1884 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



95 



down, slowly; but it looks to be surely. I am march- 

 ing for that home beyond, where ^e shall have no 

 bother with presses and rollers and other cares, but 

 will meet as friends, to enjoy an eternity of rest and 

 joy. I have no hopes of any recovery. 1 have tried 

 the sea, the mountains of California, and found no 

 relief. I enjoy this climate very much, as I can ride 

 out every day in the beautiful sunshine, which re- 

 lieves my suffering very much. I have felt very 

 thankful that my press business has fallen into such 

 trusty hands as it has. But I am taking your busy 

 time, and must close. 



Yours most kindly, D. S. Given. 



Los Angeles, Cal., Jan. 11, 1884. 



Friend G., we who are in the full enjoj'- 

 ment of health and strength hardly realize, I 

 fear, the blessings we enjoy. Your letter is, 

 in some respects, a sad one, and yet there is 

 a bright thought that runs through it, of the 

 " home over there." Thank (lOd, there is a 

 refuge for poor, suffering, and afHicted hu- 

 manity, and a sure and eternal rest. 



BASSWOOD-TREES FOR SUPPORTING WIRE FENCE. 



I have a suggestion to make. In fencing, one great 

 expense is the posts; now why can't we plant bass- 

 wood-trees, and use wire fencing when the trees are 

 large enough? Would the shade be much of an ob- 

 jection to growing crops? If it would, there are 

 places where we could use them. 



Don't we say too much about getting a big price 

 for our honey? Would it net be better totry toraise 

 it so we can affm-d to sell it cheaper? It does not 

 seem to me it will ever become the staple article we 

 wish, unless we can sell very cheap. 



The season has been only a moderate one; mine 

 averaged about 70 tt)S., nearly all white, as the late 

 honey was a failure. Rowland White. 



Grand Uapids, Wood Co., O., Jan. 9, 1881. 



Friend W., the basswoods will answer very 

 well for the purpose you mention ; but, like 

 all other rank-growing trees, they spoil all 

 the crops growing near them. On this ac- 

 count, most of the friends put them on the 

 roadside, on the outside of the fence. 1 agree 

 with you in regard to furnishing honey at a 

 low price, and I have felt quite a degree of 

 pleasure in furnishing honey for only 10 cts., 

 in 50-ft). cans. 



UPS AND DOWNS. 



I went into winter quarters one year ago with 35 

 colonies, 30 of which were fair to good, and 5 were 

 weak, but had young queens that I was desirous of 

 saving, if possible. They wintered well until the 

 middle of March, when there were a few warm days; 

 and as I had to move my bees about half a mile, I 

 thought best to move them before they had a tly ; so 

 I moved them during this warm spell. After mov- 

 ing, some of them began to dwindle, and kept on un- 

 til the others were swarming. About May 1st the 

 bees obtained their first new honey; from then un- 

 til the 2t'jth there were lots of blossoms; but the 

 weather was so unfavorable that, when appleblos- 

 soms were gone, the best colonies had not gathered 

 enough to last until clover; but I had saved plenty 

 of sealed honey in brood-frames for feeding (the 

 cappings were mashed by passing a knife over them, 

 and they were placed between frames of brood); fair 

 to good colonies built up very fast, and had a sur- 

 prising amount of brood by June Ist (4 colonies hav- 



ing upward of 1000 sq. in. of brood). The first swarm 

 issued June 4; the last one July 5; commenced stor- 

 ing in boxes Juno 15; worked well until the 25th; 

 from then until July 10, when clover failed, the 

 weather was cold and rainy. The bees got the 

 swarming fever so badly that it greatly interfered 

 with their storing honey. Commenced stimulating 

 about the middle of July for buckwheat, which be- 

 gan to yield Aug. IT; stopped building combs the 

 23d, and the season for 1883 was over. I obtained of 

 box honey, white, 900 lbs.; box honey, dark, 525 lbs.; 

 extracted, white, .50 lbs.; extracted, dark, 25 lbs.; to- 

 tal, 1500 lbs.— an average of 60 lbs. per colony, spring 

 count. I have at present 50 colonies, all of which, 

 except 3, are in good shape for winter, with plenty of 

 honey to winter on, besidt-s several hundred pounds 

 stored away f.tr spring feeding. 



The season was a very peculiar one; very wet in 

 the spring; dry in June; wet again the last of June 

 and first half of July, when it turned dry asrain, and 

 continued so until September. The best part of clo- 

 ver was spoiled by wet, and buckwheat by drought. 

 My best stock, Italian, with 15 combs of brood, cast 

 one swarm and stored 171 lbs. of box honey. 



Baptisttown, N. J., Jan., 1884. John B. Case. 



REPORT ON bees; BLACKS AND ITALIANS. 



I bought ULangstroth hives and two celonies of 

 bees for $33.00. One of the colonies was Italian, and 

 the other black. The blacks swarmed twice; one 

 swarm left for parts unknown. They made 15 lbs. 

 of extracted honey in upper story. I then sold the 

 two black colonies at $5.00 apiece. The Italians 

 swarmed twice, and the first young colony swarmed 

 once, and I found a swarm of Italians on my hedge- 

 fence, so I had 5 colonies of Italians and about 45 lbs. 

 of comb honey. I gave one of these colonies to my 

 little brothers, and sold them a hive, so I have 4 col- 

 onies left, which are packed in straw on their sum- 

 mer stands. This has been a poor honey season, and 

 my first attempt at bee-keeping. If I had sold my 

 honey at 15c per lb. it would make $6.75. Bees on 

 hand are worth *5.00 per colony, $20.00. Sold two 

 colonies of blacks at $5.00 per colony, $10.00. 

 Paid for foundation, $1.80, leaving me a profit of 

 $13.95. I am well pleased with my success, consider- 

 ing the season and the experience I have gained. 



Davenport, la., Jan. 1, 1884. Adam Littig. 



ADVANTAGE OF HAVING LARGE LABELS IN A PROM- 

 INENT POSITION FOR J.ARS OF HONEY. 



When jars are placed on the store shelf among 

 other canned goods, they are not noticed, unless the 

 "Honey" is large. I have some jars in a large store, 

 and they are labeled, too, but not big enough, and 

 hundreds of customers never see them, and there is 

 a small store with the shelf about C feet from the 

 customer, where they sold ten times as much as the 

 other. James McLay. 



Madison, Wis. 



moderate favors THANKFULLY RECEIVED. 



I wish to report my success in bee-keeping the 

 past summer. I put 30 stands in the yard in April, 

 after wintering without any loss; had one dwindle 

 out in May; worked for comb honey altogether, in 

 1-1 b. boxes. I took off 15C0 lbs.; sold at an average 

 of 16 cts. per lb.; total, $310. I have 50 good swarms 

 in the cellar— not a very big yield; still I am out of 

 Blasted Hopes. John Clink. 



Fayette, Wis., Dec. 26, 1883. 



