1898 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



43 



keep throwing stones at the poor women? 

 You might find that some of them can throw 

 straight enough to hit you, if you do not look 

 a " leedle oud." — Ed.] 



DO BEES PAY? 



Some Interesting Figures; S5.00 Per Day for Time 

 Spent among Bees. 



BV DR. c. C. MIIvLER. 



I have made an honest effort, ]\Ir. Editor, to 

 comply with your request to make a guess at 

 the amount of work involved in getting this 

 year's crop of honey. It can only be a guess 

 at best ; but in looking up the meager memo- 

 randa I had to base even a guess upon, it oc- 

 curred to me you might be interested therein. 



Taking the year as you have suggested, from 

 the time of putting bees in winter quarters 

 last fall to this fall's cellaring, I find the bees 

 were carried into the cellar Nov. IG and 17, 

 1896, the weather being so warm that we could 

 carry only morning and evening. Four of us 

 carried ; but I'll reduce the work in each case, 

 for easy calculation, to the work of one hand, 

 and call it three days' work to cellar the bees; 

 260 colonies were cellared. 10 being packed on 

 summer stands, 8 of which lived through. 

 Circumstances were most favorable for getting 

 bees in winter quarters in best condition. 

 Nov. 1.3 the thermometer stood 13° above zero. 

 Nov. 15 it was 60°, and the bees had a fine fly. 

 Then the right thing was to hus'lethem in be- 

 fore they endured another cold spell to make 

 them fill themselves. 



The winter was mild, and no fire was in the 

 cellar till Jan. 27, when it was kept up for 4 

 days, the only fire of the winter. March 6, 

 dead bees swept out for the first ( ought to 

 have been sooner). Perhaps 1 >4 biishels dead 

 bees were swept out. March 21) it was again 

 swept, yielding perhaps a bushel of dead bees. 

 Aside from this the bees had little attention 

 through the winter, the doors being opened 

 when mild enough, and an occasional excur- 

 sion made into the cellar to see if it smelled 

 sweet. All together, two days' time would 

 probably cover the winter care. 



About the middle of March, T tins and su- 

 pers were cleaned, making perhaps six days' 

 work. March 20 we began the work of put- 

 ting foundation in sections, top and bottom 

 starters, and putting sections in supers. This 

 took perhaps 27 days' work, being finished 

 April 21. Two days' work got the bees out 

 April 7, after an imprisonment of 141 dajs. 

 Eight days' work may be charged for getting 

 the bees to the two out-apiaries, and doing 

 some little work there. In this I count the 

 work of the team as one man, and you will 

 notice I make no mention as to whether any 



outside help was called in or not, just lumping 

 all together, and then giving the sum total, 

 just as if the whole had been done by one man. 



After the shop work was done, April 21, 

 about ten days would cover the work in the 

 apiaries till May 1. 



Then the fun began. It was a mixed season 

 — sometimes discouraging, sometimes encour- 

 aging beyond precedent. Some memoranda 

 from my record-book may not be amiss. 



May 5. Bees working hard on dandelion 

 and hard maple. 



May 9. Apples in bloom. 



May 24. Saw a white-clover blossom. 



May 26. Have 2.39 colonies to begin season 

 (1 had decided to unite down to 240, but got 

 it one less than that). 



May 31 . Too cool for several days for bees 

 to do any thing. 



June 9. Been cold for days — some colonies 

 at point of starvation. Clover very abundant. 

 To-day warm, and fresh honey shakes out of 

 combs. 



June 14. Hot. Some supers nearly filled. 



June 16. Honey coming in such a flood 

 that some supers are about full, and two ad- 

 ditional supers were given to most colonies. 



June 17. Mercury 90° ; keeps us on the 

 jump to keep up with the work. 



June 18. Blocked up the hives V-inch to 

 an inch. (Might have betii done sooner.) 



June 22. Much cool weather. 



June 21. First sweet-clover bloom. 



June 2(). Took off first finished'super. 



July 2. Have 316 supers on the hives at 

 Wilson's. (That lacked only 12 supers of 

 averaging 4 supers to the colony. And 1 may 

 as well sav here, that, before the season was 

 over, I was pretty Vjadly scared. Having 48 

 to 120 sections on a hive, pretty well filled 

 with honey, and not a section sealed, and the 

 bees threatening to stop work, was enough to 

 send the cold chills down one's back. As 

 things finally turned out it was all right, 

 but it was running a big risk. ) 



July o. Lindens out. (So few they don't 

 count mvich. ) 



Jidy 8. Mercury 100°. Grand flow. 



July 12. Cool and rainy. 



July 13. Had terrible day at Hastings. 

 Cold, and bees furious. Have 113 finished 

 supers now in house. Philo empties supers 

 as fast as we take them home ; fills supers 

 with "go-backs " (unfinished sections), which 

 we return to hives. 



July 14. Robbers trouble. 



July 26. Been very dry at Hastings and 

 hoiTie, but bees still work at Wilson's. Fine 

 rain last night. 



July 29. Bees take fresh hold, and work 

 hard at Hastings. 



Aug. 3. Have 10,008 finished sections in 

 house. 



Aug. 9. Bees take fresh hold at home. 



Aug. 10. Took off 65 finished supers at 

 Wilson's. 



Aug. 11. Heavy work at Hastings. Have 

 13,200 finished sections in house. 



vSept. 4. Took off all supers. 



Sept. 20. Commenced scraping sections, 

 and packing, ready for shipment Oct. 5. 



