural warmth and food, so 

 that if we desire strong colonies in 

 spring we must provide for it the pre- 

 vious fall. More harm than good will 

 result by feeding bees in early spring to 

 stimulate brood-rearing, as by expos- 

 ing the colony to the drafts of cold air 

 daily will result in chilled brood, pick- 

 led brood, and, indeed, many other dis- 

 eases of which probably we have never 

 dreamed. 



Painting Hives. 



Bees will winter better in unpainted 

 hives than in those painted. The un- 

 painted hive is more porous, and thus 

 permits the moisture to pass off more 

 readily. I wintered 2 colonies a few 

 years ago in unpainted hives, and 

 there was not a drop of moisture accu- 

 mulated in those 2 hives throughout 

 the entire winter, and the bees came 

 out in spring in the very pink of con- 

 dition. I believe this is also the expe- 

 rience of Dr. Miller. 



I prefer all hives painted, however, 

 if for nothing more than appearance 

 alone, while the wearing qualities are 

 also a large consideration. I don't 

 know of a more pretty sight than hives 

 painted white, and properly arranged 

 on a well-kept lawn. 



Do Bees Hear ? 



Considerable mention has been made 

 through the various bee-papers re- 

 cently as to whether bees hear or not, 

 some very strong theories being ad- 

 vanced in both directions. The editor 

 of Gleanings in Bee Culture would 

 have us believe that the various in- 

 stances reported of bees hearing are 

 not proof, as they may acquire all this 

 by scent. Well, if this is true, they are 

 certainly fine "scenters. " If they can 

 not hear, will some one tell us why the 

 piping of the young queen in its cell 

 takes place, as I don't see where the 

 scent factor comes in here, where the 

 young queens are sealed up in the cells. 

 Is this instinct given to the young 

 queens so that the bee-keeper can place 

 his ear to the hive and be able to know 

 when she will come forth, or is it in- 

 tended for the colony ? 



Another thing : If you imprison a 

 bee on the comb with your finger in 

 such a way that it will set up that 

 peculiar sort of buzz, several bees will 

 make for the imprisoned bee instantly, 

 and possibly dozens more make for the 

 face of the bee-keeper, while if the bee 

 is imprisoned without the buzz being 

 manifest, no attention is paid to it. 



Nisbet, Pa. 



