GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTUKE. 



Sept. 



gie:it many of them, carry their loads of 

 honey into the hives adjoiuiiig- on all sides. 

 This, 1 have known for many years, was 

 true. It requires the utmost caution and 

 care to prevent the disease from spreading 

 to hives adjoining the infected one, and 1 

 begin to think, of late, that perhaps the 

 only really safe way for a person of average 

 skill and intelligence is to take the hive aft- 

 er dark, when every straggling bee is at 

 home, and burn up all the l)ees, combs, and 

 stores, unless, indeed, we adopt your plan, 

 and let it die out of itself. i3ut, my good 

 friend, please consider that hundreds of bee- 

 keepers have been already adopting this lat- 

 ter plan, and it did not ''die out,"' either — 

 no, indeed. It sjiread until it ruined not 

 onlv every colony in that apiary, but, when 

 robbeis set in, almost every colony in ad- 

 joining apiaries, in spite of every tiling the 

 owners could do. By all means,'let us have 

 reason and common sense applied to the 

 matter, but don't let us get reckless. 



PROFIT IN BEES. 



HOW TO C(JMl»UTE IT. 



|!^ NE is apt to conclude, from a superficial ob- 

 1 51 servation without experience, that all the 

 l?5j honey that can hv secured from a number of 

 *^ hives is clear profit. If there were no work 

 attached, and no investment necessary, this 

 conclusion might be correct. While taking- these 

 into consideration we find that some years we are 

 able to secure a much laiger pi-ofit than others, 

 while occasionally the bees i)rove an actual loss. 

 Junuikingup the amount of profit and loss we 

 must keep an account, first, of the money invested 

 in hives, bees, and such other necessary appliances 

 as we find necessary. We must allow a per cent 

 lor iiUerest on the money Invested, as well as a 

 sinking: fund for the wear and tear. Then our 

 time must be worth something-. True, we may be 

 able to do the greater i)urt of the work at odd times, 

 so that some often conclude that this should not be 

 counted; but this time is certainly worth some- 

 thing-. If we were not attending- to the bees we 

 could be doing- something- else, so that the only cor- 

 rect way is to charge the proflt-and-loss account 

 with whatever the time required is worth. If you 

 are required to feed them at any time, this also 

 should be charged for what it is*actually worth. In 

 this way we know what the honey we secure costs 

 us If a patch of buckwheat, clover, or other plant, 

 is sown for the express purpose of feed, this also 

 should be chai-ged. 



Whatever honey is taken, whether used in the 

 f.imily or sold in nuuket, should be credited at 

 whatever it is worth. If some of the bees are sold, 

 this also should be credited. Any e.\pense incurred 

 should be charged; and whatever is received for 

 any thing- should be credited; and the difference 

 between the two will show the amount of profit se- 

 cured or loss sustained. 



With good management, bees, of course, can be 

 made profitable; but a little e.vperience will soon 

 convince any one that it is not all profit; while if 

 properly managed, with any thing like a fair sea- 

 son, bees may bo made to yield a very large profit 

 on the money invested. N. .J. SHpPHEnD, 



Eldon, Mo., Sept. 1, 13*). 



POLLEN FROM COTTONWOOD- 

 LEAVES. 



ALSO MORK ABOUT OPEN-.SIDE SECTIONS, AND NO 

 SEPAKATORS. 



C?*EAR EDITOR AND GLEANEKS:-For sever- 

 ,A| cl al days past I have heard during the fore- 

 "|>i| noon a loud roaring of bees in a small cot- 

 -*^ tonwood-trec near my apiary. I at first 

 thought they were gathering honey-dew, as 

 I have noticed a slight sprinkling of this substance 

 in a few hives. Upon closer examination I found 

 that they were scraping a yellow substance from 

 the surface of the leaves, and packing it in their 

 pollen-baskets. The leaves of this tree are al- 

 most yellow with this substance, while those of 

 1-rirger cottonwoods near by show no traces of it, 

 and I saw no bees on them. There are, of course, 

 no blossoms on the trees at this season. I inclose 

 a few of the jellow-coated leaves. An explana- 

 tion will be appreciated. 



SECTIONS OPEN ON ALL SIDES. 



On page (iSS), after speaking of my new open-side 

 section, friend Greer says: "It seemed to be in- 

 tended to be used without separators, and, in con- 

 sequence, with sections both wide and narrow. I 

 had bulged combs, so I have attempted to devise a 

 separator that could used with open-end sections." 



Friend G. seems to have overlooked the fact, as 

 explained in my pamphlet, that, in the section 

 referred to, special provision is made for the use 

 o£ ordinary separators, which renders his improve- 

 ment in separators unnecessary. The only differ- 

 ence is, that the slots all around are a little shorter 

 and deeper. They arc 3 Inches long, and scant 

 i.i inch deep, which enables the bees to pass freely' 

 not only on both sides of the separator from one 

 section to the other, but also between the outside 

 row of sections and the side of the case. The wide 

 openings also seem to serve as a more perfect 

 guide to the bees, causing them to build straighter 

 combs, and with less bulging. In fact, after learn- 

 ing how to use these sections, I have abandoned 

 all separators in my own apiaries, as I find I can 

 secure as i)erfect combs with far less labor and 

 expense than with separators. I find that sections 

 half full of fdn. produce more perfect combs than 

 filled ones. Oliver Foster, 296— 32.5. 



Mt. Vernon, Linn Co., la., Sept. 7, 1886. 



Friend F., the yellow substance which 

 you iind on the leaves, and which the bees 

 are using as a substitute for pollen, is a sort 

 of fungoid growth, similar to the reddish 

 substance often found on the leaves of rasp- 

 berries, and wliich the bees have repeatedly 

 gathered as a substitute for pollen. It would 

 seem from this and other similar reports 

 that bees can use ;i wide range of animal 

 and vegetable secretions in the way of pol- 

 len, or as a substitute for pollen from natiu'al 

 llowers. Our older readers will remember 

 thtit our bees were at one time gathering 

 dust from the shelves of a cheese-factory, 

 and that this dust, under the microscope, 

 proved to be microscopic forms of animal 

 life.— If your arrangement will enable your- 

 self and others to get nice comb honey with- 

 out the use of separators, it is something of 

 more moment than we at first supposed. 

 We should be very glad to have further re- 

 ports from you. 



