1900 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



485 



best, by any means ; but the method of get- 

 ting comb built is the correct one. Allow me 

 to illustrate : Suppose a large swarm comes 

 out when basswood is in bloom, and you hive 

 them without paying any further attention to 

 them, as is usually done ; they will build comb 

 very rapidly, filling their hive in eight or ten 

 days, as I have often known them to do, and 

 their combs will be quite apt to be crooked, 

 and at least one-third of the drone size of cell, 

 used the first year mainly for store comb. 

 Such comb is good for nothing for raising 

 worker bees the next season, and is an actual 

 damage, as the drones reared therein will con- 

 sume a great part of what the workers will 

 gather. Such colonies will be unprofitable 

 ones, either for raising bees or storing honey, 

 just so long as the combs are allowed to re- 

 main in that condition." 



"Your shutting bees on only a part of the 

 frames contained in the hive is something new 

 to me. Do you do this with any but new 

 swarms? " 



" Yes. Both new swarms and weak colonies 

 in the spring should have only as few combs 

 as they can cover and be a little crowded, es- 

 pecially those swarms or colonies where combs 

 are being built, for in this way the combs 

 which are begun are rapidly carried forward, 

 rather than starting more to go slowly and be 

 finished off with drone comb. If the bees 

 are likely to crowd out of the hive on account 

 of too little room, put on a part of the sec- 

 tions, and this will be an additional security 

 against the building of drone comb. If any 

 man expects to realize a large income from 

 his bees, and never look after their condition, 

 simply hiving the swarms and putting on the 

 section boxes, he will find himself greatly 

 mistaken." 



" I did not suppose there was so much in- 

 volved in bee-keeping to be successful." 



" But you look after your horses and cows 

 very carefully, and why not the bees ? Bee- 

 keeping pays only when our pets are properly 

 cared for, and with thi'^, as with all else, suc- 

 cess can be achieved only by untiring energy. 

 But here comes friend Jones ! Good morn- 

 ing, Bro. Jones What are you studying on 

 this morning? " 



" I have been reading what you said on p. 

 216 of Gleanings regarding how you treated 

 all colonies which do not have an amount of 

 brood equal to lyi frames full. Now, what I 

 wish to know is what style of frame you al- 

 luded to." 



" I alluded to the Gallup." 



"That was what I thought. But the Gal- 

 lup frame is not so large as the Langs'roth, so 

 your 2^ frames of brood would not amount 

 to more than two where the L. frame was 

 used." 



" You are quite right ; and if I had a colo- 

 ny of bees (on the date spoken of in what is 

 found on page 216) that had more brood (in 

 four or five frames) than enough to fill com- 

 pletely two L. frames, I should consider such 

 a one good enough to come up to perfection 

 in bees, in time for the honey harvest, with- 

 out any of the treatment required for weak 

 colonies. ' ' 



honey-trusts; an experience that vjas 



NOT altogether FAVORABLE. 



Of late thtre is considerable talk about hon- 

 ey-exchanges as being the great remedy for 

 our financial troubles. As California is given 

 as a sample of co-operative success, perhaps 

 my experience and observation might be of 

 some interest. Sooner or later we are apt to 

 have a national honey-trust. We are used to 

 getting the favorable side ; and now a mild 

 warning from one who has lost a little might 

 have a tendency to keep some one else out of 

 a pinch. 



In 1895 some of us concluded to try a new 

 plan of selling honey. The plan adopted was 

 not altogether to my liking ; but I went into 

 the combine, as it appeared to be the best 

 thing in sight. W^e gave our written promise 

 to G. X. Wendling, at that time a lumber mer- 

 chant and bee-supply dealer of Hanford, Cal., 

 to turn over our honey to him to sell at such 

 price as we should name, honey to be stored 

 at such point in Kings Co. as he should select. 

 It was argued that we should get car lots in 

 the warehouse as soon as possible. In fact, 

 the only thing in writing was the power of at- 

 torney over our entire crop. We were to pay 

 a fixed salary to Mr. W. for his services when 

 they should be needed, also for printing, etc. 



Of course, there was some expense in stor- 

 age, insurance, etc. The bulk of the contract- 

 ing parties avoided that expense when honey 

 was worth four cents by ignoring their agree- 

 ment and keeping their honey at home. Two, 

 possibly more, stayed with the deal to the end 

 of the season. I estimated my loss on the 

 combine at over $180. We had been in the 

 habit of selling along as we extracted, and 

 would probably have done so that year ; but 

 so many wanted to see how it would come out 

 first, that we came out at the little end of the 

 horn — mostly at three cents or less. When 

 last interviewed, Mr. Wendling used language 

 more forcible than elegant in talking of the 

 honor of bee-men as he had found them aver- 

 age. 



That convinced me that it is better to try a 

 corporation where each member must do as 

 he agrees, if possible. 



The next year gave me a chance to join the 

 State Exchange, at Selma, and I would have 

 done so, but feared my extracted honey would 

 not sell well when nearly all the other honey 

 was in sections. It was a sad sight to see 

 much of that fine comb honey, damaged, of 

 course, and begging a cheap market a year 

 later. The Exchange was accused of holding 

 the price above the market. 



The California Bee-keepers' Association, A. 

 M. Gilstrap, of Selma, Sec'y, is a new corpora- 

 tion, and reports indicate that it is a benefit 

 to its members already. 



W. A, H. Gilstrap. 



Grayson, Cal., April 23. 



