1886 



glea:nings i:n bee cultube. 



971 



friend, that be is in the ditch— in fact, we 

 are all in the ditch. IJut 1 am ghid to be 

 able to say that it is not true. Six hnndred 

 gallons of honey would be, even if it were 

 of the very best quality, only about 7:200 lbs., 

 and we have hundreds of bee-keepers — yes, 

 I think tlionsands — who can do all the work 

 to secure a crop of lioney of the above size, 

 withont any help whatever— not even so 

 much as calling on their wives— yes, and 

 have spare time besides. It seems to me 

 the greatest tronble we have to face at the 

 present day is getting into a fashion of call- 

 ing an amount of work a day's work, that 

 might be done by a good, energetic, go-ahead 

 man in a couple of hours. A man may oc- 

 cupy the whole of a bright sunshiny day in 

 doing his chores, and puttering around about 

 something that really amounts to almost 

 nothing at all. After" he has got a knack of 

 doiug this he can readily find hired help 

 that will do the same thing; in fact, they are 

 pretty sure to pattern after their employer. 

 Now, this course will kill any business. 1 

 do not mean to reflect on our Texas friend, 

 for I do not know any thing about him. 

 Possibly he may have liives so unwieldly, 

 and so badly arranged, that it takes a'great 

 amount of time and expense to get the hon- 

 ey away from them. As this question is 

 one of the vital ones l)efore us, I should be 

 glad if the friends, in sending their reports, 

 would tell, as near as possible, how mucli it 

 is worth to secure a crop. For instance, if 

 you report having received six or seven 

 thousand pounds of honey, tell us about how 

 many days' work it took to get it, and what 

 your time is worth per day, then we shall 

 know where we are. Friend France, in his 

 excellent article in this present issue, tells 

 about taking from two to three thousand 

 pounds of honey per day. Will he tell us 

 how much per pound it cost to take it out of 

 the hives, and put it into barrels ready for 

 market V There is certainly a screw loose 

 somewhere when we have reports like the 

 one on page 812, and commented on on page 

 927, by friend Muth, especially if it took 

 four men every working day in the year to 

 get six hundred gallons of honey. Perhaps 

 our friend had •'the blues," and forgot to 

 state that he had a large plantation besides, 

 and the four men were kept a principal pnrt 

 of the time in caring for it. Mr. Oiiio Farm- 

 er, wherever a farmer or dairyman or hoiti- 

 cultural man can make a living, a bee-man 

 can also. 



TEASEL AS A HONEY-PLANT. 



WILT. IT PAY BEE-KEEPERS TO UAISE THEM: 



filled i'^ eections, and capped almost all of them all 

 lip nice. 1 took one frame of sections i8) that were 

 all done, and repliiced Ihera with emply ones, 

 some time belore the 17 days were up. These were 

 drawn about twolhirds out, but not capped at all, 

 and are not counted in with the 48. Besides this 

 they fillcd the five frames I gave them, with brood 

 and honey. 



Colony No. 3 I tiered up with empty combs, and 

 saved their honey to give stocks to winter on, so I 

 might test it there also. In quantity they produced 

 about equally with No. 1. Teasel honey, when first 

 gathered, is very thin, and requires a good deal of 

 evaporating before it is capped over; but when al- 

 lowed to ripen fully 1 know of no other honey that 

 is its equal. 



At the time I was testing with my two stocks, mj' 

 friend G. M. Doolittle repeatedly told me his bees 

 were getting scarcely a living. This proves to mo 

 that bees can not work profitably where they are 

 obliged to tly long distances for their stores. Mr. 

 D. lives about two and one-half or three miles south 

 of me, and there were but few teasels after going 

 one-half mile south of my place, making virtuall>- 

 no teasels nearer Mr. D.'s apiary than two miles; 

 while within one and one-half miles I believe my 

 bees had one hundred acres. 



One can easily tell when bees are working on tea- 

 sel bj' the white dust that adheres to them. The 

 honey is pure white, and in market generally passes 

 for basswood, though where known it is preferred. 

 Whether teasel could be profitably grown for honey 

 alone, is a question. I do not believe that any thing 

 less than 20 acres would amount to much to an 

 apiary of 100 colonies; but possibly it might do to 

 sow seed in waste places, or on broken land, and 

 let Nature do her work. As a plant, if not dug up, 

 it will remain and grow until it gets large enough to 

 run, even if it is five years. If desired, thej- are 

 easily killed, either by plowing or mowing before 

 the seed ripens. C. M. Goodspeep. 



Thorn Hill, N. V. 



f^ HIS season, teasel did not yield luuch honey 

 ^h until basswood had entirely ceased. For 

 / that matter, I am not sure basswood gave 

 me any honey this year. It was very little 

 if any. When the basswf)0(l was all gone, 

 and teasel had been in blossom about a week, I took 

 two colonies for the purpose of testing the teasel- 

 plant as a honey-yielder. Prom each stock I took 

 away every thing in the shape of honey, brood, or 

 comb. To No. 1, I gave ."> frames of old emptj- comb, 

 and as many 1-lb. sections (filled with fdn.) as I 

 could get on. In 17 days (or about that) they had 



" THE QUEEN OF THE HOME." 



HOW WE CAN LIGHTEN HEK LABORS. 



fllE following kind letter from Dr. Mil- 

 ler was not intended for publication, 

 as you will see ; but as it comes so di- 

 rectly in line with Mr. Terry's and 

 Prof, (.'ook's recent articles upon 

 home conveniences we give place to it here, 

 with the hope th;it it may work good in the 

 home. 



I want to thank you for advertising and selling 

 such a fine carpet-sweeper. AVe have not been 

 without a carpet-sweeper in the house for a good 

 many years. One or two have given out, and the 

 last one has been lying idle for about five years, a 

 serious fault being that it too closely resembled a 

 reaping-machine in the noise it made. Hut this 

 new one I bought of you so much excels any thing 

 previously used, that my women-folks are very 

 enthusiastic in its praise. You are so much given 

 to sticking out in every direction, expected and un- 

 expected, that I wonder you have not made a vigor- 

 ous attack upon all j-our readers who have wive^s 

 not yet provided with a good carpet-sweeper. Few 

 husbands realize, I think, how much real hard work 

 their wives have to do in the way of sweeping; and 

 if they knew the difference a good carpet-sweeper 



