806 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Dec. 



new (,'omers as intruders, for even their lit- 

 tle heads are able to recognize at a glance 

 that such an arrival is a positive gain all 

 around ; and it" a queen comes along witli 

 them, they st^ldom make any fuss about it. 

 The process liad been years in use, however, 

 before Mr. Simmins'book was published. 

 As Mr. 8. has. nevertheless, given us a good 

 -many new and valuable facts on the subject 

 of introducing, I would refer our friends to 

 the article mentioned. 



CAN A MAN MAKE $64,800 IN 5 YEARS, 

 KEEPING BEES? 



THE FIGUUES THAT NEVER LIE. 



HE sample copy of Gleanings has just reach- 



'.-<Kl^ ed me, and I am surprised and pleased to 



find it a publication of such a substantial 



character; and as soon as I locate I shall 



take pleasure in becoming a subscriber and 



a purchaser of j'our bee-necessities. 



In reading the various articles I am struck with 

 several things: 1st, The ratio of increase of bees; 2d, 

 The larg-e yields per hive claimed by your corres- 

 V)ondents. 



Let me use a few figures which these articles call 

 out: A man starts in tbe year 1885 with 100 stands, 

 and the ratio of increase is 300 per cent (much less 

 than the ratio claimed by W. R. Pinkerton, page 599). 



In 1885, 100 hives. 



" 18S6 (203 per cent and 100 hives), 300 " 

 " 1887 ( " " " 300 " ), 900 " 



" 1883 ( " " " 9D3 " ), 2700 " 



" 1889 ( " " '■ 2700 " ), 8100 " 



la 5 years, a man starting with 100 hives, or stands, 

 has 8103 hives, or stands. Now let the yield be 200 

 lbs. per hive (nothing unusual for California, so 

 bee-men tell mo), and the yield the 5th year is the 

 enormous amount of 1,620,000 lbs. Looking at the 

 market reports I find honey quoted at 4 to 6 cts. per 

 pound, which would make the yield of the 5th year 

 worth (taking the lowest figures, 4 cts.), $64,800. I 

 have now reached my conclusion, and now comes 

 the wherefore of this letter. I wish to ask you if 

 such figures are possible? 



I know the attending cost has not been reckoned; 

 I know that tliat number of bees can not be kept at 

 one place; but the cost can not possibly reach one- 

 half the amount, leaving a profit of $32,400, and the 

 second objection can be overcome by saying that 

 that part of this State which is suitable for bees is 

 very large, and any one might own several apiaries. 

 Please be so kind as to point out to me if these are 

 facts; and if I have gone astray, please let me 

 know whei-e. W. B. Josselyn. 



San Francisco, Cal., Nov. 5, 1884. 



Friend J., you have struck right squarely 

 on one of the great troubles in bee-keeping, 

 and, for that matter, in almost any kind of 

 business. Why mtt put it this way ? A 

 store-keeper makes sKiuo a year in keeping 

 store, and therefore whv can't a man have 

 100 stores and make si("iO.OO(J in one >ear— 

 that is, if he could furnish tlie capital to 

 start them, or he might start small, and then 

 set up the new stores as he went on V The 

 tnjuble is in getting s(miebody to manage. 

 Many a man tinds that he can manage a bus- 

 iness so as to make it worth $1000 a year, 

 by giving il his personal supervisiou ; but it 



is beyond his ability to start another busi- 

 ness just like it, and find the man who would 

 do as well at a salary as the owner. Again, 

 tliere are plenty of men who can manage a 

 dozen colonies' of bees so as to make them 

 pay 200 or 500 per cent, in a single season. 

 Now, even if the locality would support ten 

 times as many hives, the owner has not the 

 aV)ility to do as w^ell with 100 as he could 

 with a dozen. Tiie man is found too small. 

 We occasionally lind a bee-keeper who will 

 manage 100 hives, and make them do well, 

 but nothing near as well in proportion as he 

 would a dozen. AVe liave a few men who, 

 with hired help, can handle 1000 hives, but 

 the profits usually come down to a good deal 

 less than 200 per cent when one man " spreads 

 himself," if I may use the expression, over 

 so much property and so much responsibili- 

 ty. We see this matter demonstrated every 

 day, right before our eyes. A man does well 

 with a small business. He enlarges it, the 

 profits diminish, or perhaps go down to zero. 

 Now, the only way for you and everybody 

 else to do is to take your own business " di- 

 mensions," by a practical test. Get four or 

 five hives of bees, and see Avhat sort of report 

 you can make. If every thiug goes well, try 

 ten ; for in another year your bees will in- 

 crease to that number, or more, if well man- 

 aged. Then try thirty or forty. Whenever 

 you find the profits are going down toward 

 a losing business, if you are a prudent 

 man, of course you will hold on. Don't en- 

 large any more— at least until you have, by 

 more mature experience, found out you can 

 do so safely. Most of our failures in busi- 

 ness come about just because we are not con- 

 tented to work smrdl until we have proven 

 beyond doul)t that we are equal to the task 

 of doing things on a large scale. 



INSECT-POWDEB PLANT. 



PYRETHRUM CINERARIA FOLIUM. 



f^ HERE has been so much interest nian- 

 ^j" ifested in this new insect-destroyer, 

 ( pyrethrum, that we give the follow- 

 ^' iiig, which one of our friends sent us, 

 taken from, we judge, a California 

 paper. I may remark here, that we have a 

 plant in our greenhouse, Cinerarm, wliich 

 much resembles an engraving which accom- 

 panied the article below, from which I infer 

 tliat pyrethrum could be reared here in the 

 States without trouble, especially if your 

 plants were started indoors. 



Since the above was written, one of our 

 girls in the office informs me she has pyre- 

 tiirura-plants in blossom, and has had for a 

 coujde of years, though she never tested the 

 dried flowers for destroying insects. We 

 will see to it at once, and report. 



Probably everj' reader of the Bulletin is more or 

 less familiar with insect powders produced from 

 different species of pyrethrum; but that made here 

 from Purcthmm Cineraricn Folium, the Dalmatian 

 vai'iety,whic^ was introduced into this State some 

 years ago by G. N. Milco, has proved itself superior 

 to the importod article, and is rapidly driving it out 

 of market. 



