1920 



AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL 



89 



the persistency of the spider which 

 taught Robert Bruce a lesson that 

 saved Scotland, but the persistency, 

 patience and industry i 1 the bee was 

 the regeneration of the boy. He cul- 

 tivated himself in cultivating the bees 

 and so improved his record that his 

 former detractors praised his indus- 

 try. He made the farm apiary the 

 best in the Berkshires and when he 

 left was sought after by every bee- 

 keeper in the community. 

 Massachusetts. 



A Soldier's Bees 



I am sending you a picture of what 

 is left of my apiary of 50 stands of 

 bees to this date. We are having dry 

 weather, but I think we will have a 

 light honey flow this fall of hearts- 

 case. I lost quite a number of my 

 bees in 1917 and 1918 for the reason 

 that I could not take care of them. I 

 was in the U. S. Army from Septem- 

 ber 19, 1917, till March 11, 1919. I 

 was lucky to be discharged in the 

 spring, so I could put my yard and 

 bees in shape. I have reareJ quite a 

 number of fine queens this summer 

 for my own use. I have been in the 

 beekeeping business for 9 years and 

 started at the bottom of the ladder. 

 My first investment was $1.50, with 

 which I bought one s'and of bees 

 which a farmer could not take care 

 of, and the first crop made 75 pounds, 

 which put me where I am today. I 

 would not take $700 for my yard to- 

 day, and the bees paid for it. 



H. F. CARRILTON. 



Illinois. 



Some Statistics Relative to Beekeep- 

 ing in Michigan 



By B. F. Kindig 



IN connection with the work pre- 

 liminary to the organization of a 

 co-operative Honey Producers' 

 Exchange, it seems desirable to get 

 as comprehensive an idea of the 

 status of beekeeping in the State as 

 possible. With that end in view, 1,600 

 letters were sent out to good, bad 

 and indifferent beekeepers in nearly 

 every county in the State. The tabu- 

 lation of the replies received fol- 

 lows: 



All, 



ji il. F. CarriUon on his rt 



One of the striking parts of the 

 above table is that it shows that less 

 than 11 per cent of the beekeepers 

 are producing 63 per cent of the 

 honey. Some may feel that this list 

 contains only the more up-to-date 

 beekeepers. It is only fair to say that 

 the list circularized was made up 

 largely from a list of persons who 

 have attended one or more beekeep- 

 ers' meetings of one form or another. 

 So, the standard of interest is likely 

 somewhat higher than the average 

 for the State. However, there is rep- 

 resented in the above list only one 

 beekeeper having more than 400 

 colonies, and he has but 500. So, 

 while the proportion of small and in- 

 difTerent beekeepers may be too small, 

 it must also be remembered that 

 many of the larger ones, for one rea- 

 son or another, apparently do not 

 care to give data on their business. 



It should also be noted that the 

 beekeepers having less than ten colo- 

 nies and receiving the smallest re- 

 turn per colony are the ones produc- 

 ing the highest per cent of comb 

 honey. The percentage of comb 

 honey gradually falls as the average 

 number of pounds per colony rises 

 and as the total returns per colony 

 increase. Doubtless this should not 

 all be charged to the production of 



Total 787 38.6 1.152.562 295.723 46.6 20% 30,426 $12.87 $496.78 



comb honey. It is a well recognized 

 fact that the poorest and the best 

 beekeepers are the producers of 

 comb honey. Usually, the producer 

 of extracted honey is a better bee- 

 keeper than the poorest of the comb 

 honey producers, but a poorer pro- 

 ducer than the best of the comb 

 honey producers. It is easy to be an 

 extracted honey producer in a medi- 

 ocre way and still make a fair return 

 on the capital and labor invested. 



From a perusal of this table, it ap- 

 pears that professional beekeeping 

 really begins after one has passed 

 the number of 100 colonies. It is sig- 

 nificant that the number of beekeep- 

 ers having from 50 to 100 colonies is 

 only slightly larger than the number 

 having 100 or more. Many' of those 

 having from 50 to 100 colonies are in 

 their transitional period. They are 

 undergoing the metamorphosis which 

 will change them from side-liners 

 into professional beekeepers. It 

 seems that the average person must 

 have SO or more colonies before he 

 gets the vision of the possibilities of 

 beekeeping. When they really get 

 that vision they do not long remain 

 in that class. One of the greatest 

 services that the Extension men and 

 Inspectors can give to the State is to 

 assist the promising beginner to fo- 

 cus his mind on the possibilities of 

 commercial beekeeping. A lot of our 

 beekeepers with less than 50 colonies 

 need to be given a violent shock to 

 wake them up to the fact that bee- 

 keeping has as great possibilities as 

 poultry, fruit or general farming. 



In the above tabic the 702 bee- 

 keepers having less than 100 colonies 

 produced an average of 43 pounds 

 per colony, while those having over 

 100 produced an average of 57 pounds 

 per colony. That difference of 14 

 pounds per colony is a matter of se- 

 rious importance. Why? It seems 

 to me the whole cause can be as- 

 cribed largely to ignorance. I don't 

 mean that these beekeepers are not 

 intelligent persons and successful in 

 other lines, but that they are more or 

 less ignorant of the essentials to 



