928 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Dec. 15. 



beautiful yellow you had better go further 

 north. 



As the weed grows up quite bushy, and is a 

 mass of blossoms resembling wild sunflower 

 in color and shape, and a shirt button in size, 

 for two or more months, it might seem to be 

 an immense honey-producer, but it is not. 

 Perhaps it would run between 75 and 150 lbs. 

 extracted to the hive all seasons when the 

 weeds grow well. Of course, good manage- 

 ment isassumed. As bees will consume prob- 

 ably 100 or 200 lbs. of honey per colony in a 

 year, it is plain to see that we must have some 

 other work for the bees in spring and early 

 summer. But as other honey-producing plants 

 are usually on the same range with it we can 

 get along in that respect. 



It is certainly worth something to look at a 

 lot of green weeds in April, and be practically 

 sure that they will make a crop of honey in 

 late summer and fall. I know of no other 

 plant that you can foretell the honey prospects 

 of with such certainty. 



From the above it might appear that I con- 

 sider aifalfa a poor honey-plant. It is the 

 principal honey source in this valley, and is 

 likely to remain so. Mr. Wilkin's report is 

 about as small as you are likely to see. A 

 Los Banos man in the alfalfa-fields made so 

 much money with his bees this year that, to 

 give the figures in Gleanings, might give the 

 bee-fever to many. But when we consider 

 that he had 1000 colonies, and they reduced 

 to 850 during the season, his profits do not 

 look so big for a year of high prices. For a 

 locality with a foul-broody reputation, a loss 

 of 150 colonies out of 1000 does not seem 

 strange. 



Grayson, Cal., Nov. 9. 



SURE OF CROPS. 



A Locality Where they Have Them in Northern 

 Michigan. 



BY ANTON LEISTER. 



Mr. Allen Rice, who lives in Manton, Wex- 

 ford Co., Mich., a hundred miles north of 

 Grand Rapids, is a farmer and bee-keeper. 

 During a visit to his brother here I got from 

 him his bee experience as follows : 



" Don't you have trouble wintering bees so 

 far north ? ' ' 



"Not unless we are careless, as I was last 

 fall. I had 27 stands, strong, and well sup- 

 plied with honey for winter. They were all in 

 Simplicity hives. I piled them up in the shop 

 and put cornstalks over them. I neglected to 

 raise the covers a little for ventilation, and 

 lost all but six colonies. They drowned and 

 froze in their own perspiration. Each colony 

 was ready sale at $5.00, and they would have 

 made me 60 lbs. of section honey in a good 

 season, salable at 10 cts. I now have 18 col- 

 onies. Some of the original six spring colo- 

 nies sent out two and three swarms." 



" Do you feed your bees in the fall to stim- 

 ulate brood-rearing, and to make sure of suf- 

 ficient winter stores? " 



"Never. We don't have to. There is al- 

 ways sufficient bee-forage, even in a poor year 

 like this, so that they always have an abun- 

 dance of natural stores ; and our colonies are 

 always strong. From each of the hives that 

 failed to winter I took two gallons of strained 

 honey." 



"What kinds of bee-pasture do you have 

 up there ? ' ' 



"Chiefly basswood, white clover, and alfal- 

 fa. There are many basswoods in the forests 

 yet. The white clover is a sure crop every 

 year, as it does not come at intervals, as here. 

 It grows wild as in Ohio. Alfalfa is growing 

 in favor with farmers as cattle feed, and more 

 is sown each year. It makes good honey. It 

 is my belief that our bees get honey from red 

 clover — at least I have seen them at work 

 many a time in the red-clover fields when in 

 blossom. My bees are Italians that came 

 originally from Root's stock." 



" Do you extract ? " 



" Decidedly not." 



" Why not? It stems to be the method of 

 most honey-producers." 



* " Because I believe that this smoking and 

 tearing the hive to pieces, and robbing the 

 stores, disturbs the bees so that they do not 

 work and thrive as well as if left to their nat- 

 ural ways as much as possible. Some of my 

 neighbors extract, and I notice that their bees 

 do not thrive as well as those not so disturbed. 

 I work for section honey only. The sections 

 are put in a box that fits on top of the hive, 

 and holds just 30 sections. The lower part of 

 the hive is never disturbed. I have no trouble 

 about getting the bees to work in the sec- 

 tions." 



" What is your average yield of honey ? " 



"The average yield per hive, year after 

 year, I should put at 60 lbs. of section honey. 

 I have had as much as 120 lbs. from one hive. 

 I have put on an empty case of 30 sections on 

 Monday, and the next Monday have taken it 

 off filled. I have kept bees ten years, and in 

 that time we have had no years that were to- 

 tal failures, though some are not so good as 

 others. This year was a poor one, and the 

 yield was an average of about 30 lbs. per hive, 

 about half the average season's yield. Some 

 of the new swarms made 60 lbs. this season. " 



" How do you market your honeys and what 

 prices do you get ? " 



" There is no method or trouble about the 

 marketing. My honey all goes to private lo- 

 cal customers. They come to me, and I sell 

 it to them at 10 cents per section, supposed to 

 weigh one pound. I don't advertise nor ped- 

 dle, nor otherwise solicit trade. I have been 

 asked to ship honey, but prefer to sell at home. 

 My customers all buy for their own use only. 

 I have no trouble in getting rid of half a ton 

 of honey in this way." 



" What have you to say about candied hon- 

 ey?" 



"People in this part prefer the candied 

 honey. They, as well as I, think that the 

 candied state is the state of being fully ripen- 

 ed, and with the best flavor developed. Melt- 

 ing candied honey destroys much of the fine 

 flavor, and, according to my taste and belief, 



