1881 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



557 



for not doing any better. We hope to see it graded 

 1st, 2d, and 3d quality, and marked so we can tell 

 without opening. Favor & Dudley. 



Boston, Mass., Sept. 16, 1881. 



WHAT A GOOD COLONY 13 WORTH. 



I found one of my colonies of bees in so good con- 

 dition in the spring that I concluded to carefully 

 weigh the lioney as I extracted from it, keeping it 

 separate until after weighing, and before the dry 

 weather had stopped their gathering. I took 233 lbs. 

 from the upper story alone, leaving them all they 

 had in the lower storj' for their winter stores. I re- 

 port this to show that one colony in such good con- 

 dition is worth half a dozen in poor or bad condi- 

 tion. Wm. McCord. 



Oxford, O., Oct. 10, 1881. 



m^euvagmg. 



REPORT FROM C. C. MILLER. 



■N my home apiary, the number of colonics in 



spring was - - 55 



Increased 78 per cent to - - - - 98 



Took lbs. comb honey, - ... - 6376 



" " extracted honey, - - - - 200 

 In the Wilson Apiary,— 



No. colonies in spring, 12 



Increased 575 per cent to - - - - 81 



Took lbs. comb honey, 112 



" " extracted honej', ... me 



Taking both apiaries together,— 

 I had in spring, -.-... .07 

 Increased 107 per cent to .... 179 



Took lbs. comb honey, 6488 



" " extracted honey, .... 1310 



Total lbs. honey, 7804 



or 116^4 lbs. honey for each colony, spring count. 

 Coming directly after a year of disastrous failure, I 

 feel deeply grateful to God for the success of this 

 year. C. C. Miller. 



Marengo, 111., Sept. 24, 1881. 



We are very grateful iideetl too, friend M.; 

 but your brief report is almost as tantalizing 

 as that of the man who explained how he 

 lost his leg, by saying it was " bit off." Did 

 you manage those V2 stocks so as to increase 

 them from 12 to eighty-one yourself, or did 

 Mr. " Wilson " do it, and how was it done, — 

 natural or artificial swarmingV Please tell 

 us all about it. [See p. 534.] 



I commenced in the spring with 7 weak colonies; 

 increased to 21 fine swarms of bees; obtained 2.50 

 lbs. extracted, and 200 lbs. box honey. Sold ex- 

 tracted at 20c, and box honey at 25c per lb. I ob- 

 tained a dollar queen of you in September, 1879, 

 which produced the extracted honey obtained. 

 They are beautiful bees, very gentle; I can handle 

 them at any time without smoke. They have at 

 present two stories filled with honey, and the third 

 story is more than half filled, and honey is coming 

 In yet. My bees are in nice condition for winter, 

 with plenty of young bees and brood. 



Wm. Parmerlee. 



Bean Blossom, Ind., Oct. 12, 1881. 



My bees have done pretty well. Have 1300 lbs. 

 from my 25 hives. Extracted 300 lbs. Box honey, 

 1000. Increased from 18 to 27. J. W. Murray. 



Excelsior, Hennepin Co., Minn., Sept. 26, 1881. 



I have had quite good success with my bees this 

 season (for a greenhorn). I was in Ohio during all 

 of white-clover and basswood, with no one except 

 my daughter to attend my bees during swarming. 

 She saved all the young swarms but one, which left 

 the hive after she had them safely hived, as she sup- 

 posed; yet I increased from 8 in the spring to 23 

 heavy swarms, and secured 400 lbs. of nice fall 

 honey in 1-lb. sections, which is selling for 20c per 

 lb. I have just secured both first and second pre- 

 miums on my honey at the Benton Harbor fair, 

 which I think is doing pretty well for fall honey. 



Wm. L. King. 



Benton Harbor, Berrien Co., Mich., Oct. 6, 1881. 



Or Letters from Those AVtio have ITIade 

 Bee Culture a. Failure. 



IJ^RIEND ROOT:-Youhad a great deal of trou- • 

 Jlpl ble at first, and now I suppose I must go 

 through the same ordeal. Through the kind- 

 ness of the postmaster at Corinth, I received the 

 queen last Saturday, safe and sound; too late, 

 though, to get a queen out that night, so I took one 

 out Sunday morning, which I suppose was wrong. 

 I then put her in, cage and all, 48 hours. I then re- 

 leased her, and they killed her in two minutes. I 

 caged the queen which I took out of the stand, and 

 she died too, so I have a stand queonless. I think 

 there must be something morally wrong in shipping 

 queens to our little villa, as out of 7 there is only 

 one alive, and she is injured from the introduction. 

 I am about disgusted with bees, any way. I have 

 30 stands, for which I will take S60.00; all Simplicity 

 but two. J. S. Baxter. 



Kossuth, Miss., Sept. 28, 1881. 



I have not given my report for last winter. I 

 went into winter-quarters with 24 stands -15 in 

 boxes from 4 to 8 in. thick, crammed with cut hay, 8 

 on summer stands; came out in the spring with 7; 

 have 14 now; got no honey; have had to feed maple 

 molasses to some of the young swarms. I lost more 

 bees in the boxes than on summer stands. I saw 

 some favorable reports from men wintering bees in 

 boxes. I haven't noticed any report from those 

 men this season. I would like to hear from them. I 

 have been in the bee business 3 years. White clover 

 has been a failure all the way through. My bees al- 

 ways do well as long as poplar and locust last. When 

 that is over, all is over. We had an abundance of 

 white clover, but no honey. I have 30 or 40 good 

 hives, never been used, I would like to sell. They 

 cost me $1.50; I will sell cheap. They are well made. 

 They are made after the L. fashion. The frame is 

 the size of the American, hung on rabbets; is made 

 out of the best yellow poplar, well dried. If you 

 want them I will ship them to you at whatever they 

 are worth. I don't want to stack and burn them. I 

 believe I will give my attention to blue grass and 

 cattle. D. F. Steele. 



Gosport, Owen Co., Ind., Oct. 1, 1881. 



Your hi^'es are not of the kind in regular 

 use, friend S., and on that account I fear 

 you will have trouble in finding a purchaser. 

 This is only another illustration of losses 

 that result from each one Avho commences 

 starting out with something different from 



