1881 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



17 



G., I want another machine, all complete for 

 L. frames, and I will pay for it in cash as 

 soon as received, or before, if you choose. 

 If we can not make it work, I will pay yon 

 to come out here and show us how, as I did 

 friend Earis ; but ])lease do not ever say 

 again I object to certain wares because they 

 are going to conflict with something I may 

 have had for sale. Have you not all known 

 me long enough to know that I am not thus 

 selfish? I take greater liberties in recom- 

 mending things on these pages, because I 

 somehow feel that you know me, — the great- 

 er part of you, — and give credit for good in- 

 tentions, if I am sometimes sadly at fault in 

 judgment. 



A REPORT FROill A REGINNER'S FIRST 

 THREE SEASOISS. 



M S we have delayed our report for 1880 so long, 



J(^_ we will try to make amends by giving you a 



' condensed report of our business for the last 



three seasons, which comprises all of our experience 



as a bee-keeper. 



We bought our first swarm in Oct., 1877, and win- 

 tered safely, without protection, on their summer 

 stand. In May, 1878, we found a bee-tree, the inhab- 

 itants of which we safely transferred to a Lang- 

 stroth hive. During the season we increased to 9 

 stocks, and took 50 lbs. of box honey and 150 lbs. ex- 

 tracted. Although the winter of 1878-'9 was very se- 

 vere, every stock answered to roll-call on May 1st, 

 1879— thanks to chaff division-boards and chaff pack- 

 ing in outside boxes, as described in Cook's ^fanual. 

 Taking an inventory Dec. 1st, 1878, we found we had 

 34 colonics and 900 lbs. surplus, one-half of which 

 was in sections, and one-half extracted. Thirty col- 

 onies were in Root Chaff hives, and four we e well 

 packed in Cook's "overcoats." 



TWO COLONIES IN ONE CHAFF HIVE. 



Three of those in chaff hives were double, with a 

 thin division board between them, and an entrance 

 at each end of the hive, as described by friend Nellis. 

 They all wintered safely, and on the first of May last 

 we had bees in 35 hives. 



The past season has been the poorest for surplus 

 honey within the memorj^ of the oldest bee-keeper 

 here, many apiaries giving no income whatever. 

 All we have to show from our 35 colonies In the 

 spring, is an increase of 20 colonies, 500 lbs. extract- 

 ed honey, 200 lbs. section honey, and 700 lbs. gross in 

 combs, reserved for stimulative feeding next spring. 

 The bees are all in Root chaff hives, twelve of which 

 have an entrance at each end, with thin division 

 board in the middle, each containing two small col- 

 onics with young queens. What do you think of 

 this idea of a double hive to winter nuclei? Those I 

 tried last winter did nicely; and I think, from ob- 

 servation, that if each nucleus is strong enough to 

 cover three frames, they are just as safe with a thin 

 division board between them as if they were united 

 late in the fall, and one queen destroyed; and in the 

 spring we have the extra queen for profit, worth at 

 least half as much as the swarm. 



SAGGING OF ALL KINDS OF FDN., DVNHAM INCLUDED. 



We have used f dn. in the brood-chamber largely, 

 both Root and Dunham, and see but very little dif- 

 ference, if any, in the value of the two kinds. Nei- 

 ther kind will sag or warp if properly fastened and 

 given to the bees during fruit-bloom; but If given 

 to a strong colony during warm weather, and a 



heavy flow of honey, both prove very unreliable. 

 We had sheets of Dunham fdn., 4'2 ft. to the lb., sag 

 over an inch ; and many of them broke down during 

 the basswood yield this season, and they were in 

 chaff hives too. Next season we shall try your 

 method of wiring, and endeavor to have all not wired 

 drawn out during fruit-bloom. 



MAKING SIMPLICITY HIVES, ETC. 



For our new swarms, artificial swarming, nuclei, 

 queen-rearing, etc., we use the " Nellis-VanDusen- 

 Simplicity" hive, and think it has several points of 

 superiority over your Simplicity. We make all of 

 our own hives, and fancy they are just as good as 

 those furnished bj' the supply dealers, and they 

 come a " heap " cheaper. In making our first chaff 

 hives we followed directions in A B C to a dot, and 

 when we had about twenty hives completed, we 

 found that, instead of li or ?« space between the 

 frames in upper and lower story, we had fully Vi 

 inch, and the same between frames and bottom- 

 board. Every time we handle those frames and find 

 the space between upper and lower story filled with 

 comb, as it is sure to be, we feel a good deal like 

 scolding somebodJ^ If we figure rightly, the width 

 of end-boards should be 9 inches, and side-boards 9!4 

 inches, instead of 9;8 for former, and 9?8 tor latter, 

 as it reads in our ABC. Don't want to "take any- 

 body's head off" about it, but suggest you make the 

 correction, if not already done. 



JOURNALS COSTING MORE OF THE PUBLISHERS THAN 

 OF SUBSCRIPTION AGENTS. 



When we last wrote you, we intimated that if you 

 practiced the doctrine you preached in " Our 

 Homes," you should furnish j'our own publications 

 as cheap as anybodj' else. For this you put us in 

 the Growlery; and, while there, friend Sayles has a 

 whack at us, and accuses us of advancing a doctrine 

 that "savors of Communism." Now, if bringing the 

 producer and consumer, publisher and subscriber, 

 nearer together, thus crowding out unnecessary 

 middlemen, is Communism, then we plead guilty to 

 the charge. The fact that others advertise to fur- 

 nish Gleanings to single subscribers cheaper than 

 the publisher, seems to us proof positive that either 

 your retail price Is too high or your wholesale price 

 is too low. When you say that "Gleanings is a 

 standard article" you " hit the nail squarely on the 

 head," and you might have truthfully included the 

 ABC. We have read all of the modern works on 

 bee culture, and are a subscriber to all of the bee 

 journals. Friend Sayles thinks if we had spent a lit- 

 tle " time and mental effort " in obtaining 10 sub- 

 scribers at the State Grange at the full price, and 

 thereby pocketed $4.00, we would view the matter in 

 a very different light. In answer to this, we would 

 simply say, we have taken many subscriptions for 

 the standard publications, Including some for Glean- 

 ings, and have always considered ourselves well 

 paid when we reserved 10 per cent for ourselves; 

 and should we ever take 40 per cent profit on a stan- 

 dard article, especially from our brother-patrons, 

 we should consider ourselves unworthy of the name 

 Granger. 



And now, friend Root, begging pardon for the 

 length and broadcast shooting of this "report," and 

 promising never to "do so" any more, hoping you 

 will not consider anything I have said as a "growl," 

 but only a little friendly criticism, I will conclude by 

 wishing you all (middlemen too) a merry Christmas 

 and a happy New Year. George W. Jones. 



West Bend, Wash, Co., Wis., Dec. 9, 1880. 



