166 



GLEANmGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Mar. 



From Different Fields. 



shalij we takb thkm out op the cellar, and 

 put tbem back again? 



I HERE send my report for 1883. Started in the 

 spring' with 15 colonies; increased to 35, and 

 ■ got 937 lb?, extracted, and 286 lbs. box honey (in 

 sections). I sold my honey at 20 cts. per box, and 

 12'/2 cts. per lb. for extracted; that is what I retailed 

 it at; to the stores, 15 to IT cts. for boxes, and 10 for 

 extracted. I sold honey to the amount of $12.3, and 

 have about 100 lbs. to sell. Besides this, we used 

 about 2T5 lbs. In a year. I wintered ray bees in the 

 cellar last winter; put them in Nov. 15, 18S2, and 

 set them out on the 5th of April, 1883. I lost i in 

 wintering; three had the dysentery. All were bad. 

 I think if I had carried them out and let them fly in 

 February or the first of March, I might have saved 

 them all. "When I set them out in the spring, 

 the first day flying cured them all of dysen- 

 tery, and 1 had no dwindling. I carried my bees all 

 into the ce'.lar November 12, and they are all riijht 

 yet. A few had a little dysentery. Do j'ou think It 

 best to give them a flight, when it gets warm enough, 

 and carry them back into the cellar, or set them in 

 until I can leave them out? David K. Knoll. 



Salamonia, Ind., Feb. U, 1S84. 

 Friend K., this is one of the unsettled 

 questions. I presume lliey would sometimes 

 be better if left out. and sometimes better if 

 left in. The trouble is, to gness what the 

 weather will be. If you could get them out 

 so as to have them have a thorough cleansing 

 flight when the weather is warm, and no 

 high winds, and then put them back until 

 the cold storms and blustering windy days 

 were past, it would probably be an advan- 

 tage, lint it is so hard to hit it just right, I 

 believe most of the friends keep them in as 

 long as they can, and not have them suffer, 

 and when they are put out, leave them there. 



HOW MUCH MONEY CAN A MAN MAKE WITH TEN 

 COLONIES? 



How much comb honey, or extracted either, can 

 a bee-keeper expect (except one young swarm each 

 year) from one good strong colony in a 10-frame 

 Langstroth hive, one year with another, on an aver- 

 age, for five years, where there is an abnndance of 

 white clover and basswood bloom? Second: Can nu- 

 cleus swarms be formed from young swarms after 

 they have their hives filled with brood and honey, 

 without injuring them? Third: Will it do to hive 

 young swarm3 on combs where bees have died from 

 dysentery? C. W. Vanhouten. 



SmithQeld, 111., Feb. 1, 188f. 



An inexperienced contemplater T am, and wish to 

 have your advice on going into the bee business. If 

 I am successful, what will be my profit on ten colo- 

 nies of bees the first year, the second, and third? 

 Can I make it a profitable business by following your 

 instructions? I have 7 colonies of bees, and can get 

 some more. J. H. Titus. 



Adams, Pa., Jan. 31, 1881. 



1 have had numbers of letters like the 

 above, and those who accuse us of giving 

 only the bright side of bee culture would per- 

 haps expect me to give an encouraging reply. 



Now, friend T., without knowing any thing 

 about you or your surroundings, I could not 

 even guess what you would make with ten 

 colonies. You may lose .S-50.00 in a single 

 season, besides wasting your time,; and then, 

 again, you might do nicely. r>ees are very 

 uncertain property. I might, for an illus- 

 tration say, "IIow much money would a 

 man be likelv to make from an acre of straw- 

 berries V " liut the strawberries would prob- 

 ably be more sure of giving some kind of re- 

 turn than tlie bees would. I really do not 

 know how I could make any kind of an ans- 

 wer ; but I could tell you" this: That you 

 might look over the reports from those who 

 started with a similar number, and see vvhat 

 they did. Jiut even then you would perhaps 

 find reports only from the successful ones. 

 Sucli questions can not be answered, as 1 see 

 it. Great numbers have made a success of it 

 by the Instructions in the A B C. 



SHALL FARMEKS KEEP BEES? 



The f irmcr can, with a few colonies of bees, raise 

 enough honey to supply his own family, and have a 

 surplus to sell, which will more than pay the ex- 

 penses of his apiary. Farmers, as a rule, do not buy 

 honey; they either raise it or do without— at least, 

 this is the case in my neighborhood. 



There is also another feature in bee culture which 

 should by no means be overlooked; that is, the 

 amount of knowledge one may obtain by carefully 

 studying the natural history of the honey-bee,which 

 will tend to elevate nur thoughts to the Creator of 

 all things, and make us exclaim, " Why was such a 

 small insect made, with such a mysterious nature?" 



As I keep bees la a small way in connection with 

 farming, I will give you an outline of what I have 

 done since 1877: 



1877. I 1880. 



Total receipts f 15 85 Total receipts $r>i 25 



" expenses 5 70 | Expenses 12-10 



Net $10 15 1 Net f 11 85 



1878. I 18ol. 



Receipts $23 45 j Receipts $10 40 



Expeusrs 2 it5 i Expenses 1125 



Net $20501 Net $29 15 



1879. I 1883. 



Receipts $24 ,50 | Receipts $81 fiO 



Expenses 7 35 | Expenses 17 40 



Net $17 15 I Net $04 20 



In 1882 my net profit was $60 90. This does not in- 

 clude what honey was consumed by a large familj-. 



A. T. MclLWAIN. 



Abbeville C. H., S. C, Feb. 13, 1884. 



FLORIDA; HOW OUR FRIEND ILA MICHENER LIKES IT. 



I have just returned from a visit to Florida. I 

 found the State just about as represented— a, great 

 deal of wet land, and a large amount of beautiful 

 high, dry, rolling land, suitable for orange-growing. 

 The climate is delightful. All the time we were 

 there it was like one continued Indian-summer day, 

 the most beaiUiful you .ever saw. Or.nnsre culture is 

 very profitable. Rut take away the orange and the 

 glorious climate, and there would not be left any 

 thing very delightful in Florida. I took with me a 4- 

 frame nucleus for experiment. 1 released them at 

 Brooksville, Hernando Co., and that same day they 

 were gathering pollen. But I can not see where they 

 are going to gather any large amount of honey. The 

 friend I left them with will report. 



Il.4. Michej^sr, 



Low Banks, Ont., Can., Feb. U, 1884. 



