1899 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



607 



the cups ; but when one learns how, that is a 

 very small objection ; for he can make them, 

 as I have pointed out, at the rate of 150 an 

 hour ; and then the Doolittle method does not 

 require that the cells shall first be placed in 

 queenless colonies to get them started. They 

 may be placed right in the brood-nest of any 

 colony, providing, of course, that said colony 

 is stimulated daily if honey is coming in. At 

 this time of year we prefer colonies having 

 queens that they are about to supersede. Such 

 colonies always take kindly to the Doolittle 

 cell-cups, as the rearing and completing of 

 them seems to be an act of simple preservation, 

 and that is to supply themselves with a 

 mother to take the place of the one that is 

 about to be superseded. 



But in comparing these two methods I do 

 not wish to disparage the Alley method in the 

 least. That he rears good queens, there can 

 be no question, because some of the finest we 

 have ever had were reared by Mr. Alley, pre- 

 sumably by this method. Two, yes, three, of 

 his breeders we have found to be good ones, 

 and we are breeding from them just as we are 

 breeding from our own and Doolittle's stock. 

 —Ed.] 



NIVER ON THE WITNESS-STAND. 



Thin Sections; Profits on a Colony of Bees; Cogg- 



shall's Big Yield of Honey; Proper Size of 



a Brood - nest for the Buckwheat 



Country; Coggshall's Axioms 



Continued from /en/ issue 



R. — A moment ago, Niver, you put in a 

 proviso regarding the thickness of combs. 

 What width of sections do you prefer for your 

 ideal boxes? 



N. — Our boxes are scant \% in the widest 

 place, and there is an inset that leaves the top 

 and bottom 1^4 scant. 



R. — Yes, I remember you do not use, strictly 

 speaking, no-beeway sections, although you 

 you were a user of fences. 



N — A half bee space was in the sections 

 and half in the fence ; and, having a shallow 

 cell, they will ripen and cap when it gets late 

 in August, where our trouble all comes in get- 

 ting our honey finished. They will cap and 

 finish a good deal better in a shallow cell than 

 they will in a deep one ; therefore, in a thin 

 section we get many more finished boxes than 

 we do in a thicker section. Of course, you 

 white honey people have plenty of warm 

 weather to finish your white honey, and have 

 no trouble about getting the honey capped at 

 the last end of your flow. Not so with the 

 buckwheater, for when the cool weather is 

 coming on toward the first of September it is 

 difficult to get the bees to cap the honey in 

 the sections ; and we have to work differently 

 from what you do in order to get that done. 



R. — Yes, I understand what you mean — you 

 are a buckwheater. 



N. — As a honey-producer, yes ; and that 

 fact accounts a good deal for our preferences 

 as to bees. We like black bees and Carniolans 

 better than your yellowocher fellows. 



R. — What is Coggshall's preference? 



N. — Any thing that will sting, and produce 

 honey. 



R.— I fully believe that. 



N. — Laying joking aside, and taking Cogg- 

 shall's axioms, the four leading characteristics 

 named in their order are : 1. Locality ; 2. The 

 man ; 3. The bees, or type of bees ; 4. Supplies. 



R. — Yes, that is Coggshall all over. 



N. — Well, he would not have it that way if 

 it did not pay him. 



R. — His fine dwelling, his barns — in fact, 

 every thing about his place (except bee- 

 supplies), all go to .show that it does pay him. 

 But you said a moment ago, Niver, that, if 

 you wished to fatten your pocketbook, you 

 would select the middle box as your standard. 

 How much do you calculate to make off from 

 a colony of bees, on an average ? 



N. — Well, I can't tell ; but to go into details, 

 I have averaged up five or six years, and with 

 an almost total failure one year included, and 

 I find I have averaged between $6.00 and $6.25 

 for the five years, per colon)', spring count. 



R. — My, oh my ! that is better than they 

 can do around here. 



N. — Well, I am a buckwheater. My best 

 colony last year gave me 175 boxes, or sec- 

 tions (finished sections, mind you), which 

 averaged 11 cents apiece, or $19.25 in all. I 

 see brother Dadant, with his "barns," is sat- 

 isfied with §3.50 per colony. 



R. — Yes, I believe tint is his figure; but 

 how much does Coggshall get with his in that 

 rough • and - tumble-get-there kick - off - super 

 plan ? 



N. — Let me see. In 1897, if I am not mis- 

 taken, he figured up 116 da\ s' woik during 

 the year, and sold 39 tons of honey — 78,000 

 pounds ; now figure out per day, please, if you 

 want to find out what systematized work ac- 

 complishes. 



R. — Wait till I figure. That's 672 pounds 

 per day ; and at the very low price of 3 cents 

 this would male over §20.00 per day ; or. at 4 

 cents, nearly $27.00. Say, look here, Niver ; 

 Coggshall will be after you for giving away 

 his private affairs. 



N. — Well, he called on me a short time ago 

 when on his way to a sanitarium for treatment 

 and rest. I think I can outrun him now, so I 

 will let it go. 



R. — Rest ! I should think the man would 

 need one. Does he always work at that race- 

 horse break-neck speed that I saw him work- 

 ing at when I visited him two summers ago ? 



N. — When you were there ? Why, he was 

 taking a vacation then, and had plenty of 

 time to spare. 



R. — He must be a counterpart of that man 

 Harry Howe. 



N. — No, Harry is merely a pupil — an apt 

 pupil. By the way, what is the matter with 

 Harry's being our best man in New York for 

 foul-brood inspector? 



R. — That would be a tiptop idea ; but I had 

 been casting my best endeavor for Frank 

 Boomhower, not knowing that Harry was a 

 possible candidate. 



N. — But Harry has been taking a course in 

 bacteriology in Cornell, and is probably the 

 best-posted man we have in the country to-day. 



