1020 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Nov. 1 



on account of the ground sloping both to the 

 south and east we could get a view of only 

 about 400 colonies, or a little over half of 

 the apiary. 



The small building in the center is the 

 extracting-house, with the pipe that con- 

 veys the honey to our large tanks in the 

 storehouse. After winter and spring losses 

 were over we had 500 colonies May 1, in 

 this yard, which we increased to 725 about 

 the middle of May, and reared about 600 

 queens. 



In regard to this location, let me say that 

 we seldom get any surplus until August. 

 Of the 19 years that I have kept bees here 

 there have been only four seasons when we 

 got any surplus honey until our buckwheat 

 harvest; but this season we got a fine lot of 

 light honey in June and July; but when our 

 buckwheat harvest commenced the weather 

 turned cool, cloudy, and wet, so the bees 

 could find honey only a day or two at a time, 

 although there were thousands of acres of 

 buckwheat in full bloom within two or three 

 miles of them. Still, we have had about an 

 average season. The largest yield we have 

 ever had was 149| lbs. per colony, spring 

 count. That was an exceptionally good 

 year. This year, since weighing up our 

 honey, we find we have 141J lbs. per colony, 

 spring count, or a total yield of a little over 

 70,700 lbs. extracted honey from this one 

 yard, including 80 sections of comb honey. 

 In addition we have had 3600 sheets of 

 foundation drawn out into nice extracting- 

 combs. 



To me the success of this large apiary 

 this ordinary season goes a long way to show 

 that I am not so much in the wrong in re- 

 gard to overstocking as some people think, 

 and I am sure I should have to have more 

 than 1000 colonies before I would go to the 

 trouble of putting any in outyards away 

 from home. 



Delanson, N. Y. 



[I have long known of Mr. Alexander as 

 being one of the most extensive bee-keepers 

 in York State; but I never knew before that 

 he was managing so successfully so many 

 colonies in one location. I doubt if there 

 are many localities in the United States 

 that will support so many bees without cut- 

 ting the average per colony away down to a 

 very unprofitable basis; and we are, there- 

 fore, forced to conclude that the location 

 must be a most remarkable one. We may 

 rest assured there is no room there for an- 

 other bee-keeper; indeed, it would be prac- 

 tical downright robbery to locate in the vi- 

 cinity after reading this article about this 

 remarkable yield. 



Mr. Abram Titoff, the representative from 

 the Russian government, who has been 

 studying bee-keeping at Medina, spent some 

 time with the Alexanders in the height of 

 the season, helping them to extract, for I 

 had directed him to them, as I believed they 

 were the only extensive bee-keepers in the 

 United States who had a crop. He came 

 back with a very glowing account of what 



he had learned and seen. We should be 

 glad to have Mr. Alexander tell us some- 

 thing about his methods of extracting. 



The little house in the middle of the 

 ground appears to be a little extracting- 

 building. While it may be portable, appar- 

 ently it is not toted around, for the bees are 

 all in one yard. It is too bad we could not 

 have had the apiary all in one view. Some 

 time when I get down in that vicinity I will 

 take along my panoram, which will easily 

 show the whole yard. 



Mr. Titoff tells of his experience at this 

 remarkable yard, and this I am glad to place 

 before our readers. —Ed.] 



WHAT A RUSSIAN THINKS OF THE ALAXAN- 

 DER YARD. 



When the editor of Gleanings informed 

 me that he had received from E. W. Alex- 

 ander & Son a report of the season's honey 

 crop, and intended to publish it in his jour- 

 nal, I requested the privilege of expressing 

 my views with regard to that apiary. 



In some American bee-papers I read re- 

 ports of bee-keepers showing the greatest 

 amount of honey produced; e. g., 130 to 150 

 lbs. and more per colony. Some say this is 

 nothing more than natural— that bees may 

 produce such an amount of honey; others 

 discredit it entirely, believing it impossible 

 unless bees are fed sugar syrup. The report 

 of Mr. Alexander will probably appear to 

 some to be exaggerated, and for this reason 

 I desire to say a few words regarding what 

 I knoiv of Mr. A. 's method of work. 



I have been traveling in the United States 

 a little to see the difference in methods of 

 bee-keeping; and through the recommenda- 

 tion of The A. I. Root Co. I spent a little 

 more than six weeks with Mr. A., and be- 

 came interested in his methods. I went 

 there about the 15th of July. The clover 

 harvest was finished, and bees were work- 

 ing on the basswood. Up to that time, at 

 least 15 tons of honey had been gathered. 

 During my stay there we got about 20 tons; 

 and now what I want to say is, it was all 

 'pure nectar from flowers, the most of it 

 being taken from clover, basswood, buck- 

 wheat, and goldenrod. 



Such an immense honey crop is explained, 

 first, by good location; second, by a good 

 strain of bees; third, by a good manager 

 who has thorough knowledge of his business. 



The method of Mr. A. is very simple; ex- 

 penses are nominal, and consequently the 

 business profitable. I do not regret having 

 spent my time there, as I received some 

 new ideas which are valuable to me. 



Medina, O. A. Titoff. 



[I have understood that some of these 

 enormous yields of honey from American 

 yards have been discredited in Europe; it is, 

 therefore, no small gratification that a rep- 

 resentative from the Russian government 

 has been here, seen with his own eyes, and 

 can make the statement he does voluntarily. 

 He could make the same statement of thou- 

 sands of other yards he might visit. —Ed.] 



