1888 



GLfiAKlKGS IK BEE CULttjRE. 



13"? 



l^EP0]^Tg ENC@ai^^6I]\[6. 



MY REPORT. 



T STARTED with 79 stands of bees this spring; 

 |Mp lost three during- the summer by losing their 

 ]lt queens; had two new swarms, and divided one. 

 ■*■ T had my bees in three places— one two miles 

 and a half southeast, one three miles north, 

 both in the basswood timber. From the southeast 

 and at home I got nothing, and had to feed; and 

 from the north one T got about .50 lbs. of honey. 

 Bees are all in the cellar in fair condition. I am 

 not in the least discouraged. I think ne.\t year will 

 be good. A. L. Kildow. 



Sheffield, HI., Jan. 1, 1888. 



FROM 3 TO 9, AND 4.50 LBS. OF HONEY. 



I had 2 stands of bees to start with this spring, 

 after shipping them 200 miles— 75 by rail, 125 by 

 wagon. I increased to 9, got 4,50 lbs. of comb hon- 

 ey; left over 30 lbs. in each hive. C. C. Bartlett. 



Vernal, Utah, Jan. 23, 1888. 



FROM 13 TO 17, AND 600 LBS. OF HONEY. 



T Started with 13 colonies of bees in the spring of 

 1887. I increased to 17, and got 200 pounds of honey 

 in the comb, and 35 gallons of extracted. I think 

 that is doing pretty well for such a dry season as 

 this was. Sam Hebb. 



Breeds, Ills., Dec. 29, 1887. 



FROM 10 TO 23, AND 300 LBS. OF COMB HONEY. 



I went into winter, 1886, with 14 swarms, packed 

 in chaff hives on summer stands. I came through 

 the winter w;th 10 swarms. I increased to 23, and 

 took 300 lbs. of comb honey. My bees are in good 

 condition for the coming winter. 



Lawrence Goodrich. 



Smyrna, N. Y., Dec. 21, 1887. 



18 LBS. SURPLUS per COLONY. 



The 2 ounces of Japanese buckwheat I got from 

 you last spring did well, considering the great 

 drought. I got 6 quarts. It will do well in our dry 

 hot climate. Our honey crop was light— 18 pounds 

 of surplus to the hive, spring count; last year it 

 was .50, and plenty to winter on. Joel Hiser. 



Edgar, Neb., Dec. 23, 1887. 



FROM .50 to 80, AND 2000 LBS. OF HONEY. 



The season has been a fair one. Clover and bass- 

 wood yielded fairly well. I increased from .50 col- 

 onies to 80, and took 2000 Ib.s. in 1 and 2 pound sec- 

 tions, and 600 lbs. e.xtracted. I fed 1000 lbs. white 

 sugar, to make sutHcient stores to winter the 80 col- 

 onies. I placed bees in the cellar Nov. 10. 



N. A. Blake. 



Smith Mills, P. Q., Canada, Dec. 19, 1887. 



FROM 10 TO 19, AND 450 LBS. OF COMB HONEY. 



My spring count was 10 colonies, and I increased 

 them to 19 by natural t<warming, and got 450 lbs. of 

 comb honey. I got no honey from my spring 

 swarms, and but very little from one or two of my 

 old ones, they being very weak in the spring. My 

 best one gave me 85 lbs. The season was consider- 

 ed the poorest for many years, and some were so 

 unl'ortunute as to get little or no surplus. When 

 the honey-flow stopped it stopped "short off," so to 

 speak, and left a good many sections in bad shape. 

 Now, what's to be done with them? G. W. Davis. 



Pine Creek, Mich., Jan. 8, 1888. 



A GOOD FLY FROM CHAFF HIVES. 



On Jan. 15th, the thermometer ran down to 26 

 below zero; Jan. 16, 9 below— the coldest it has been 

 for years. My bees didn't seem to mind it, for on 

 Jan. 29, 30, and 31, the bees had one of the finest 

 three-days' fly I ever saw for this time of year. The 

 mercury stood 92 in sun, .50 in shade. It was one of 

 the finest sights to see the yellow Italians gush 

 forth from every hive. I want you to count me one 

 in favor of chaff hives. 1 believe there will not 

 be one swarm in ten alive in this part of the county, 

 mostly for want of stores to keep them through. 

 They are mostly blacks, and I think that is the rea- 

 son they didn't do any better. The Italians seem 

 to be far ahead this year out here. The queen I 

 received of you is still alive, and as pretty as ever. 

 She was one of the finest " birds " that ever came 

 to this country. John Blodget. 



Empire, Mo., Feb. .5, 1888. 



^EPe]^¥g Digceai^^eiNe. 



ONLY 15 LBS. OF HONEY FROM 53 COLONIES. 



T COMMENCED the season with 53 colonies in 

 ,£|p good condition, and increased to 73 by natural 

 ^t swarming. There was as fine a prospect for 

 "*■ honey as one could ask for; but the dry season 

 came on, and I was able to harvest the enor- 

 mous amount of 15 lbs., all box honey. This is al- 

 most as well as the rest of my neighbors have done. 

 Honey is retailing at 25 cts., there being some that 

 was held for higher prices from last year's crop. 

 The condition of many colonies is vei-y bad, so we 

 look for many to die before warm weather. We 

 have had two bad seasons, so next we look for one 

 that will put all in fine spirits again. 

 Villisca, la., Jan. 4, 1888. B. F. Cowgill. 



Bees have done very little here this last season. 

 Some neighboring stands that received no attention 

 have died, and others, I think, will live through. I 

 wintered five colonies, and increased to ten and 

 five nuclei. W. A. Mitchell. 



Youngstown, O., Jan. 3, 1888. 



55 LBS. OF HONEY FOR 1887, AGAINST 235 FOR 1886. 



I have been in the bee-business for five years. I 

 have 40 colonies, most of them Italians. This has 

 been a very poor honey season in my locality. I 

 got but 50 pounds of comb honey from my best 

 Italian colony this year, while last year I got 235 

 pounds of extracted honey from the best Italian 

 colony. John Shanks. 



Plymouth, Hancock Co., 111. 



THE BEES DIDN'T PAY — A DEBIT AGAINST THEM 



OF $79.23. 



I see by last Gleanings that my time has expired, 

 and 1 shall be obliged to have it stopped. This de- 

 cision is not what I wish it was; but my time spent 

 on and with bees has not been very lucrative in 

 dollars and cents; but 1 should not like to part with 

 the knowledge acquired In the time I have kept 

 bees (three years). There are no other bee-keepers 

 who take any bee-journal around here, and most 

 who keep bees here do not make enough off them 

 to afford to take a bee-journal. Mine have a debtor 

 balance against them of $79.32. H. W. Scott. 



Williamstown, Vt., Dec. 38. 



