THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



11 



Prom the above it will be seen that the 

 keeping of bees under favorable circum- 

 stances can be made a success, wliile on 

 the other hand it may be attendeil with 

 great loss. The question then to be solved 

 is: can it be made a success? I answer, 

 that while a warm, dry season is indispen- 

 sible for increasing bees and malting 

 honey, yet tlie great problem to be 

 solved is: how shall we keep our bees 

 through the winter*? When Mr. McFat- 

 ridge gets the ventilation and artificial 

 heat to suit liim, with his new process, I 

 think his success in wintering bees will 

 be assured. A visit to his apiary will 

 repay any one who desires to get some 

 new ideas in the management of bees. 

 A. H. Proctor. 



Rushville, Ind., Nov. 2d, 1875. 



■ ♦ ■ 



For the American Bee Journal. 

 Milk Weed as a Honey Plant. 



Considerable has been written in refer- 

 ence to the destruction of bees, by the 

 plant called milk weed, and some aver 

 that it destroys every bee that works upon 

 it; this is contrary to my observation. 

 When this plant is in blossom, I have no- 

 ticed bees gathering honey from it in con- 

 siderable quantities. A.lthough some bees 

 are caught while at work upon the blos- 

 soms, and a goodly number get their feet 

 clogged with the oblong particles, inter- 

 fering with their locomotion in a wonder 

 ful degree. I have seen on the bottom 

 boards of hives, a teaspoonful of those- 

 particles, that adhere to their feet, which 

 undoubtedly were removed by the bees 

 after returning home in the condition 

 mentioned above. That bees are des- 

 troyed by this plant, is a matter beyond 

 dispute, but the honey they gather from it 

 will more than balance the loss of a few 

 bees. In my estimation it is merely a 

 drop in the bucket, when we bring the 

 moth or foul brood into consideration. 



Ono, Wis. M. S. Snow. 



For the American Bee Journal. 

 Gire us the Points. 



Mr. Newman : Your questions to bee- 

 keepers have elicited some reports of 

 wonderful success, and some reports not 

 so wonderful. It reminds me of our 

 California luck in raising corn a few years 

 ago here, where we never look for a drop 

 of rain after planting. Sometimes it 

 would come corn, sometimes stalks, and 

 sometimes we would get neither. Some- 

 times our potatoes would yield tubers, 

 and sometimes nothing but tops. We 

 were lucky or unlucky, and that was all 

 we knew about it. The problem had to be 

 solved, and many cornfields were visited, 

 and the peculiar points of cultivation in 

 all grades of success were carefully noted 



and comparisons made. The secret was 

 solved, and now corn and potatoes are as 

 successfully produced here as in Iowa. 



In the bee business the reports indicate 

 that in many cases it is almost as much a 

 matter of luck as a matter of skill, even 

 with those who have had the most experi- 

 ence in the management of the apiary. 



By publishing carefully prepared re- 

 ports from a hundred successful persons, 

 and the points to which they attribute 

 their success, great progress may be made 

 each year, and the points essential to suc- 

 cess, as shown by the reports, can be fol- 

 lowed by those who are less successful. 



I have carefully calculated the per cent, 

 gained on the amount invested by a num- 

 ber of your correspondents in the follow- 

 ing manner: To have the estimate on a 

 uniform basis I count the empty hives as 

 worth a dollar, colonies worth $10, and 

 honey 20 cents per pound. To the value 

 of the original stock I add the cost of the 

 hives used for the new colonies, and also 

 the value of the honey, if any, fed to the 

 bees in the spring. Then I credit the ac- 

 count with the value of the swarms on 

 hand in the fall, and the honey produced, 

 thus: 



N. Cameron's Apiary. Dr. Cr. 



To 13 swarms, $10 each $130 



" " " feed, $1 each, 13 

 " 47 new hives, $1 each. . . 47 



Total debit $190 



By 60 swarms $ 600 



" 2,000 lbs honey, 20 cts. . 400 



Total $1,000 



Net gAin 810 



Per cent, gained on capital 426 



Mr. Cameron had $190 invested and 



cleared $810; amounting to a net gain of 



426 per cent, on the entire capital in- 

 vested. 



The following list shows the per cent. 



gained by others : Per cent. 



C. C. Crawford, Kane Co., Ill 596. 



H. Nesbit, Harrison " Ky., 559. 



Mrs. M. A. Bills, Hillsdale Co., Mich. 581. 



W. Arras, M. D., Perry Co., Ill 415. 



J. 8. Bryant, Harrison " Mo 339. 



Nrs. Hattie Smith, Bureau " 111 337.5 



Mrs. Mary Stibbs, Wayne " Ohio . .329. 



J. Ingmundson, Mower " Minn. .310. 



J. C. Armstrong, Marshall " Iowa . .300. 



John Cardinal, Brown " Wis. ..295. 



H. F. Walton, Grant " Wis. . .292. 



E. H. Rogers, Dodge " Neb... 291. 



J. F. Montgomery, Lincoln Co.,Tenn.285. 



P. H. Bohart, Piatt Co., Mo 281. 



C. B. Billiughurst, Dodge Co., Wis. .261. 



A. H. Hart, Outagamie " Wis. .241. 



J. I. Parent, Saratoga " N. Y.238. 



E. C. L. Larch, M. D., Boone Co., Mo. 205. 



Barnum & Peyton, Davidson " Tenn.152. 



G. H. Sprague, Steuben Co., N. Y 134. 



E. Brown, Norfolk Co., Ont 130. 



J. E. Love, Marshall " Tenn 126. 



