878 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Nov. 15. 



many bee-keepers will have "bulged comb." 

 We have before explained that we have wired 

 horizontally, nsing foundation 13 feet to the 

 pound. As the wires were not drawn tight, 

 there was no bulging; but it is impracticable 

 to roll out on the mill foundation so thin as 

 this, in large sheets. We find from 8 to 9 feet is 

 about as thin as we can work it on the average. 

 Foundation from four to five feet to the pound 

 — that is, " heavy brood"— costs nearly twice as 

 much as that 9 feet to the pound. In these 

 days of poor and uncertain honey seasons, close 

 competition with California honey and other 

 sweets, the bee-keeper needs every cent he can 

 save, and why not in foundation '? For unwired 

 frames it is advisable to use heavy foundation; 

 but it is apparent that this is rather poor econ- 

 omy when the wiring costs so little.] 



A GOOD KEPORT FROM VERMONT. 



SUCCESSFUL wintering; bee-escapes, etc. 



My experience in honey-producing is rather 

 limited, as, previous to this season, it consisted 

 principally of looking on while my brother 

 handled the bees. Hut last spring he was sud- 

 denly called to Michigan, so he left his apiai'ies 

 in my charge, with many a piece of good advice 

 and warning injunction. As the bees last fall 

 were well supplied with good honey, and were 

 well protected in the chaff hive, they wintered 

 finely, and at the opening of the season there 

 were 84 colonies in two yards — 63 in the home 

 yard, run for comb honey, and 31 in an out-api- 

 ary run for extracting. All the spring manipu- 

 lation necessary was to remove the burlap and 

 put on a board, at the same time seeing that 

 they had a queen and plenty of stores. 



The little feeding that was necessary was 

 done by combs of honey saved from last year 

 for that purpose. This has always been ray 

 brother's method of feeding. 



We use a hive similar to the Bristol, contain- 

 ing 10 Langstroth frames: and by the first of 

 June they were packed with bees. They got a 

 pretty good start on fruit-bloom and I'aspber- 

 ries; and as soon as while clover opened, the 

 sections were put on in the home yard, and tier- 

 ing up was practiced, putting the empty super 

 beneath. In the out-apiary, where extracted 

 honey was produced, large top stories were used 

 with a queen-excluder beneath. Not a pound 

 of honey was extracted from the brood-cham- 

 ber. By the first of August I found time to 

 look around and count up; and I found by do- 

 ing so that the home yard had increased from 

 63 to 100. and I had about 5.5(MJ lbs. of line comb 

 honey— an average of 87 lbs. per colony, and an 

 increase of over half the original number. In 

 the out-apiary I had increased from 31 to 31, 

 and taken 3.500 lbs. of extracted honey, or an 

 average of 119 lbs. per colony, and an increase 

 of one-half the original number. There were 

 two imported Carniolan queens in the yard, and 

 their bees swarmed early and often, but did 

 good work. 



My brother used 15 of the horizontal cone 

 bee-escapes last year, and this year I made 15 

 more, and used them and the Porter exclusive- 

 ly in taking off both comb and extracted honey. 

 I prefer the Porter; but the cone escapes as I 

 make them do vei'y good work, and cost only 

 about 3 cents each for the wire cloth. 



I had a hive on scales during the honey-flow. 

 June 13 a new swarm from the catcher was 

 hived on full sheets of foundation, such as we 

 always use, with sections and foundation for 

 comb honey on top. July 35th they had gained 

 110 lbs. The season began on white clover 



about June 1. and lasted until July 13, or until 

 basswood was in bloom. The best daily yield 

 from white clover was June 35lh, and was 7 lbs. 

 The best daily yield from basswood was July 

 33d. 6>^ lbs. The best yield for five consecutive 

 days was 5 lbs. per day from the 10th to the 1.5th 

 of June. The poorest yield for 5 consecutive 

 days was from July 1st to the 5th, when they 

 neither gained nor lost, which was caused by 

 I'ainy weather. The average daily yield from 

 June 13th to July 35th was a trifle over 2^4 lbs. 

 per day. Counting the daily gains, we have 

 140 lbs.; and by subtracting 110 lbs., the differ- 

 ence in weight June 12th and July 35th. from 

 the sum of the daily gains, we have 30 lbs. as 

 the total evaporation, or nearly li of a pound 

 per day. Of course, the item of brood comes in 

 here, tint I have not estimated its value. 



Mr. Root, I am glad to see you recommend- 

 ing wide thick top-bars. Ours are Ix^; and 

 when the space above is correct, and the frames 

 don't sag, there are few brace-combs and few- 

 er burr-combs. For this locality my brother 

 always did (and I think I prefer) a ten-frame 

 hive, for we never fed but very little, while 

 others with smaller hives were feeding all about 

 us, and not producing larger averages. We use 

 for winter packing a crate with cloth bottom. 

 These are stored away in sumnuM' with the 

 chaff in them, and are always di'y and clean. 



Should I undertake, to tell all I have leained 

 this year about bees you would have to get out 

 an extra copy of Gleanings: but this I will 

 add, that he who begins bee-keeping thinking 

 (as some do) that th(\ bees work for nothing 

 and lioard themselves, and that it is all profit 

 and no exjjense, all play and no work, will, in a 

 very short time, find that he must work with 

 both mind and muscle; and he who becomes 

 discouraged at the drawbacks does not deserve 

 the reward. W. G. Larrabee. 



Larrabee"s Point, Vt., Oct. 33. 



THE UPS AND DOWNS OF AN A B C SCHOLAR. 



APIARY OF SYLVESTER UILLAKI). 



Mi\ Root: — I send you a view of my apiary : 

 and if it is worthy of space in Gleanings I 

 should like to see it. Farming was my occupa- 

 tion until 1SS7. After a long-continued sickness 

 I decided to st;irt a small apiary. In the spring 

 of 1888 I pui'chased 35 colonies of bees of Mr. A. 

 Wilkins.'piiying •?1.50 for them. I also purchas- 

 ed about Woo worth of supplies of A. I. Root, 

 and thought I would start a small supply-trade. 

 The season of 1888 being a short one. I got 800 

 lbs. of box honey in three weeks. This was 

 sold at 14 ct-;. a lb., and I became very enthusi- 

 astic in the line of bee culture, reading all the 

 bee-literature I could get hold of. I decided to 

 increase my stock to .50 colonies by ai'tificial 

 swarming. This was soon done. The winter- 

 ing problem was my next stumbling-block. I 

 finally decided to put up a building for the pur- 

 pose." This was done, and the bees were set in 

 for winter. They were put away about the 10th 

 of November, and remained until some time in 

 January, when they were set out for a fly, and 

 then put back for the rest of the winter. Along 

 about the last of March I found that the bees 

 were dying by being confined too long. As soon 

 as the weather was favorable they were set out 

 on their summer stands. The result was a back- 

 ward spring, and the bees died off till but a few 

 were left. Being fully determined to have more 

 bees I purchased 35 three-frame nuclei of Dan 

 White, of New London. O. The season of 1889 

 being a favoi'able one, the result was. after sell- 

 ing quite a number of colonies I increased my 

 stock to 43. These I wintered on their summer 



