GLEANINGS IN BEE CUETURE 



sjecies diffeiriit I'loni llu' (k:o llu'v havo 

 just quit." 



The farmer said lie would no loiiiier 

 oppose Mr. Sariazin's plan. 



" And yon will act wisely," added 1 he 

 /atter. " Besides, is it not right for you to 

 profit from the honey on your own trees, 

 which neighboring bees will suck from your 

 blossoms when you are not able to prevent 



Iheni from (hjing so? You are too good a 

 man to let it all go to others." 



This sally caused the man to laugh; and 

 he was convinced when, at the swarming 

 season, (he bees gave him six hivefuls of 

 lioney by way of surplus. 



The coi:sideratioi]s I have just adduced 

 will suffice lo jiiove (lie benefits of bees to 

 horticulture. 



AN AUSTRALIAN HUSTLER 



P.Y MAJOR SHALLAKl) 



1 am sending a i)hoto of my .sun Phil with 

 a load-up. He is a "tiger to work," "though 

 I says it as shouldn't," and there being no 

 horses available at the time, and the goods 

 having to go to another farm four miles 

 away, over a very hilly road, he packed 

 fliem on to his bike and carried them. The 

 load consisted of a wheel-barrow, ten yai'ds 

 of wire cloth, camp-kettle, hurricane lamp. 

 Jumbo smoker, 14 lbs. nails, 5 lbs. galvan- 



ized screws and washers; hammer, toma- 

 hawk, brace, and six bits; two hand-saws, 

 food for two days, and a change of clothes. 

 His working hours are from as soon as he 

 can see until he can't. Needless to say, he is 

 woiking for himself managing my Bathurst 

 farms on shares. 



S. Woodburn. N. S. W., Aus., Feb. 8. 



[The following letter is from the " Hus- 

 llei- "' himself. — Ed.] 



AN AVERAGE OF OVER 2m POUNDS FOR SOO COLONIES 



BY PHIL SHALLARl) 



On i^age 177, March 1."), you say the 

 Western honey-producers' annual output is 

 200,000 lbs. Are the crops in the States so 

 small as to aggregate only this amount for 

 an association, or is it a small association ? 

 One apiarist in this district took 201,600 

 lbs. for his biggest yield from between 800 

 and 900 colonies, and he never expects less 

 than 112,000 lbs. These last two seasoiis 

 have brought him down somewhat, though. 

 Last season he took only something like 

 44,800 lbs., and so far as 1 know \\? has not 

 extracted at all this season. 



The best honey is worth from (j to 8 cents 

 here, according to the crops. It will aver- 

 age 7 cents, whereas your price is much 

 higher, so that you could manage with 

 smaller crops. This is for extracted honey. 

 People here don't care for comb honey. 

 They seem to think the wax will kill them, 

 and consequently sections, 14 oz., ai'e sold 

 for 12 cents to 14 cents each retail. 



The nearest ap^D roach to pollen that we 

 can get is pea-flour. It is rather bitter to 

 taste, but usually the bees take it well when 

 natural pollen is scarce, and seem to do 

 middling well on it. 



Sac brood has made its appearance he)-e. 

 I had it in an out-apiary last season ; and 

 as I had never seen foul brood T at first 

 mistook this for it. I had only two colonies 

 affected last season; but this season thei'e 



are a dozen with it, so it's on the increase. 

 I notice it only where the colonies are weak 

 and poor honey-gatherers. It seems to come 

 only in the fall of the season. 



THK SMOKE MP:THOn OF INTROUUCING OLD IK 

 AUSTRALIA. 



On page 876, Dec. 15, you say a new 

 method of introducing queens was brought 

 to light by Arthur C. Miller. This method 

 my father (Major Shallard) has been using 

 ever since I can remember, and I was under 

 the impression that every one knew of it. 

 He also practiced smoking the colonies once 

 a week with an ordinary smoker to cure 

 paralysis; and although it never cured it, it 

 used to steady the disease and keep it in a 

 dormant state. 



WATER MADE TROUBLE WHEN MOVING BEES. 



T have read much about shipping bees 

 without loss and keeping the brood in good 

 order while in transit with water. Will 

 you please explain how this is done? Four- 

 teen months ago I moved 80 colonies 100 

 miles by rail. They were all two-story, and 

 not very strong. They had a wire-gauze 

 frame over the top of each colony, with a 

 %-inch space between it and the top-bars. 

 The entrances were closed with wire gauze. 

 They were packed one layer deep on the 

 floors (which were covered with straw) of 

 two louvre vans, and bags of .stiaw jammed 



