44 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Jan. 1.5. 



It's a very hard thing to make any kind of 

 estimate as to the amount of time put in from 

 May 1 to Oct. 5 We worked on the eight- 

 hour system — eight hours in the forenoon and 

 eight hours in the afternoon ; but I had a good 

 deal of writing to get in. Sometimes I'd be 

 up at 3 o'clock, and not get to work in the 

 apiary till 9 or 11 o'clock. Then there were 

 some breaks — a week at the Buffalo conven- 

 tion, and some time for Sunday school conven- 

 tions. (You're mistaken, Mr. Editor, in 

 thinking I spend some time tending posies, 

 and mowing " weeds and things." I had to 

 give all that up, but am blessed with a broth- 

 er-in-law who has taken the job off my hands, 

 and the only hard farm work I did through 

 the summer was to eat the big strawberries 

 after they were on the table. ) After some 

 thinking, estimating, and guessing, I've set- 

 tled upon 220 days' woik as possibly about 

 the right thing for that five months or more. 



For the rest of the time till the beer, were 

 home (Oct. 18) ready to be put in the cellar, 1.5 

 days may not be out of the way. 



Adding up the different items, it makes a 

 sum total of 29.3 days of ten hours each for 

 the year's work. Dividing it between two of 

 us, it makes 14()>2 days, or a little more than 

 24 weeks — not quite half the year. I confess 

 that's not as much time as I should have 

 guessed at a lump, but I 've tried to guess as 

 fairly as I could at the different items. You're 

 welcome tcj^add or subtract, as you like. 



Marengo, 111., Dec. 10. 



[There, now, doctor, I'm satisfied you've 

 given us just the information we wanted. 

 Let's see what the figures mean. In those 293 

 days for one person, 17,150 lbs. of comb hon- 

 ey was produced and marketed. This would 

 make a credit of 58 >^ lbs. of comb honey for 

 each day's work for one person. Putting this 

 honey at wholesale at 10 cts. would make each 

 day's wages amount to ^!5.85. From this I 

 take 80 cents as covering the cost of sections 

 foundation, shipping-cases, interest, etc., mak- 

 ing .*5.(»0. The rate per day would be the same 

 whether two people were employed 14ti>< days 

 or whether one person worked 293 days. Con- 

 sidering that one of the persons was 'your sis- 

 ter, and that you yourself the other one, are not 

 as strong as the average of men, the rate So. 00 

 per day for each of you is not bad. 



Perhaps, doctor, you don't care to have your 

 private income lugged before the public in 

 this fashion, especially when some other fel- 

 low makes the figures. But if those I have 

 made are not far from right, they go to show 

 what ca>/ be done in a good year by a good 

 bee-keeper 



Say, doctor, we shall read your articles more 

 closely than ever from now on, to see if we 

 can do as well, some of us. "While I believe 

 you sold your honey for more than 10 cts., I 

 suppose it is but fair and right that we say you 

 can't average such a yield from year to year, or 

 at least haven't done it, owing to poor seasons. 



But, say ; I can't help feeling that rais- 

 ing those hives up 34; inch off the bottom is 

 very important. Can you tell us how nmch 

 honey this saved for you, or how many swarms 

 it prevented? — Ed.] 



TWENTY-SEVEN YEARS' EXPERIENCE. 



Some Curious Notions of "Old-Timers" at Bees. 



BY A. E. MANUM. 



Not long since the question was asked by a 

 correspondent of Gleanings, "Is it safe for 

 a man with a family to depend upon bee-keep- 

 ing alone for the support of his family?" 

 Now, Mr. Editor, I feel like answering this 

 inquirer by giving your readers a synopsis of 

 my experience as an apiarist, which dates back 

 nearly 27 years, and at the conclusion of my 

 story the questioner may draw his own con- 

 clusions as to whether bee-keeping alone is a 

 safe occupation to rely upon. 



In March, 1871, a neighbor offered to loan 

 me Ouinby's "Mysteries of Bee-keeping." 

 I told him I was afraid of bees, and would not 

 have a colony on my premises. But he insist- 

 ed that I was just the man for the business, 

 inasmuch as I was greatly interested in fruits 

 and gardening, and really urged me to take 

 the book home and read it. To please him I 

 carried the book home, but did not intend to 

 read it. I was then engaged in the harness 

 business, employing four to five men the year 

 round, and was satisfied with each year's 

 "round-up." But one evening I took up the 

 book and looked over the pictures, and hap- 

 pened to cast my eyes upon large figures which 

 pointed out the great profits derived from one 

 colony of bees. Well, I thought I would read 

 about it, so I commenced at the beginning, 

 carefully reading page after page, and truly it 

 was past eleven o'clock when I retired that 

 night ; and, do you believe, Mr. Editor, the 

 very next day I bought two colonies of bees? 

 It came about in this way : 



A farmer came into my shop to buy a har- 

 ness, and wanted to pay a portion of the price 

 of the harness in barter, such as wood, pota- 

 toes, apples, etc. This man, I knew, had 

 bees, and this was my chance. I sold him a 

 harness and took two colonies of bees, at S5.00 

 each, for the barter part of the harness trade. 

 I could not wait for warm weather before mov- 

 ing home the bees, so I moved them at once. 

 Knowing they were in old box hives, and on 

 their summer stands, I wanted to get them 

 into my cellar, where I coidd visit them often, 

 and that I did nearly every evening, tapping 

 on the hives to hear them hum. 



I am amused now when my thoughts revert 

 to those days when I was so -a>ise. Oh ! I 

 knew all about bees. Yes, Mr. Editor, I had 

 the "Mysteries of Bee-keeping" at my 

 tongue's end ; and the way I lectured to those 

 old bee-keepers of " forty years' experience " 

 was not " slow," I assure you. 



How many of these old-time bee-keepers 

 would say to me, " Why, young man, I have 

 kept bees ior forty years, a.r\di I never saw a 

 queen, and now you tell me that the queen " 

 (some would say king-bee) " does not rule the 

 swarm, and that she lays all the eggs "! 



Another would say, " Young man, you can't 

 make me believe that wax is a natural product 

 of bees, and that it comes from their bodies, 

 for 1 have seen them carry it on their legs." 



