1888 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



59 



Question No. 30.— 7s it adcisahle to use a very thin 

 foundation in the sections, say l'~ or l.'> square feet to 

 the pound? niiat weight nf foundation— that is, how 

 many square feet to the pnund—do yov prefer to use in 

 the surplus department.' 



Eleven feet. 



Dadant & Son. 



Any kind or weight, if the base is thin. 



Geo. Orimm. 



About 10 square feet to the pound is nearly if not 

 quite rig-ht. (i. M. Doolittle. 



1. Yes. The thinner the septum the better. 3. 

 About twelve. Dr. A. B. Mason. 



I never found any too thin, particularly where 

 full sheets are used. Mrs. L. Harrison. 



I prefer fdn. of about 8 square feet to the pound, 

 but the septum should be as thin as it can be made. 



O. O. POPPLETON. 



I think so. 1 used to think thick was as g-ood in 

 the sections, but now I would have at least 13 feet 

 per lb. A. ,T. Cook. 



Yes, it is advisable. I prefer it about 10 to 13 feet 

 to the pound; 10 ft., if the extra weight can be put 

 in the walls. \V. Z. Hutchinson. 



A good deal of experience has decided me against 

 such thin foundation. About 10 or 11 feet to the 

 pound is thin enough forme. C. C. Mili.er. 



More honey can be secured with a heavier found- 

 ation, 9 or 10 feet to the pound, but I think it advis- 

 able to use the thinnest foundation. 



James A. Green. 



Foundation measuring about 10 square feet to 

 the pound has my preference for sections. It han- 

 dles easier than the thinner sorts, and there is no 

 danger of the fishbone. ("has. F. Muth. 



I want the thinnest tlint can be made. At times 

 bees will thin the fdn. pretty well, but at other 

 times they will not; therefore by using it very thin 

 at all times you are sure not to have the fishbone. 

 Paul L. Viai.lon. 



Use the thinnest good foundation you can 

 get, if you fill the sections full. In case you use 

 only starters, take foundation of medium thickness. 

 The little " snipes " can nibble it all out too easily 

 if it is thin. E. E. Hasty. 



I have had the best success with full sheets of 

 foundation in surplus boxes as heavy as 8 square 

 feet to the pound; but this foundation had a very 

 thin base, the weight being mainly in the side walls. 

 I am now using and selling surplus foundation 

 running about 10 to 13 square feet to the pound, 

 and this is as heavy as I care to use fdn. made upon 

 roller-mills. James Heduon. 



The drift of the above seems to be, that 

 we need some sort of wall to our foundation; 

 and if the bases are very thin, it does not 

 matter very much how thick the wall is. 

 As thick walls, however, cost more money, 

 on account of the wax contained in them, 

 most of us would prefer rather Jiglit walls, 

 unless. Indeed, it be found true that we can 

 well afford to pay for having considerable 

 wax in those walls. As bres will probably 

 secrete more or less comb any way, it is not 

 likely that it will pay us to furnish them 

 wax enough, even in the wnlls, to (Ji'&w the 

 peJJs up at fulj length. 



^EPe^Tg Dipc0aR;«6iN6. 



wants nothing better than the wooden but- 

 ter-dishes for feeders. 

 fHE past season has been very discouraging to 

 bee-keepers in this vicinity. I had KX) lbs. of 

 comb honey from 40 swarms (fall count), and 

 had to feed 75 lbs. of sugar. 1 used wooden 

 butter-dishes to feed in, and don't want any 

 thing better. C. U. Guthrie. 



Prospect, Wis.. Jan. 2, 1888. 



poorest season in 30 YEARS. 



I have been in the bee-business for 30 years, and 

 it has been the hardest time on the bees that has 

 ever been since 1 commenced. I have about 60 

 gums left, and e.xpect to continue in the business, 

 for I am not at all discouraged, since all lay In the 

 same complaint. L. J. Blankenship. 



Corsicana, Mo. 



^EP0R¥g ENCQ^i^^eip. 



BEES PAID, EVEN IN A POOR SEASON. 



Y report for 1887 is short and easily counted. 

 From 33 colonies, spring count, from May 

 to Aug. (no late honey), is only 310 lbs. of 

 comb in lib. sections, and about (iO lbs. of 

 extracted; 43 queens raised. The box hon- 

 ey brings me 3.5 cts. a box; extracted, 35 cts. per lb. 

 The queens, I used myself. I also carried over from 

 last year over 300 lbs. of comb honey for which 1 ex- 

 pect to got 35 cts. a pound. For extracted honey 1 

 use the small jelly-cup, which holds 14 lb. of honey, 

 which brings me 17 cts., cup and all. 1 find they 

 sell more readily than any thing else 1 can put ex- 

 tracted honey in. Although the poorest season I 

 ever experienced, I am satisfied. They will pay 

 me for all my trouble and expense. They have 

 gone into winter quarters with plenty of honey 

 gathered from asters. My bees have been shut in 

 only two days. The first week in December the 

 mercury was down to 14; since then they flew out 

 every day until Dec. 17, when the first snow fell, 

 11 inches on the level, but cleared off warm again. 

 The 31st they had another fly. To-day they are shut 

 in again. I am afraid the warm weather will be 

 hard on my bees. The queens commenced laying 

 Dec. 1, and have considerable brood started for 

 this season of the year. Josiah Eastburn. 



Falllngston, Pa., Dec. 34, 1887. 



FROM 50 TO 68, AND 1400 LBS. OF HONKY. 



Spring count, 50 (lost 18 in wintering last winter); 

 15 of this number were so near dead that it took 

 them all summer to build up and gather honey 

 enough to winter. From the 35 good ones (none 

 were vei-y strong) I took 1300 lbs. of comb honey 

 and about 3iK) of extracted, and increased to 08 ; one 

 flew away. At the commencement of basswood 1 

 had eight first swarms, which I put back, as they 

 had 5(5 one pound sections partly filled, and 1 knew 

 if 1 hived those swarms it was good-by box honey 

 from those colonies, so I hived them back, and 

 every one of them stayed and went to work, and I 

 was very much pleased when I came to take that 

 boneyoff. 411 of them filled and capppd PJpe)^. J 



