1891 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



777 



to more than pay for all the extra work of ma- 

 nipulating frames which is required, so that the 

 investing of capital in more hives in which to 

 put more colonies, so that " hives can be han- 

 dled instead of frames," is woi-se than thrown 

 away. Each of the extra colonies put into the 

 field in order to secure the honey secretion from 

 a given area with less work, or manipulation 

 of frames, costs at least 60 lbs. of honey each 

 year to support. So the question which we 

 must answer will be. Which is the cheaper — a 

 little extra manipulation of frames, or the cxti'a 

 colonies, hives, etc., and the honey that they 

 consume? Suppose that 100 colonies produce 

 an average of .50 lbs. each, and by so doing se- 

 cure all the nectar in a given field, year by year. 

 This will make ,")000 lbs. of .surplus as our share 

 of the field, while each of the 100 colonies will 

 use (50 lbs., or 6000 lbs. as a whole, as their share 

 to carry them through the year. Some contend 

 that it takes at least KX) lbs. to the colony to 

 carry them from May first to May first again, as 

 far more honey is used during the summer than 

 the winter months: but as I have no means, 

 except my own observation, of saying just how 

 much is consumed. I am willing to err on the 

 side that will be of the most advantage to my 

 opponents. It will be seen, by taking even the 

 low estimation given above, that we fail to get 

 half of the honey from our field by employing 

 an extra number of colonies. On the other 

 hand, if we employ the "manipulation" (or 

 economy) plan which our English friends do of 

 securing the same amount of produce from an 

 acre of land (just the plan A. I. Root has been 

 telling us about in his gardening papers during 

 the past) that we Americans do from three or 

 four, we shall find our statement thus: 11.000 

 lbs. is the product of our field: .50 colonies are 

 all that are needed, with good management, to 

 secure the whole amount. Then 50 colonies 

 must use 30(X) lbs. of this for their support, 

 leaving S(KX) lbs. for the manager. It will be 

 seen that the apiarist gets 3000 lbs. of honey for 

 his manipulation, and uses but little if any 

 more time on the .50 than he would on the 100 

 worked on the other plan of " handling hives 

 more and frames less:" hence from the stand- 

 point of overstocking a field, the former plan is 

 3(X)0 lbs. ahead of the one which is now being 

 agitated through the columns of our bee- 

 papers: and as 1 said in my former article, this 

 matter of supporting a greater number of colo- 

 nies in our Held is a matter which is against 

 the '• handling of hives instead of frames" for 

 " all time." I firmly believe that it is no fancy 

 of mine in thinking that it is just as easy to 

 care for half the number of colonies in the way 

 we have been formerly doing as to care for 

 double the number on the plan now being push- 

 ed; and this same half will give the apiarist as 

 good results in dollars and cents as will the 

 whole in the " new " way, and save the extra 

 honey consumed by the exti'a half of the num- 

 ber of bees as clear gain to the bee-keeper. 

 Friend A. I. Root should be able to tell us by 

 this time whether he has been right in recom- 

 mending the high-pressure plan of gardening. 

 Without waiting for him to answer, I will I'eply 

 foi' him by saying, "He knows he is riy/it." 

 If his plan of getting the greatest possible yield 

 from an acre of ground is right. I am equally 

 confident that the same plan is the right one 

 when applied to bees. A larger yield from each 

 colony, and a fewer number of colonies, is more 

 preferable, to my way of thinking, than more 

 colonies with a less yield per colony; and this 

 lattei' must always be the case where we " han- 

 dle hives more and frames less." 



Now, readers of Gleanings, the thing is be- 

 fore you. If I am wrong, show wherein I am 

 so, and I will make my best bow, and say 



" thank you." In conclusion I will say that no 

 hive compels the handling of frames, for the 

 frames need not be handled at all if the apiarist 

 does not wish to. It is in the handling of the 

 frames, if handled judiciously, that the profit 

 comes. Where there is no profit, don't handle; 

 and it is for each individual to know whether 

 profitable to him or not. G. M. Loolitti.e. 

 Borodino, N. Y.. Sept. 21. 



[I am sure, friend Doolittle. that I do not dis- 

 agi-ee with you unless it be on one point ; 

 your argument, as stated above, is directed a 

 great deal more against the overstockinij of any 

 one locality than against the handling of hives 

 more and frames less. It is a big piece of folly 

 to have too many colonies for the locality. If 

 50 stocks will gather all the nectar thei-e is in 

 the place, it is a great waste to keep and main- 

 tain in strength 50 colonies more that would not 

 increase the product of the apiary. Now, your 

 argument, friend D., applies just as much to 

 out- apiaries. Instead of overstocking, the 

 thing to do is to take the surplus of colonies 

 and put them in a new location from three to 

 five miles distant: then when we get two or 

 three out-apiaries we certainly do need to han- 

 dle the fi'ames less, or to diagnose colonies a 

 great deal more in the line I pointed out edito- 

 rially in our issue for Sept. 15.] E. R. 



REMEMBER THE SABBATH DAY, ETC. 



OUR VKXEK.^liLK FRIEND CHARLES DADANT 



TELLS ITS SOMETHING OF THE CUSTOMS 



OF KEEPING THE SABBATH DAY 



IN FRANCE. 



Friend Root: — You are mistaken when you 

 say that people who do not act as you do on 

 Sunday are dishonest. Do you want us to be- 

 lieve that it is impossible to be a good Christian 

 without being intolerant? As far as my mem- 

 ory goes back in my boyhood, I see the old men 

 of my village sealed under the trees of the 

 large square, on Sunday afternoons, playing at 

 cards with one or two farthings at stake; while 

 the yoitnger played at nine-pins, and the girls 

 adorned themselves with garlands of flowers 

 gathered from the pi-airies. or danced on the 

 square. I see our old parson walking around 

 with a smile for every one. He used to say 

 mass at four o'clock on Sunday moinings, dur- 

 ing harvest time, not to interfere with the work 

 of the scythe. Do you conclude that these peo- 

 ple were dishonest," or robbed, or were bad? A 

 little later, when living in the city, I saw the 

 museum and the city library, of 35,(KX) volumes, 

 open especially on Sundays; for the poor were 

 more numerous than the wealthy, who could 

 visit them on work days! I received my first 

 lessons in physiology and chemistry from a pro- 

 fessor paid by the city to give, on Sundays, free 

 lessons in the city hall, for the benefit oif the 

 workingmen. 



From their beginning, every railroad in 

 France and in most European nations have had 

 Sunday trains at half price. The French In- 

 ternational Exposition was not only open on 

 Sundays, but the admittance was reduced to 

 half price, to help the poor. Yet the Eiffel 

 Tower was not thunderstruck. Then the suc- 

 cess of this exposition seems to show that God, 

 far from being angiy, smiled from above and 

 said: "To work is to pray: you poor work- 

 men have prayed enough during your six days 

 of toil; now enjoy the life that I gave you, and 

 be happy; for the God of to-day is no longer 

 the God' of Moses, who ordered "the Jews to 

 smite the other nations (Dent. 7:2, etc.). but the 

 God who asked, "Is it lawful on the sabbath, 



