388 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



May 15. 



ally, and may not -be the Jie plus ultra in 

 surplus arrangements — at least for the mass 

 who earn at least a part of their bread and 

 butter from the honey they raise. 



In our shop we do a good deal of filling of 

 T supers and Ideal supers; so that I believe I 

 can speak with some degree of experience on 

 this one point. Our girls will fill an Ideal 

 in less time than they will a T super. 



Your last paragraph, doctor, is a sort of 

 poser. I did not suppose there would be any 

 question at all as to the desirability of having 

 the honey filled out solid to the section box 

 all round, providing it could be doneas easily 

 as not. That even so progressive and strong 

 a man as Doolittle should think otherwise, 

 only convinces me that our best men can not 

 all see alike. But, after all, the question sim- 

 mers itself down to this : Will the markets 

 pay more or less for honey having only partial 

 attachments, and rounded off to the wood ? 

 My talk with commission men has led me to 

 believe that they would pay two cents more 

 for the plump filled-out sections, and that the 

 other kind would have to take a second place. 

 —Ed.] 



NOTES OF TRAVEL AMONG BEE-KEEPERS 

 YORK STATE. 



OF 



At Frank Boomhower's, Galhipville, N. Y.; the 



Immense Buckwheat Acreage of Schoharie Co.; 



Yield of Buckwheat Honey per Colony. 



BY ERNEST R. ROOT. 



You will remember that I was last at Frank 

 Boomhower's, watching him cutting glass for 

 glassing sections. And that reminds me that 

 I received a note from Mr. B., stating that I 

 got the facts as to the method of cutting the 

 glass all right except the diamond; that he 

 never owned such a tool in all his life. More- 

 over that the tool I saw him using was one of 

 those cheap things that cost only six cents, 

 and which, in his estimation, was far ahead of 

 any diamond ever made, for cutting glass. 



Well, after I had spent a little time in the 

 shop we went out to the apiary, at the rear of 

 the house. Unlike most yards it was located 

 on high ground, or, rather, terraces, one above 

 another. Back of the house there was origin- 

 ally a very abrupt and steep hill; and as Mr. 

 B. required more room for his bees he finally 

 terraced it off, using loose stones for the walls, 

 which are very plentiful in this part of York 

 State. 



Just at the base of the hill is a large pond 

 supplying water for a millrace lower down. 

 I obtained a photo (my "shots" were poor) 

 that gives a fair view of the place, including 

 the pond, or lakelet. The half-tone is not as 

 distinct as I wish it might be, through a mis- 

 understanding on the part of the engraver, 

 who used his coarsest "screen," thinking 

 that, perhaps, I desired to use the picture in 

 an ordinary newspaper, using cheap ink and 

 poor paper. But if you hold the view off at 

 arm's length you will get a fair effect. 



The main flight of the bees must be right 

 across the pond. Remembering that we had 



had some reports to the effect that there were 

 heavy losses as a result of having an apiary 

 close to a body of water, I asked Mr. B. if he 

 had ever noticed the bees dropping down and 

 dying in the water. "That talk," said he, 

 " is all bo.sh. Beyond the fact that my bees 

 go down to drink the}' never go near, much 

 less drop into, the water, although they fly 

 over it hundreds of times every day." 



At the time I visited the yard the buck- 

 wheat season was just on the wane ; but the 

 supers were piled up one on top of the other, 

 showing that a good flow from buckwheat 

 had been secured. Indeed, this dark rich 

 honey is the main dependence of Schoharie 

 County, as it is also the most reliable. 



NOVICE BOOMHOWER, ONE OF YORK STATE'S 

 I,IGHTNING OPERATORS. 



The next day we took a drive out among 

 the hills ; and from an elevated position at 

 almost any point could be seen thousands of 

 acres of buckwheat. Most of the fields had 

 been cut, and immense brown patches could 

 be seen in the distance, five and even ten miles 

 away on those big hills, in almost any direc- 

 tion one might look. From one hilltop alone, 

 and within a range of three miles, I could see 

 5000 acres of buckwheat — -at least, friend 

 Boomhower said there was about that many. 

 Indeed, I about came to the conclusion that 

 farmers thereabout raised nothing but buck- 

 wheat — buckwheat here and there and every- 

 where. The soil and climate seem to be 

 especially adapted to its growing ; and as it is 

 always a paying crop the farmers not only 

 grow it, but keep bees. I had some curiosity 

 to know the amount of grain annually raised, 

 and wrote to friend B. some little time ago 

 about it, and this is his reply : 



