1870.] 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



13 



so that we have scarcely any drones in our 

 apiary. 



We enclose a report given in our county 

 paper. 



As ever yours, 



Novice. 



[From the Medina (Ohio) Gazette.] 



Scieutific Bee Culture. 



Editor Gazette : — In answer to a thousand 

 and one (almost) inquiries we submit a few 

 statements concerning our Italian Bees for this 

 season. 



About three years ago many readers of the 

 Gazette may remember we gave the result of an 

 experiment to ascertain the (Quantity of honey 

 that a strong colony of bees could gather when 

 they had no comb to build. 



The result then given was 30 lbs. in two days ; 

 an amount that seemed almost incredible, when 

 the size and power of the little insect was taken 

 into consideration. 



Two years ago hearing that a machine had 

 been devised in Germany, for removing the 

 honey from the comb by centrifugal force, we 

 caught the idea and made a machine at an ex- 

 pense of about ten dollars, that would take every 

 drop of honey from the hive of a large colony in 

 less than ten minutes, without the slightest in- 

 jury to the comb, even when full of brood in all 

 stages, and further than that, that the bee would 

 go to work Vt'ith unusual energy to refill them 



If a swarm can gather 15 lbs. in a day it is 

 evident that with the old-fashioned metliod 

 where but two, or at most, three times that 

 quanity is furnished as surplus in a season, that 

 a large part of their time is spent idly, which 

 we think is usually the case, but not so much so 

 in our apiary as the following figures will show. 



The best yield per stock per day, we have, 

 previous to this year, bj' the melextractor for a 

 series of days was 9 lbs. per day. June 25th, 

 26th and 27th our best stock gave us this year, 

 Ad 2J0unds, (carefully weighed by the steelyards.) 



We commenced removing honey, June 1st, 

 having then 46 stock of Italians and Hybrids, 

 mostly but not all strong, and have now taken 

 altogether 5,000 pounds. 



Many have come to us for advice preparatory 

 to going into the "bee business." To all such, 

 we will say that we have no secrets that are not 

 free and imblic property, yet, without speaking 

 discouragingly, we know of no business where a 

 little neglect at the proper time or a want of 

 knowledge of the proper thing to be done, would 

 work such a disaster as in the bee business. 



Again, the successful bee-keeper, on the plan 

 we follow, must make up his mind not to mind 

 any amount of stings, (even a dozen an hour, ) 

 and to take them all gently and uncomplainingly. 



To those who are really willing to go into the 

 subject and study it thoroughly in all its details, 

 (and you might as well undertake to build steam 

 engines successfully without study as to keep 

 bees in any number without this,) we would 

 recommend first and foremost the American Bee 

 Journal, published at Washington, D. C, $2 

 per year. 



We are asked almost every day " how we raise 

 queens and make swarms artificially." 



Now wecoiddtell you all in one breath, "how 

 to clean and repair watches," much easier than 

 the above, and in the majority of cases coiUd 

 teach it about as succe ^sfully. 



However, we are willing to give our hand to 

 those who are really in earnest, and there are 

 oceans of white clover without bees enough to 

 visit them, and the more bees that are kept the 

 more clover there will be. Isn't that jolly ! 

 Now we know why there is so much clover of 

 late within a circuit of three miles around 

 Medina. " Eoot's Italian bees of course." 



Yes, they will cross and have crossed with the 

 common bees for four or five miles around. And 

 it wouhl be a pleasant thought for us to th nk that 

 we hnd been instrumental in improving the 

 honey crop of Medina county, even if it did not 

 all go into our pocket. 



Twenty dollars for one original Italian Queen 

 five years ago was not so bad a venture after 

 all. She has given us health as well as honey, 

 and may her progeny never number less. 



A. I. Root. 



[For the American Bee Journal.] 



A visit to E. Gallup, and what I saw there. 



There being a Sunday-school association, com- 

 posed of several counties of Northern Iowa, to 

 meet at Osage on the 21st and 22d of June, I being 

 a delegate, found myself at Orchard about 8 

 o'clock on the morning of the 22d, within one and 

 a half miles of Mr. Gallup' s residence. I thought 

 I could spend part of the day with him, with 

 both pleasure and profit, as no doubt most bee- 

 keepers could — unless it be the Professor, who 

 sells quarter-blood Italian queens. So I left 

 the train and took it afoot through the hot sand ; 

 and when I came to a house that stood in a 

 grove surrounded with bee-hives, I concluded 

 that was Gallup's, in which I was surely not 

 mistaken. After finishing a fine breakfast 

 which the good woman jirepared for me, I 

 went on the look out for Gallup himself, and 

 at last succeeded in finding the real Simon 

 Pure, shingling on the south side of a house 

 where it was so hot that he talked of taking- 

 the nails and pumping water on them to keep 

 them from burning his fingers. 



After a few preliminaries (and very few too) 

 he invited me to a seat on the ridge pole of the 

 house, Avhere I could catch a little of the cool 

 breeze that we always have on our prEiiries. 

 We did put in full time, talking of bees, bee- 

 hives and introducing queens, until about 11 

 o'clock when we came down into the yai'd. He 

 Oldened several of his hives, showed me his 

 queens, some from i\Ir. Alley, some from Mrs. 

 Tupper, and others, and at last his imported 

 queen sent him this spring. I remarked to 

 him that this latter was no lighter or hand- 

 somer than other queens he had shown me, 

 or those queens I had in my own yard, which I 

 knew were hybrid. His reply was that the cli- 

 mate of Italy gave them a much darker appear- 

 ance than those raised in this country. 



