1888 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



557 



to the old colony the next day after drumming- the 

 bees out, a gain would be made sufficient to more 

 than pay for all trouble. G. M. Doolittle. 



I Borodino. N. Y., July 4, 1888. 



Thanks, friend D. I have observed nearly 

 all you mention. The matter of confusing 

 bees taking their playspell with robbers is 

 one of the most perplexing things for a be- 

 ginner; and, in fact, it has more than once 

 deceived even the veterans. As robbers are, 

 however, generally mature bees, and often- 

 times rusty veterans, the appearance is, as 

 you say, a pretty sure indication. Kobber- 

 bees coming out of a hive also generally 

 crawl up in front of the hive, in order to get 

 a higher point to take wing, while playing 

 bees seldom do this— at least, not in the 

 same way that a heavily laden bee takes 

 wing. Bees laden with water often behave 

 very much like bees laden with honey. A 

 practiced eye will, however, usually deter- 

 mine pretty quickly by the extra weight of a 

 load of honey compared with a load of water. 

 Bees working on clover do not get to work 

 until the dew is off, or at least partly off. 

 When basswood opens, however, they com- 

 mence dropping around the hives just as 

 soon as it is daylight ; and from this alone I 

 usually determine when basswood has open- 

 ed.— In regard to your concluding question, 

 I should say that the principal objection to 

 drumming out, or, in fact, any kind of arti- 

 ficial swarming, is, in my opinion, the fact 

 that, if we are working for honey. we are usu- 

 ally better off without any swarming. In 

 other words, do your best to get along with- 

 out any increase. If they persist, however, 

 in swarming, just do your best to get as 

 much honey as you can from your old stock, 

 and from the swarm also. Artificial swarm- 

 ing of any kind upsets such a proceeding, 

 and a great many times the bees know bet- 

 ter than their owner when it is best to have 

 a division. If one is working for increase, 

 or proposes to sell bees and queens, this al- 

 ters the case quite materially. 



T. B. TERRY'S STRATVBERRY PROJECT. 



AN ENCOURAGING KEPORT IN MORE WAYS THAN 

 ONE. 



fRlEND ROOT:— You may remember that I 

 wrote you about our young- folks setting out 

 about a quarter of an acre with strawberry- 

 plants a little over a year ago. How time 

 flies! It seems but a few days ago, and now 

 the berries are all picked and the profits figured up. 

 You must remember we were all entirely green at 

 the business, and so do not expect any wonderful 

 report. Also remember my object in going into 

 the business; namely, to give the children (pretty 

 large, though, to call children now) something to 

 do, and a chance to make a little money themselves. 

 Well, I have just looked over their book (all kept 

 in nice order), and find they sold, for cash, berries 

 to the amount of f 83.57. But that does not tell the 

 whole story by any means; we had berries on the 

 table at every meal, as free as water, for ^2 days. 

 The average quantity eaten in this way was not 

 less than 12 qts. a day, or S}i bushels in all. Then we 

 have nearly 5 bushels put up in cans. This 13 bush- 

 els, at the price we sold the others for at wholesale, 



and which was less than we could have bought as 

 fine berries for, would have come to $.50. In the 

 total, then, that little patch of ground brought in 

 $133.57. We had our 13 liushels of berries (and more 

 were eaten in the patch and given away) for the 

 use of the land and work we did, wife and I, and it 

 was tremendous pay, while the young folks have 

 $S3..57 cash to divide among themselves. This was 

 certainly a profit of— well, far above 100 per cent. 



The berries are all sold at wholesale, except a few 

 to neighbors, on their merits, in our little town of 

 Hudson. The father took the berries up lor the 

 children, and engineered the selling a Utile. Not a 

 move was made until the berries were ready, then 

 some were taken in tinlf-bushel drawers to our old 

 merchant. It. P. Williiims, wiili uiiom we h;.ve 

 dealt for 2i; years They were every aiie Uiw. and 

 large, and just peifeetly ripe and ready to eal. He 

 asked what I wanted lor them. 1 told him such 

 berries should bring 1.') cents at i-etail. 

 "Why," he says, "we are selling- at 12'4 now." 

 "Never mind," 1 replied, "1 think they will bring 

 15 cents." 

 " If they do," he said, " I will give you 12^2." 

 Mr. Blackman, his head clerk, who stood by (he is 

 one of your bee-men), said: "Those berries will 

 bring 15 cts. without any trouble." 



Well, they did. A clerk afterward told me that 

 the first drawer sold in 20 minutes after it was 

 brought out. There was no more trouble. They 

 bi-ought .$4.00 a bushel just as fast as we could carry 

 them up. But no little or poor berries were put in. 

 All were large and fine, and taken up twice a day, 

 usually, so the consumer could get them in perfect 

 order. 1 think I never got so much praise in my 

 life, in the same time, as while those berries were 

 being eaten by the good people of Hudson. Mr. 

 Williams, who has no soft soap about him, said to 

 me when we got through: ''I never managed my 

 berry business so satisfactorily before. There has 

 been no loss, and everybody was satisfied, aud I 

 have got you a good price." 



Now, do not think I am writing this to praise up 

 our ability— far from it. We have had glory enough 

 already; butGLEANiNGSgoes to hundreds of towns 

 where just this same thing could be done; and I 

 hope the story of our little success may stir up 

 hundreds of others to do better, some to whom 

 this much money would be almost a fortune. Then, 

 again, I like to show what I have always preached 

 so strongly, namely, that there is plenty of room at 

 the top in any line. 



These berries were not raised on any fancy plan. 

 We prepared a field for potatoes, then set straw- 

 berry-plants on one-fourth of an acre of the best of 

 the ground. They were choice varieties, largely 

 the Downing. The rows were made 4 feet apart, 

 and plants put 2 feet apart in the roAvs. We took a 

 little pains to start the runners out in all direc- 

 tions, about the first of August, keeping them cut 

 off until then, and after that they grew as they 

 pleased. But they were most thoroughly cultivat- 

 ed and hoed, frequently, through the season. They 

 were mulched with straw about the middle of No- 

 vember, and half of it was raked ofl" and trodden 

 down between the rows after growth began in the 

 spring. Three nights in June the loaves froze 

 stiff, and an old grower examined them and said 

 one-half the berries were killed. Then the rust in- 

 jured them some; but in spite of all, and of our in- 

 experience, there was a glorious success, not the 



