1904 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



239 



we may conclude this: After the bees have 

 had their first flight it would be better to 

 keep them in, especially if the air is chilly; 

 but if it is quite warm, a flight will do no 

 harm, but, rather, good. — Ed.] 



I started in the spring with 12 colonies; bought 25 

 more in box stands; transferred them and increased 

 to 60, and took over 6000 lbs. of honey. This is my 

 third year with modern hives. J. C. Peterson. 



Devine, Tex., Feb. 4. 



A GOOD IOWA REPORT FROM AN OLD FRIEND. 



From 108 I increased to 210, and took 13. 70S lbs. sur- 

 plus, or about 127 lbs. per colony, spring count, which 

 we consider good for Central Iowa. 



Colo, la., Feb 15. D. E. Lhommedieu. 



ONLY ONE FAILURE IN 24 YEARS. 



I have 100 colonies in the cellar, mostly in Qiiinby 

 hives. I started with such, and have done well. I 

 never missed a paying crop but one in 24 years, I 

 don't run after fads, nor change for every thing new 

 that I see, even if I see it in Gleanings. 



Springfield, Ont., Jan 24. John Yoder. 



FROM 35 colonies 3000 lbs. 



My report is 3000 lbs. from 35 colonies. One swarm, 

 hived late in June, made 147 lbs. comb honey, and had 

 plenty of stores for winter. My hives that had not 

 swarmed for six years cast swarms Some went back 

 and went to work with a rush. Bees are wintering 

 well. Wm, G. Snodgrass. 



Montrose, Mo., Feb. 12. 



from 24 colonies (4 queenless) to 37, and 1645 lbs. 

 of honey. 



I had 20 colonies with laying queen, and four with- 

 out, this spring, I increased to 37, and had 1045 lbs. of 

 comb, 600 lbs. extracted, I think that was good for 

 this cold season. It was gathered in June and ten 

 days in July. No fall honey here 



Benzonia, Mich., Feb. 8. James E. Harwood. 



REPORT for 1903, 

 •''From 25 colonies (most of them not much better 

 than nuclei), spring count. I have sold and given away 

 to date, as follows: 2142 lbs bulk comb, 1764 lbs, ex- 

 tracted: 93 4x5 sections of honey; 3754 lbs, of beeswax; 

 24 nuclei (with queens), and five queens. I now have 

 left 32 co'onies (nearly all of them in good order), and 

 a little honey still unsold. M. A. Salazar. 



CCotuUa, Ttx,, Feb. 2. 



from 60 TO 125, AND 8514 lbs, of comb honey. 



May 1 I had 60 colonies, but three of them were 

 queenless and some of the others were weak. Then I 

 increased ihem during the season to 125, and received 

 8850 sections of finished section comb honey, or 8544 

 lbs. The hives are all eight-frame Dovetailed, with 

 all the frames wired, and full sheets of foundation in 

 every one. The supers all take the plain i}{ section, 

 I keep all queens clipped, and replace when two years 

 old, unle-s extra good, I am very well pleased with 

 your make of hives I send you a iihotograph of my 

 honey. John R. Millard. 



Knoxville, la.. Jan. 18. 



[The photo mentioned shows'a lot of beautiful honey 

 that might make any bee-keeper's heart glad, stacked 

 up in neat cases and nice square piles clear to the 

 ceiling of a very nice and tidy honey-room If the 

 picture had not been too dark I should have been glad 

 to give it to our readers. — A. I R ] 



from 6 TO 20, and one ton of honey. 

 I started in last spring with s'x colonies of Carnio- 

 lans; took one ton of extracted alfalfa honey, with an 

 increase to 23 colonies. Bees are now all in first-class 



condition, in Simplicity 8-frarae hives, with only oil- 

 cloth under the covers. Lowest, 10 degrees below; 

 average about zero for January at daylight, but bees 

 had a fly almost daily. Plenty of fine land yet open 

 for homesteading here. 



Italian bees will probably do nearly as well if they 

 do not swarm too much. S. W. Morrison. 



Ignacio, Col., Feb. 6, 



a school ma'am's report. 



My mother, who is now 80 years of age, thoroughly 

 enjoysreading your Home Talk-:, and Notes of Travel, 

 as well as thearticleson bees and honey. 



About 17 years ago a runaway swarm of bees cluster- 

 ed on a tree in our yard. We secured the bees in a 

 barrel, but knew nothing about caring for them until 

 we saw a copy of Gleanings. We subscribed and 

 sent for a few eight-frame hives, which are so easily 

 handled that mother's love for bees was increased 

 many fold. We now have nine hives, which are all an 

 old lady of SO and a school-teacher's daughter can suc- 

 cessfully care for. We love our bees, and I must .say 

 that they behave remarkably well We are not afraid 

 cf them.' and they do not .seem to fear us Our crop of 

 honey could not be excelled in quality and finds ready 

 sale at 15 cents in the summer and 20 in the winter. 

 Your articles about "the cabin in the woods " have 

 been so interesting that we have often wished we 

 might ■' step over " and see the cabin, the peach-trees, 

 and that potaio-patch. 



No publication has ever given my dear mother more 

 real pleasure than Gleanings. Mary Martin. 



Petersburg, 111., Jan. 21. 



8101.10 from a single colony of bees in one season. 



I have a wonderful storj' to tell about keeping bees, 

 and it is a true story, as I can demonstrate by entering 

 into the particulars. I th-^ught at first I would pub- 

 lish it in some of the bee papers ; but upon more ma- 

 ture thought I concluded to wait until I d'd the thing 

 again; but it was never done again, even though I 

 tried it over and over. 



I madeout of one Italian hive of bees which cost me 

 nothing (the fellow gave them to niel, the enormous 

 sum of $101.10. This may seem to you old bee-men 

 fishy: but I made my own hives; all the outlay T had 

 was for sections, foundation, and a little lumber. 

 Some of it was there for the using. 



With just a suggestion or two you may see a little 

 light on the subject First, it was the '^est honey sea- 

 son f have ever seen— none like it before or since; 

 honey plants galore, and honey-dew on plant and leaf 

 everywhere. Secondly, I .sold every pound of my 

 honey at ! cents, and kept none. In the fall I sold 

 the bees for J.^ 00 per hive. Thirdly, they multiplied 

 to nine colonies. The old one sent off three, the first 

 swarm sent out two, the second two, and the third 

 one, making nine in all, which brought $4i.00 of it, 

 and the rest was in honey sold. Now, I have the fig- 

 ures for it, and ' don't you forget it." 



I never had this printed but I did have men who 

 make bee-keeping a business come to see me to know 

 how it was done Well, it wasn't done at all— it just 

 happened, though I thoneht for .several years after- 

 ward it was done, and I did it; but my lat^r an'^ longer 

 experience taught me it just happened through and 

 by a set of contingent, unusual circumstances and 

 likely never to occur again; at least this is my thought 

 about it now, S. R. Ferguson. 



Sumner, la,, Jan. 18, 1904. 



[Friend Ferguson seems to be a little afraid it was 

 unwise to tell this storv, as few people will believe it. 

 If he had taken and read the journals for the past for- 

 ty years, I think he would have found several similar 

 reports -perha OS some larger. There is a valuable 

 point in the story, that has come uo many t mes. 

 Wonderful things may be accomplished by natural 

 swarming during a favorable season. I had one simi- 

 lar expeiience that was given in the American Bee 

 Journal before Gleanings was published. One of 

 the requisites is to have a queen full of vim. and one 

 that will transmit this very vim to her daughters; then 

 let them get the swarming-fever; and. if the honey 

 holds out. this one colony will make a good-sized 

 apiary in one season, and may give you quite a lot of 

 honey besides. When I read father Quinby's first 

 book on bee-keeping in box hives and natural swarm- 

 ing. I felt a strong inclination for a time to run an 

 apiary on just that plan. In the above narration 

 there was a good colony of Italian bees to start with — 

 very likely the young queetis proved to be, many of 

 them, or most of them, hvbrids ; but this would not 

 hurt the final outcome. — -\. I. R ] 



