154 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Mar. 



Though I have sent bees hundreds of miles, by 

 railroad and stage, with no complainable loss; yet 

 again, with them just as carefully packed, at less 

 distance, the loss has been enough to almost condemn 

 the business. That uneasy, discontented buzz of 

 bees caged for transportation by the pound, is a 

 sound any thing but pleasant to my ears. 



Far the best way in which to ship beea, for all 

 parties concerned, and especially for the bees, is 

 mostly in the brood, estimated by the thousand. 

 This can be quickly done by measuring the patch of 

 brood with a rule, finding how many square inches it 

 contiins, dividing the number of square inches by 2 

 (where the brood is about the same on both sides of 

 the comb), and you know just how many hundred 

 bees there are in the comb; for bees in the brood lay 

 just about 5 to the inch each way. But, what are 

 bees worth per thousand? We have got used to es- 

 timating them by the pound, so we will reduce it. I 

 have found by actual count, that 130 live Italian bees 

 weigh an ounce. Friend Root estimates them at 135 

 to the ounce, or 4000 to the pound, and that is near 

 enough for all practical purposes. Then when 1 lb., 

 or 4000 bees, are worth $3.00, one thousand would be 

 worth 50 cents. For example, a party orders of a 

 dealer 40,00# bees. The dealer having light, but 

 strong cases prepared in which to send them, goes 

 to his hives, selects the best-filled combs he can find, 

 each comb containing some honey, as well as the 

 brood. He places his rule on the patch of brood, 

 finds it about 7 in. deep by IVA long, makes 80'/^ 

 square inches, divides by 3, and has 40^4 hundred, or 

 4035 bees; marks it down, puts the comb in the case, 

 and proceeds the same with the next, and the next, 

 until he has, say, 39,000 bees, in all stages of brood. 

 He then sets the cases on the scales, takes the weight, 

 then brushes live bees .enough on to the combs to 

 make 11,000, which is 3% lbs., shown by the scales, 

 thus the number ordered is made up. The live bees 

 tase care of the uncapped brood; the honey furnish- 

 es food; all feel contentea,and, though confined, and 

 on the road for days, there will be no loss. 



When the buyer receives them, he can weigh and 

 measure the bees and brood, if he chooses, and thus 

 know as accurately what he has secured as though 

 they were loose in a cage, and a to "i dead. But 

 generally, those who wish bees by the pound don't 

 want the combs; in that case, let the buyer select 

 from his own stock of combs, some as nearly like 

 those received as possible, inclose them in the cases 

 in which his bees have come, and the express com- 

 pany will return them to the shipper free of charge. 

 If it is not desirable to exchange combs, the cases 

 and combs can be detained until the bees are all 

 hatched, and then returned. 



The buyer will need to order a little earlier, to 

 have his bees out, and ready for business at the de- 

 sired time. It is always a satisfaction to all parties 

 concerned, to be accurate in deal. But the old way 

 of buying bees by the colony, or nucleus, is so in- 

 definite, that the plan of buying them by the pound 

 is fast growing in favor. And while accuracy is a 

 very desirable feature, let us manage the matter so 

 that our pets shall not be the sufferers in conse- 

 quence. S. C. Perry. 



Portland, Ionia Co., Mich., Feb. 18, 1834. 



Eriend P., you have hit upon a very impor- 

 tant matter indeed, and I would accept your 

 suggestions with alacrity, were it not that 

 you have overlooked one very important 

 point. Bee-keepers do not have brood- 

 frames all of one standard size. We have 

 tried filling orderg with Simplicity combs, 



until we had such grievous complaints that I 

 was obliged to give it up. One friend said 

 he would not have such great long shallow 

 frames if they were given him for nothing ; 

 and as he couldn't get them into any hive he 

 had, he let the brood die, and wanted us to 

 pay for it. Sending bees in a cage by the 

 pound, makes it all pleasant; for no matter 

 what the hives are, the purchaser can just 

 shake the bees off on his own combs, or on 

 his own frames, tilled with brood, if he 

 chooses, and every thing is lovely, for the 

 bees themselves are all of one dimension. 

 Isn't that lucky for us, friends? I k)iow 

 what you say about a little brood making 

 the bees contented is true, and I almost be- 

 gin to think about having narrow sections 

 containing brood, so we could get one into 

 every bee-cage. But, alas ! we have tried it, 

 a great many of us, and it is a real task to 

 have a little frame, the size of a section, al- 

 ways at hand containing some brood. I 

 really do not see any way in our shipping 

 business, but to send bees in cages by the 

 pound, although I do know that a one or two 

 frame nucleus is much more likely to be all 

 right every time. May be we are coming 

 nearer to a standard frame than we were a 

 few years ago, for our A B C pupils are 

 pretty sure to have the Simplicity frame, and 

 nothing else. Your idea of buying bees in 

 the form of sealed brood, instead of live ones 

 that can buzz, and have to be fed, is a grand 

 one, and combs of brood can always be had 

 in abundance in warm weather; and where 

 built on wired combs, they can be shipped 

 anywhere, almost without the possibility of 

 the loss of a single bee. 



PICTURES OF BEES. 



E have been working about two months 

 to get accurate pictures of the queen, 

 drone, and worker; and although I 



am not quite suited with them yet, I submit 



the result to you below. 



QUEEN, DRONE, AND WORKER. 



The worker is one we took from a photo- 

 graph. The drone was figured out from the 

 best cut and drawings we could hunt up. 

 The queen was also taken partially from a 

 photograph. If they please you, we can fur- 

 nish you the whole set for 40 cts. If they 

 don't'please you, I wish you would try your 

 hand at it, and see if you can not give us 

 some better ones. 1 believe the nest picture 

 of queen, drone, and worker that I ever 

 found anywhere are in Iluber's book, pub- 

 lished in 1841 . They are colored steel plates ; 

 but as they represent black bees, they are 

 not quite what we wanted. We did not re- 

 ceive them until after we had made -the 

 above, and 1 really have a notion to try to 

 make some copies of t^hem. 



