642 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Sept. 



J^EPe^T? ENC0n^^6iN6. 



lOOl) STANDS OF BEES PRODUCE 100,000 LBS. (50 TONS) 

 OP HONEV. 



fROM what I can learn, California has had an 

 cjctra good honey season— almost a flood. The 

 above figures are the report of friend Wilkin, 

 of Ventura Co. ; some others report as high 

 as 200 and 250 lbs. per hive, spring count. The 

 price of honey is very low, 3H to 5c. per pound. 



W. W. BiLSS. 



Duarte, Los Angeles Co., Cal., Aug. 2S, 18St. 



Well, well, this is indeed good news i'rom 

 onr friend R. Wilkin. We had some intima- 

 tion of what they had got in California, this 

 season, bnt we did not know it went up like 

 the above. 



FROM 200 TO 370, AND 40 TONS OF HONEY. 



Our honey season has just closed. I have taken 

 from 200 colonies, spring count, forty tons of honey, 

 and increased to 270 stands, and have left them 

 heavy stores for winter. If yovi have any call for 

 California honey, I should like to supply you. 



S. T. Miller. 



Capistrano, Los Angeles Co., Cal., Sept. 1, 1884. 



OVERDONE. 



The honey ci-op is a total failure here ; 90 old stands 

 in May; now have 110; .50 lbs. comb honey, 400 lbs. 

 extracted, is my crop so far, and there is no pros- 

 pect for any fall honey. The business is overdone 

 here; too many men in the business. 



Lee Centre, 111., August 31, 18S4. 



J. L. Gray. 



A FURTHER GOOD REPORT FROM THE NEIGHBOR- 

 HOOD OF o. M. blanton [see P. 445]. 

 Mr. R. J. Adams was over here day before yester- 

 day, and informed me he had shipped 30 barrels, be- 

 sides the 15,000 lbs., and still extracting. He has but 

 little use for uncapping-knife. I write to correct 

 my report of him, if you have not published it. 

 Drought still continues. O. M. Blanton. 



Greenville, Miss., Aug. 31, 1884. 



FROM 3 to 30, AND 325 LBS. OF HONEY. 



1 commenced this season with three swarms— one 

 Italian in frame hive, and two blacks in box hives. 

 These I transferred to frame hives, and Italianized 

 them, and was delayed two weeks in procuring 

 queens. I increased (by dividing) to 20 good colonies, 

 and extracted, July 28th, 325 lbs. of basswood and 

 clover honey. 



All the attention my bees had was my spare mo- 

 ments from the shop. Elias Fox. 



Hillsborough, Wis., Aug. 18, 1884. 



report FROM ONE OF OUR OLD PUPII-S. 



There are a few enthusiastic students of your A 

 B C in this place, and pleasant times we have. I 

 have not lost any of my interest in the bees yet. I 

 have had some discoui-agements, but not more than 

 I expected. Lost my first lot of queens hatched 

 in the spring, owing, I think, to mosquito-hawks. 

 My queen and half-pound of bees have built up 

 from foundation only, till now I have 9 colonies — 3 

 strong, the rest 3-frame nuclei. I have also sold 2 

 nuclei colonies, and one absconded. Isn't that 

 pretty well for 8 months? We have daily rains. 

 The " partridge" pea has bloomed two months. The 

 bees work mostly on the peas. Nellie Adams. 



Sorrento, Fla., Aug. 5, 1884. 



I increased from 97 to 117, and secured 5000 lbs. 

 of honey. B. B. Wesley. 



Lagrange, O., Sept., 1884. 



I have 35 swarms, and have now on hand 1000 lbs. 

 of fine section honey. N. J. Kelly. 



Wayne, Mich.. June 30, 1884. 



269 LBS. FROM A SINGLE COLONY, BUT NO INCREASE. 



Bees are doing first rate in this neighborhood. I 

 have extracted 269 lbs. from my best swarm. No 

 increase with that swarm. Reese Powell. 



Mineral Point, Wis., July 34, 1884. 



My report for the season Is, from 46 colonies, 

 spring count, 5000 lbs. extracted honey; increased 

 to 100; left 2000 lbs. on the hives. Averaging, 108 

 lbs. ; increase, 54 per cent. I am perfectly satisfied. 



Lullng, Texas, Aug. 18, 1884. J. S. Tadlock. 



FROM 25 TO 35, AND 629 LBS. OF HONEY. 



My bees have done fairly well this season; have 

 taken 354 1-lb. sections, and 275 lbs. exti-acted, and 

 increased from 35 to 35. Season closed about July 

 1. I took my honey from about 15 colonies; ran 4 

 for extracted. Chas. F. Raymond. 



Cleveland, O., August 18, 1884. 



FROM 6 TO 17, AND 340 LBS. OF COMB HONEV. 



1 wintered 6 stands over. Four came out nice and 

 strong, and 2 were late swarms, and were weak; in- 

 creased to 17; made 8 artificial swarms and 3 natu- 

 ral ones; had one swarm on August 20; have2401-lb. 

 sections on; and if weather stays good, they will 

 fill them in ten days. J. M. Fleming. 



Sarversville, Pa., Aug. 25, 1884. 



THE FALL CRO^ IN ILLINOIS. 



Up to the 12th of August I had not taken over 800 

 or 900 lbs.; but on that date honey began to come in 

 fi-om heart's-ease, and for the last few days I have 

 never seen honey come in faster. Goldenrod is in 

 bloom too, and the bees are working on it freely. If 

 we have favorable weather, and do not have frost 

 too early, we shall secure a good harvest of honey 

 yet. Bees are booming now. J. A. Green, 118. 



Dayton, III., Aug. 23, 1884. 



$188 FROM 5 COLONIES IN THE SPRING. 



March 15, 1884, 1 had 5 colonies in L. one-story hives; 

 June 15 I had 20 colonies, and extracted 360 lbs. 

 honey. July 15 I cut out 350 lbs. comb honey, leav- 

 ing enough for bees to winter on — at least 25 lbs. to 

 the hive, and Aug. 1 I sold out for f 100 cash. Sold 

 most of my honey for 12! 2C per lb., or about f 188 

 from 5 colonies in i'i months —a yield of three col- 

 onies to each old colony, and 140 lbs. honey. These 

 are facts by actual weight and dollars. 



Hamilton, Texas, Aug. 10, 1884. J. Q. Avars. 



FROM 5 TO 8, AND 182H LBS. OP HONEY. 



As the season for surplus honey in this section of 

 the country is over, and in order to keep up the cus- 

 tom of sending in reports, I will make out mine. 

 At the beginning of white-clover bloom I had 



Colonies 5 



Increased by natural swarming 3 



By division 1 



Total 9 



Took of comb honey, lbs 182'4 



Unfinished sections in lbs 30 



Sold at 20(r/ 22c., lbs 162H 



Amount realized for honey $33.54 



This I considered net gain, as my four swarms at 

 $5.00 each more than pays all expenses for hives, 

 fdn., feed, etc. h- GRAY, 



Zanesville, Ohio, Sept. 2, 1881. 



