1881 



GLEA2^INGS I]S' JiEE CULTUKE. 



429 



onies of bees to take care of for five months as 1 

 have? If there is, I should be pleased to hear from 

 him. 



The bees here in Vermont have done very well 

 considering the weather. Basswood Avas not a very 

 big crop; it lasted but a few days. The honey sea- 

 son closed hero about July :.'0. The most that any 

 one colony gathered was 2T5 lbs. of white honey; the 

 next best was 200. This was in the yard that I had 

 charge of. These colonies were not allowed to 

 swarm. If the basswood had been tirst class, as it is 

 some years, I would have secured 400 lbs. of white 

 honey from the best colonies, in 2-lb. sections. I use 

 all top-storing; no side-storing- for me. I had this 

 hive tiered up one foot higher than my head, and I 

 am 5 feet 8 inches with my shoes on. If any one can 

 give a larger yield from any one colony from the 

 first of Jime until the 20th of July, in sections, I 

 would be glad to hear from him. If any one should 

 wish to have my method in giving water to bees in 

 winter, and how I have managed to get 2T5 lbs. of 

 white honey in sections, I will give it in Gle.\nings 

 if the editor will give room. 



In conclusion, I would say to those who intend to 

 make bee-keeping their business, to commence on a 

 small scale, and with the determination to make it a 

 success. Work hard, both with hands and brains. 

 and do not rely on forty different plans of manage- 

 ment, nor swallow every thing you read and hear, 

 but use your own good judgment, if you have any, 

 and good common sense; and if you are not possess- 

 ed with a good amount of these, you had better keep 

 out of the business. 



I have seen many a dark day in battling with the 

 world. I have always tried to make some point, but 

 never succeeded in any thing until I began the bee 

 business; and if I had not happened to come across 

 your advertisement, and that copy of Gleanings, 

 perhaps I should have been struggling with the 

 world as I was in days gone by. I always liked to be 

 around bees, and often, when a boy, used to catch 

 bumble-bees and put them into k hollowed -out 

 pumpkin for a hive, but I never got a chance to have 

 bees, nor do I think I should have them now if I had 

 not learned of you in the way above mentioned. 



Frank Boombroweh. 



Gallupville, Schoharie Co., N. Y., August, issi. 



May the Lord bless you for your kind let- 

 ter, so full of kind words, and energy and 

 zeal for our favorite industry ! May I sug- 

 gest here (as a caution), that it was ])robably 

 not because apiculture is a better business 

 than farming, but because your whole soul 

 Avas in it from the first? I know just how 

 you took that little pamphlet up and laid it 

 down again and again, for I have done the 

 same thing myself. To succeed in any thing, 

 there must be this thorough love for it. 

 Your idea of water in the cellar, only in- 

 dorses the idea of friend Simpson (see page 

 8, Jan.' No., 1880.) Again, your ability to 

 handle bees in the wiiater without injury 

 (and r have no doubt but that it can be done), 

 furnishes another link in the plan of raising 

 Ijees under glass, to till orders for bees by 

 the pound, in April and May. I have al- 

 ready succeeded in raising bees in at atmos- 

 phere protected by glass from the winds and 

 frosts ; and if we can keep the bees in good 

 health until they can be put permanently 

 outside, the problem is solved. But, friend 

 , B., how do you know j'ou won't lose all your 



bees in a heap next spring, as so many oth- 

 ers have done, greatly to their astonishmentV 



ITIAKKIIVG THE ^VEIGHT OF P.4.CKAGES 



BEFORE CR.\TIIN<; HONEY FOR 



MARKET. 



A VERY IMPORTANT SUGGESTION. 



'v:;jj5T5y^ILL you permit us to make a suggestion that 

 vI/tI will greatly facilitate the honey trade? It 

 ^ is, to impress upon the fraternity the great 



importance of marking the weight of the empty 

 packages, and particularly the shipping -crates, 

 plainly upon the crates before tilling. It is an easy 

 matter to And what a full crate weighs, but then we 

 have to guess at the tare, and the trade can not be 

 satisfactorilj- settled until the crate is returned, 

 thus greatly annoying dealers in not being able to 

 make returns for the honey until the tare is decided 

 upon. Besides this, there is almost always more or 

 less loose honey sticking to the crate when returned 

 empty, which adds to the original weight, and is a 

 loss to the producer. May we suggest, that you and 

 other manufacturers of crates weigh them when 

 finished, and stamp the weight with a rubber stamp 

 or stencil-plate upon the center of the top-bar, over 

 the glass, that it may show readily when stacked up 

 with glass side exposed to view. The crates would 

 not vary much in weight ; 3 or 4 dilTerent numbers 

 would suffice for each size. We wQuld not go into 

 fractions of ounces, but mark them the next highest 

 quarter, that they may be sure' to be correct. Per- 

 haps you would even say make it half instead of 

 quarters. Any way to suit the brethren ; but don't 

 forget to mark the tare. A. C. Kendel. 



Cleveland, ()., Aug. li, 1881. 



Why, friend K., you have struck upon a 

 giand thought. I liave got cross and scold- 

 ed several times, just because the boys al- 

 ways would forget to weigh and mark the 

 box before the honey was put in. It never 

 dawned on my understanding before, that 

 we could stamp everv case before it could be 

 used by anybody. We will set about It at 

 once, and every time 1 look on a case I will 

 remember to give you a mental vote of 

 thanks for saving us all a lot of annoyance. 



COMBS FILLED WITH CLOVER HOIVEA', 



INSTE.\I> OF COMBS FlLIiED WITH 



POLLEN. 



fN regard to wintering, I will speak from experi- 

 ence and observation. I have kept bees 14 

 '^^^ years, and have never seen bees die with dysen- 

 tery, or, in fact, any other way universally, except 

 i after seasons of abundance of fruit and scarcity of 

 honey in the fall. Now, then, we know that the 

 combs are full of brood to the exclusion of honey 

 and pollen, almost till fall; and if honey is scarce, 

 more pollen will he stored. Have you never noticed 

 ' the. color of the fa?ces? I have often seen them 

 j drop it as clear as water; but when they had dysen- 

 ! tery, it was always yellow. And did you ever know 

 i bees with dysentery when it was any other color 

 j than yellow? But I have seen it white when they 

 had no dysentery, and were fed with flour. What 

 1 does this argue? Now, from observation I have no- 

 ! ticed that where bees were light in numbers in sum- 

 ! mer, that 1 hey would fill their hives with abundance 



