1888 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



311 



NOT A SINGLE POUND. 



fl^ HE year 1887, with us, was a hard otie on bees 

 ^ and on bee-men. I began the season with 43 

 / colonies (in Simplicity hives), all in splendid 

 condition. I did not get a single pound of 

 honey nor a swarm during the entire year, 

 but lost, by starving and doubling l)ack to :i5 colo- 

 nies at the beginning of winter. We fed out about 

 $30.00 worth of sugar during the year. We now 

 have 'M weak stocks on hand. We are not the least 

 discouraged, but intend to " pick our dint and try 

 it again." All our misfortunes in the business last 

 year were attributable to the extremely dry sea- 

 son. Four-fifths of the bees in this county were 

 lost during 188T. Dk. B. W. Ford. 



Middletown, Mo., Mar. 6, 1888. 



BEES WINTEKING POORLY. 



Bees are wintering very poorly in this locality. 

 Many have lost all, while others have lost from 60 

 to 75 per cent. Late feeding seems to be the cause, 

 as those few who fed early are having their bees 

 winter well. B. F. Hoover. 



Penrose, III., Mar. 36, 1888. 



THE LATE BLIZZARD IN THE EAST. 



The blizzard of the 13th, 13th, and 14th inst. has 

 very unfavorably affected the prospects of bee- 

 keepers of all the Middle Atlantic States. The 

 cold itself would not have been so disastrous; but 

 accompanied by a very high wind, the interior of 

 the hives has been so chilled that not a single bit of 

 brood has survived; and young bees, which are so 

 important at this season, can not be expected be- 

 fore the middle of April. This means the loss of 

 many colonies by spring dwindling; i. e., the dying 

 of old bees. The best of chaff hives have not been 

 sufficient, for in them, too, all brood is lost. Had 

 this storm not occurred, young bees would now be 

 hatching dally. S. W. Morrison, M. D. 



Oxford, Pa., Mar. 30, 1888. 



THE WAY OF A BEE-KEEPER IS HARD. 



1 have finished looking through the bees. I found 

 those alive in good condition except 3. But 18 are 

 dead out of 45, the highest loss I ever had. Last 

 fall I had 45 colonies in as good shape for winter as 

 I could wish, except feed; but the result makes me 

 blue. Truly the way of a bee-keeper is hard. Here 

 are the minutes of my book: 



No fall honey; plenty of heart's-ease. 



Bought 650 lbs. granulated sugar, Oct. 6th; brood 

 was so heavy I could not feed before. Oct. 14. 

 Too cool to feed well; syrup was 3 lbs. water to 10 

 of sugar; 1 teaspoonful of tartaric acid. Boiled. 



Oct. '22. Finished feeding. 



Nov. 6. Bees could fly for a week past. 



Dec. 18. Warm till now. 



Jan. 30. 90° ; bees got a good fly 3 days. 



Feb. 33. Bees out several days. 



The coldest weather was 36° below. 



Some very sudden change.s— 60° in 3 hours. 



I use chaff-packed hives. Snow was a detriment 

 to those on the ground. 



I should like to ask why the loss was so severe. 



J. C. Stewart. 



Hopkins. Nodaway Co., Mo., March 17, 1888. 



Friend S., we do not quite see how heavy 

 brood-rearing could prevent you from feed- 



ing earlier. Do you mean that the combs 

 were so filled with brood there was no room 

 for the feed to be stored V 



m-mncm Gmum- 



CONDITIONS UNDER WHICH WE GIVE SMOKERS TO PERSONS WHO 

 STOP USING TOBACCO. 



First, the caiidklate must be one of those who have siveii uj) 

 tobacco in consequence of what he has seen and read in this 

 department. Second, he promises to pay for the smoker 

 should he ever resunu- the use of luliacco in any fcirm, after 

 receiving tlie snicikcr. Tliird. he must be a suhsc-riber to 

 Gleanings. Any suliscriber may, liowever, liavc smolders sent 

 to neighbors or ])ersonal acquaintances whom he lias labored 

 with on the matter of tobacco-using, providing he give us his 

 pledge that, if the one who receives the smoker ever uses to- 

 bacco again, he (the subscriber) will pay forthe smoker. The 

 one who receives the snnikcr in this case need not be a sub- 

 scriber to (.tLEAnin(;s, though wc greatly prefer that he be one, 

 because we think he wmild be strengihencd by reading tile 

 testimonials from time to time in regard to this' matter. Tlie 

 full name and address of every one who makes the promise 

 must be furnished for publication. 



GIVING SMOKERS TO THOSE WHO ARE NOT SUB- 

 SCRIBERS. 



K. A. I. ROOT:— I did not receive the smok- 

 er, nor did 1 much expect it. I can see 

 through it plainly, how you can afford to 

 give smokers free to those who quit the 

 use of tobacco. You charge about twice 

 too much for the journal, and the other .50 cts. will 

 pay for the smoker, which the other poor subscrib- 

 ers will have to help pay for. F. A. Krame. 

 Sand Creek, Wis., April 6, 1888. 



Friend K., just as soon as we decided we 

 could afford to give smokers only to those 

 who stopped using tobacco in consequence 

 of what has appeared in Gleanings in re- 

 gard to the matter, I saw the point you 

 make ; viz., that a good many might claim 

 there was no disinterested desire to have 

 people give up tobacco at all, but that it was 

 only speculation in the way of offering a 

 smoker as a premium to every one who 

 would subscribe for Gleanings". You are 

 mistaken in saying, however, we charge 

 about twice too much for Gleanings. With 

 the money we invest in it, it could not be 

 furnished at 50 cts.; that is, we could not 

 furnish it. Now, suppose we give a smoker 

 to every one who gives up tobacco, whether 

 he is a subscriber or not. If he is not a 

 subscriber to Gleanings, how will his 

 friends know about the pledge he has made 

 to abstain from tobacco? In fact, how will 

 he know it himself, if his promise is printed 

 in a journal he does not subscribe forV The 

 result would be, that anybody who gave up 

 tobacco ten years ago might demand a 

 smoker, and who could hold them to their 

 promise, if the promise was printed in 

 black and white in some pul)lication they or 

 their friends did not take? There is a way, 

 however, that you can get the smoker with- 

 out being obliged to subscribe for Glean- 

 ings. Get some bee-man near you who is a 

 subscriber, who is acquainted with you, to 

 say he will guarantee the pay for the smok- 

 er in case you ever use tobacco again, and 

 we will send it right along, and you need 

 not subscribe for Gleanings, nor read it 

 either, unless you choose. You surely 

 would not ask us to send out smokers by the 

 wholesale to everybody, and everywhere, 

 thousands of miles away, without some sort 

 of guarantee or recommendation from some 



