GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



Taxes on Bees in Wisconsin 



Can bees be taxed by law in Wisconsin? 

 If so, what is a colony valued at? 



Cylon, Wis., Jan. 18. Almond Kohn. 



[This was referred to Mr. Prance, who 

 replies:] 



Bees are assessed aiid taxed in Wisconsin 

 (five colonies exempt). The valuation is 

 left with each assessor, which varies from 

 nothing in many cases to $5.00 per colonj^; 

 but generally $1.00 to $2.50 is the valuation 

 given. 



I suppose if true law were called to bear 

 in the case, bees by law would be called wild 

 by nature. The beekeeper owns said wild 

 insects by virtue of good management, 

 liable, however, to ' ' skip ' ' any warm day. 

 But the hives and attending fixtures are 

 personal property, subject to assessment and 

 taxes. Some of my apiaries were never tax- 

 ed, and others have been part of the time, 

 depending on who the assessor is. 



N. E. France. 



Platteville, Wis., March 13. 



The Drouth Broken in New Zealand at Last. 



The Acting Secretary of the National 

 Beekeepers' Association of New Zealand, 

 Mr. R. W. Brickell, writes under date of 

 March 15, 1916, that "New Zealand has 

 just i^assed thru the worst honey season it 

 is possible to imagine. Scores of our largest 

 beekeepers, men whose bees are their sole 

 means of livelihood, are in many instances 

 just at the present moment, when the honey- 

 flow should be closing, still feeding their 

 bees. Hundreds of square miles of our best 

 clover country have been in drouth since 

 May, 1914; but I heard this morning that 

 the drouth broke on Sunday last. ' ' 



Amherst, Mass. Burton N. Gates. 



Who Has Built up a Parcel-post Honey 

 Business? 



If any one has made a success of selling 

 extracted honey by parcel post I wish he 

 would tell about it. I should like to know 

 how he got his customers; what class of 

 people they were; what he got for the honey. 

 It looks as if I shall have to take up that 

 line of business, and I should like to know 

 how others have succeeded. 



John A. Van Deman. 



Benzonia, Mich., March 4. 



A Correction. 



On page 228, March 15, in my description 

 of the outdoor wax-melter (you call it cap- 

 ping-melter), the word "budge" is used in- 

 stead of bridge. This is, of course, due to 

 the difficulty of deciphering my hieroglyph- 

 ics. My 'r' looks like the first half of a 

 'u.' The word 'budge,' as printed, has no 

 meaning, and renders the description of the 

 melter unintelligible. It's my fault for not 

 writing plainer, and I'll try to do better 

 hereafter. 



Salem, Ida. Joseph J. Anderson. 



A Clergyman's Out-apiary. 



My work as pastor of a charge does not 

 give me the time one should have if he were 

 to kee]) many colonies in an outyard; but 

 with the 20 colonies three miles northeast of 

 town the colonies were stronger and made 

 more honey than my 25 colonies at home, 

 where there are perhaps 50 colonies in the 

 town. 



First, I built my colonies up strong with 

 bees early in the season, putting on the 

 supers with bait-combs as fast as the bees 

 would occupy them, always being sure they 

 had plenty of room. At the first sign of 

 swarming I set off the supers and looked for 

 queen-cells. When they are about ready to 

 cap over I take away the queen, killing her 

 if I find her undesirable, leaving only one 

 queen-cell. If she is a good queen I use her 

 in making my increase. I had only three 

 natural swarms in this yard, two being 

 found hanging in a tree near by, and these 

 were where I had overlooked the queen-cells. 

 I had no natural swarms in the yard at 

 home. These colonies averaged 100 pounds 

 of honey each, besides making a 40-per-cent 

 increase. 



My bees are almost all of the golden Ital- 

 ian strain, and I find that these, with a 

 possible cross of the leather-colored Italian, 

 are the best all-purpose bee for this part of 

 Iowa. 



Stockport, la. J. W. Stine. 



Two Tons of Comb Honey from 75 Colonies. 



I am running for comb honey only. Last 

 summer, 1915, I got nearly two tons of hon- 

 ey per 75 colonies. I prevent swarming by 

 giving the bees their supers the last week in 

 March, and give them plenty of room in 

 front of the enti'ance so that they have 

 plenty of room for air. A small entrance 

 will make bees swarm, it matters not how 

 many supers you have on. During the honey- 

 flow bees want a large entrance. Give them 

 the full front entrance open, about 1 inch 

 high, 12 to 14 inches long. This is a good 

 cure for swarming. 



But the best remedy I ever discovered is 

 to cut queen-cells every seven days for two 

 months. This means the months of May and 

 June; and be sure to keep the hives shaded 

 by using a special cover or roof for shade. 

 Shade is a big swarm preventer; but be sure 

 to give your bees plenty of room during the 

 honey harvest. 



Wrightsville, Pa. E. E. Sterner. 



Meadows White with Bloom in March. 



I have been looking at my bees this morn- 

 ing. They are in fine condition, and they 

 will have all they can do very soon now. 

 Some white clover is in bloom, and the 

 blackberries are almost ready to bloom too. 

 When they come out the meadows will be 

 white with blossoms for miles in every di- 

 rection. F. T. Sedgwick. 



Washington, La., March 2. 



