1899 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



301 



three cents each, and cognac and gin two and 

 three cents a glass. You don't know how 

 much I regret that I have no use for either. I 

 have half a notion to learn to use both so as to 

 take advantage of the only cheap thing in the 

 country. 



The last day of my trip I came across a man 

 who has two gums of the stingless bees ; but I 

 had no time to investigate them. I promised 

 him that, when I got time, I would go and 

 transfer them into a frame hive. He said if I 

 did he would give me one of the gums of bees, 

 so I shall get a chance to see what they will do. 



This is all for the present, from the Cuban- 

 American Tramp. 



[I have concluded not to go to Cuba just 

 yet If I must bathe myself in coal oil at 

 $1.00 per gallon to keep off fleas I'll stay at 

 home a while longer. Seriously, one should 

 think twice before going to this land devastat- 

 ed by the hand of war. Conditions will im- 

 prove, no doubt, in the near future. In the 

 mean time the average bee-keeper better keep 

 his good dollars and invest them at home. — 

 Ed] 



SHALL WE EXTRACT BY HEAT OR MACHINERY? 



A Hard Hit at Orthodoxy in Bee-keeping; a few 



Facts and Figures on the Question Whether it 



is More Profitable to Run for Wax and 



Honey than for Honey Alone. 



BY W. A. H. GILSTRAP. 



It is an almost painful fact that few things 

 get so well settled that they remain so ; and 

 one man can knock figures down faster than 

 fifty more able bodied men can set them up. 

 Below I propose to indulge in a little innocent 

 calculating, which can easily be disproven by 

 any one having a small experience or much 

 theory. As this article is only suggestive it 

 would be more profitable to hear from the 

 former class. 



Mr. Ridgepole man was condemned because 

 he proposed at ihe Albany convention to run 

 bees to wax more and honey less. That very 

 thing has been done successfully for years by 

 the Wolfe family, or families, ratlfer, in San 

 Joaquin Co., Cal. Mr. Milo Wolfe says he 

 can support his family from 200 colonies of 

 bees without selling a pound of honey. Of 

 course, he would have to " feed back " to get 

 the largest amount of wax. One year his 

 father, Mr. Jacob Wolfe, obtained over a ton 

 of wax from one apiary. 



Perhaps you think they use a great deal of 

 foundation. They have the bees start comb 

 from V-top bars without a starter for either 

 story. They have as good bees as you are 

 likely to see in this country ; have tried ex- 

 tractors, and now prefer melting their honey 

 in solar extractors. Much of their honey is 

 quite dark, but the wax is all right. Let's 

 suppose the case. Suppose I extract the hon- 

 ey from 400 colonies in the " orthodox " way. 



400 colonies at 100 lbs. honey 



each, 40,000 lbs., at 2^c $1000 00 



Wax at 1 per cent weight com- 

 pared with the honey, 400 lbs., 

 at 23c 



Total, 



Cans and cases $200 00 



Sacks for wax, probably 10 



92 00 



$1092 00 



Net, $ 891 90 



Or suppose I melt the honey in solar ex- 

 tractors. 



400 colonies at 50 lbs. honey each, 



20,000 lbs.,at2>^c $500 00 



Wax at 5 per cent weight compar- 

 ed with the honey, 1000 lbs. at 

 23c 230 00 



Total, 



Cans and cases 



Sacks for wax, probabl) 



$730 00 



00 



25 



Net, $629 75 



In favor of machine extracting 2(52 15 



This, however, is not the real difference. 

 Other factors must be considered. Melting 

 takes less time, a cheaper hive, and less haul- 

 ing, which is quite an item in some places. 

 It also means more swarms if the extractor 

 man lives up to his privilege. If the flow is 

 very long I know it is an advantage to extract 

 once, sometimes twice, from the brood-cham- 

 ber early in the flow. If the honey comes in 

 very late in the season, cool weather is sure to 

 interfere with comb-building, somewhat to 

 the detriment of the melting plan. On some 

 ranges the amount of honey obtained by melt- 

 ing is not far below the output from extract- 

 ing, which would give altogether a different 

 result from that figured above. 



In Jan. 15th issue, 1898, page 50, Mr. J. H. 

 Martin says the San Francisco papers quoted 

 the dark river honey of which I speak at \% 

 cents per pound. Of course, that is the lowest 

 price on record ; but as we are likely to have 

 more of that price in the future, let us figure 

 on that price from the above basis. 



Extracting : 



400 colonies at 100 lbs. honey each, 



40,000 lbs., at \%c $700 00 



400 lbs. wax at 23 92 00 



Total, $792 00 

 Packages for honey and wax 200 10 



Net, $591 90 



Melting : 



400 colonies at 50 lbs. honey each 

 (75 lbs. might be nearer correct), 

 at l^c $350 00 



1000 lbs. wax at 23c 230 00 



Total, $580 00 

 Packages for honey and wax 100 25 



Net, $479 75 

 Apparent difference in favor of ex- 

 tracting 112 15 



As the cost of labor, marketing, comb-build- 

 ing, cost of packages, etc., are not identical in 



