752 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTUBE. 



Nov, 



STARTING AST APIABY-NO. 3. 



SOME WORDS OF CAUTION. 



f^^ KGINNEKS in bee-keeping- are liable to fall into 

 Or the error of following- the methods that have 

 p3 proved successful with some one of experi- 

 ^^ ence, and that, too, without stopping to con- 

 sider whether the surroundings and condi- 

 tions are the same in one case as in the other. 

 Great confidence is alwaj s felt by amateurs, in the 

 successful methods reported by those of large ex- 

 perience, and forget the fact that what would 

 prove the correct thing to do in one locality might 

 be utterly futile in some others. In order to suc- 

 ceed it will not do to follow any method without us- 

 ing judgment in regard to it. It is impossible, 

 owing to differences in localities, to lay down any 

 precise and definite rules to be strictly followed. 

 The books and articles on the subject can only lay 

 down general rules. It is by experience alone Ihat 

 specific methods of management can be acquired. 

 To illustrate: Mr. Doolittlc, whom we all know has 

 been a successful manager, lives in a locality where 

 the honey-flow comes only from basswood, and dur- 

 ing the period of time between the middle of June 

 and the middle of July, and then as a rule it almost 

 rains honey. The methods that he has adopted, 

 and which with him prove eminently successful, 

 would be of little value in a locality where the hon- 

 ey-flow begins with fruit-bloom in May, and con- 

 tinues till the middle of September, not large at any 

 time, but tolerably constant. In the one case, a 

 large force of foragers is needed at the time when 

 basswood is in bloom, and would prove a loss at any 

 other time by reason of the amount of stores they 

 would consume. In the other case, a large army of 

 foragers should bo provided early in the season, in 

 order that they might take advantage of the early 

 honey-flow, and this force should be kept up to its 

 maximum strength in order that no honey-yield 

 should be allowed to run to waste. 



In this matter the only safe rule that can be laid 

 down to be closely followed is the rule of being 

 governe.l by common sense, and experience is the 

 only teacher, though at times the lessons taught 

 may prove somewhat expensive. In order that the 

 best light may be obtained, text-books should not 

 only be carefully studied in connection with experi- 

 mental work in the apiary, but one or more of the 

 journals devoted to bee culture as a specialty 

 should be subscribed for and carefully read. The 

 text-books give general ideas; the journals give re- 

 ports from all the various sections of the world, 

 from whicli reports by careful comparison we can 

 better determine the proper course of i)rocedure 

 than by any other means. 



As a matter of fact, a knowledge of the rei)orts 

 contained in the journals is essentialli' necessary 

 in order to enable any one to obtain any thing like 

 perfection. The science, too, is progressive and 

 progressing; and while text-books grow old, the 

 journals are always fresh and new, and give from 

 month to month a careful detail of the various ex- 

 periments made here and there; and not only that, 

 they keep us posted in regai-d to all the various im- 

 provements made in hives, sections, and other sup- 

 plies, and also sound the warning note to every 

 swindle that may be attempted in the way of palm- 

 ing off worthless articles to the unwary r.nd un- 

 initiated. 



While it is a fact that speaks well for bee-keepers. 



that as a class they are intelligent and honest, still, 

 alas! it is too true that there are a few that go 

 around seeking whom they may devour. Many a 

 dollar has been paid for moth-proof hives of no 

 earthly value, that would have been saved by in- 

 vesting a single dollar in some good bee journal. 



One thing it will be well for the prospective bee- 

 keeper to do at once, and that is, to procure a com- 

 plete frame hive, fitted ready for use (except the 

 bees), and practice manipulating it during- the com- 

 ing- winter, in connection with the study he may 

 feel like doing. This may seem at first to be a fool- 

 ish idea; but, my word for it, much can be learned 

 by so doing, and the work of operating in a hive full 

 of bees will be found far easier if preceded by ex- 

 perience in working in an empty hive, than if un- 

 dei-taken without having- had any experience of the 

 kind. Open and close the hive often; remove and 

 replace frames and sections till this work can be 

 done, and spaces made perfectly even by the sense 

 of touch, in the, dark as well as in daylight. By so 

 doing, confidence will be gained, and a task that 

 otherwise wonld be deemed quite difficult will be 

 rendered simple and easy. J. R. Pond, Jk. 



Foxboro. Mass., Oct., 18-!4. 



Gleanings in Bee Culture. 



I'tihlishcd Semi-Motithh/. 



EDITOR AND PUBLISHER, 

 MEDINA, O. 



TERMS; $1.00 PER YEAR, POSTPAID. 



For Cluttiae Eites, See First Page of Eeidi:: Ilitter. 



The rest of the year free to all who subscribe now 

 for 188.5. 



If any of you have any nice dried or evaporated 

 sweet corn to spare, you may mail us a sample, and 

 say how much you want for it. 



AVE have to day, Oct. 33, T087 subscribers. We 

 don't get ahead very fast, it is true; but then, you 

 see we don't got back verj' much eithei-, so we still 

 continue to be thankful on the whole. 



KIGHTEOUSNESK. 



Deak friends, the righteous sliiiU shine forth as the 

 sun; and they don't often have to wait until they 

 get to heaven to shine, cither. They shine right 

 alonj;- here in this life every day. 



UNTESTED gi;EENS F(>1« OfTOBEU AND NOVEMBEK. 



Some of the friends in f he South should not only 

 be prepared to furnish queens before we can raise 

 them here in the North, but they should be 

 prepared to fill orders promptly after we are un- 

 able to rear them here. <!ur queen- rearing is at an 

 end, and yet orders are coming in at a i)retty good 

 jog daily. Now, do not go and send us a lot be- 

 cause of this; but if you have some nice untested 

 queens to spare, tell me how many, and what you 

 will take for them. Last fall, in an answer to an ed- 

 itoral, so many were sent in that we had a dozen or 



