138 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Feb. 15. 



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ANSWERS TO. ., , 



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QUESTION^ 



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GOOD MANAGEMENT OR MANY COLONIES — 

 WHICH? 



Question. — I commenced in the bee business 

 two years ago, starting with four colonies, and 

 I now have sixteen. I had intended to in- 

 crease up to about fifty colonies, and work 

 these carefully and as thoroughly as I was ca- 

 pable of doing, thinking that fifty well work- 

 ed would be better than more not so well cared 

 for ; but in talking with a man a few days ago 

 he advised me to increase to 100 or 150, he 

 claiming that such a number would secure for 

 me better results, with less labor, than would 

 the fifty worked as I proposed. He said the 

 extra labor I would expend on the bees, work- 

 ing as I proposed, would more than buy the 

 extra hives needed, while I would secure more 

 honey in the end by keeping the larger num- 

 ber of colonies. What do you think in that 

 matter ? I wish to do that which will secure 

 to me the best results for my labor. 



Answer. — There is an idea prevailing with 

 some bee-keepers that more money is to be 

 made in keeping bees by keeping a large num- 

 ber of colonies and letting them largely take 

 care of themselves than there is by keeping a 

 less number of colonies and properly caring 

 for them. Not long ago I received a letter 

 bearing on this subject, which will be right to 

 the point here, the same being from an apia- 

 rist of considerable experience, who said that 

 he was going to keep more bees than he had 

 formerly done, and do less work with them, 

 for he believed that double the number of col- 

 onies would give him fully as much honey as 

 he had been getting (if not more), even if he 

 did not manipulate them at all. He said that 

 he believed the system of management used 

 by many in securing large yields from individ- 

 ual colonies caused a greater amount of labor 

 and manipulation than there was any use of, 

 and henceforth he would adopt exactly the re- 

 verse of the plans he had formerly used, and 

 put more bees into his field, so that he might 

 secure the same amount of surplus as before, 

 with very little labor. All that would be re- 

 quired would be the investing of a little more 

 capital in the shape of hives, etc., and that the 

 ' ' good management ' ' plan would soon be 

 something known only in the past history of 

 bee-keeping. I have not tried to give his 

 words exactly, but I have given the substance 

 of the letter. As this came from a person in 

 whom I had much confidence, and as I was 

 using the management plan, and was and have 

 been recommending the same to be the right 

 way in which to secure the best results, it was 

 but becoming in me to consider the matter a 

 little; and if I was on the wrong track it 

 would be better to become right, and that 

 speedily, especially as my writings might in- 

 fluence others in the wrong direction. After 

 carefully considering the matter it did seem to 

 me that there was one very important item re- 



garding these extra colonies which the advo- 

 cates of it entirely overlooked, which is great 

 enough to more than pay for the manipula- 

 tion, so that the investing of capital in more 

 hives for the extra number to be kept is worse 

 than thrown away. The item I allude to is. 

 that each of the extra colonies put in the field 

 in order to secure the honey secretion from 

 a given area with but little or no manipulation 

 costs from 60 to 75 lbs. of honey each year to 

 support. Some apiarists who have studied 

 closely claim that no good colony can exist a 

 year without consuming fully 100 lbs. of hon- 

 ey ; but that it may not appear that there is a 

 desire on my part to overdraw the matter we 

 will place the amount needed to carry any 

 good colony through a 3-ear at 60 pounds. The 

 question then comes to us, " Which is cheap- 

 er — a little extra manipulation, or the extra 

 colonies, hives, etc., and the honey which 

 they consume ? " Suppose that 100 colonies 

 produce an average yield of 50 pounds each, 

 and by so doing secure all the nectar in a field 

 year by year. This would make 5000 pounds 

 of surplus as our share of the field, while each 

 of the 100 colonies will require 60 pounds, or 

 6000 pounds as a whole, as their share to carry 

 them through the year. Thus we fail to se- 

 cure to ourselves one-half of the honey from 

 our field by employing an extra number of 

 colonies. On the other hand, if we employ 

 the management (or economy) plan, which 

 our English friends do, that of making, by 

 thorough lertilization and careful tillage, one 

 acre of ground produce from 50 to 60 bushels 

 of wheat to where we Americans produce only 

 from 20 to 30 bushels, we shall find our state- 

 ment thus : Eleven thousand pounds is the 

 product of our field ; 50 colonies are all that 

 are needed, with good management, to secure 

 it. Then 50 colonies must use 3000 pounds of 

 this for their support, leaving 8000 pounds for 

 the manager. Tnus it will be seen that the 

 manager can appropriate to himself 3000 lbs. 

 of honey for his manipulation, and use little 

 if any more time than he would use on the 100 

 without manipulation ; hei ce from the stand- 

 point of overstocking a field the management 

 plan is 3000 pounds ahead of the plan of ktep- 

 ing an extra number of colonies. At the 

 present low prices of honey, this, at 10 c* nts 

 per pound, would amount to $300 as the price 

 of the extra manipulation, should it be proven 

 that such was required, besides the saving of 

 the capital, and interest on the same, which 

 would be invested in the extra hives. I am 

 firm in the opinion that there are many men 

 in this country who do not receive a greater 

 amount than that for a whole year's manipu- 

 lation (work) in the coalmines and other 

 places. And this same thing holds good, be 

 the number of colonies kept great or small. A 

 man can care for half the number of coloi ies 

 on the management plan as easily as he can 

 for double the number as proposed by my cor- 

 respondent, and suggested by the adviser of 

 the questioner, and this half will give the api- 

 arist as good results in dollars and cents as 

 will the whole when cared for in a slipshod 

 way, and save the extra honey consumed by 

 the extra half of the number of bees, as clear 



