1906 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



519 



for the lady there. I heard all about the 

 trip some time after. One of the thieves 

 said it was the hottest place around there 

 they were ever in. There was a dearth of 

 honey then, and the bees were cross hybrids, 

 Marceline, Mo., Dec. 18. Irving Long. 



[In most States there is a very heavy 

 penalty against stealing honey from a hive. 

 Apparently you know who the parties were. 

 In the interest of law and order you should 

 place the matter before the authorities. 

 Such petty thievery, if not checked at the 

 very start, will keep going on.— Ed.] 



SHIPPING COMB HONEY BY EXPRESS. 



I have been puzzled and astonished be- 

 cause of the damaged condition of comb 

 honey that came from New York by ex- 

 press. The honey runs out in all directions 

 from the case, making trouble without end. 

 It looks as though the case had been set on 

 a hot stove. It has happened many times. 

 Should not the express company know how 

 to take care of comb honey? 



Rudolph Lichtuer. 



Milltown, N. J., Nov. 27. 



[We do not recommend sending small 

 shipments of honey by express, although we 

 do make such shipments. The hurry of un- 

 loading from an express car often results in 

 breaking down the combs. Better send 

 a dozen or more cases by freight, and crate 

 them so there will be handles at both ends. 

 In the bottom of the crate put a loose layer 

 of straw to cushion the load. A crate of 

 cases weighing 100 or 200 lbs. or so will be 

 handled more carefully than a single case 

 that weighs only 25 lbs. Send your own 

 man and team or go with the drayman your- 

 self to insure careful handling of the honey 

 when it arrives at the freight office. — Ed.] 



beginner's questions. 

 As I am just starting in bee-keeping I 

 should be much pleased with answers to the 

 following questions: 



1. Will an Alley queen and drone trap 

 confine or cage a virgin queen as well as a 

 laying queen? I have one hive of bees that 

 I want to let swarm twice naturally, and I 

 was wondering if, after the second swarm, I 

 could put such a trap on the hive and pre- 

 vent the queen leaving with a third swarm. 



2. Do bees get any honey from wild cher- 

 ry or chestnut blossoms? 



3. When wintering bees out on the sum- 

 mer stands should I leave the hive up from 

 the ground with no protection on the bottom 

 so the wind can sweep right through under 

 the hive, or should I have my winter case or 

 windbreak come to the ground on all except 

 the front side? 



4. Will you tell me something just as 

 good af wheat chaff to make cushions of to 

 cover the frames in winter? 



5. Is it a gord plan to slant a wide board 

 up in fr.nt of the hives in winter to pre- 

 vent the wind from blowing directly in the 



front of the hive, or is it more essential to 

 have the sun on the front and entrance of 

 hive than it is to keep the wind out? 

 Girard, Pa. Norton C. Miller. 



[1. Yes. 



2. Yes, some seasons and in some locali- 

 ties. 



3. Put the hive on a hive-stand, then put 

 the winter- case over the hive-stand so that it 

 comes down no lower than will just clear 

 the entrance in front. 



4. Almost any loose dry material is as 

 good as wheat chaff. Planer shavings, dry 

 forest leaves, and excelsior answer as ex- 

 cellent substitutes. 



5. The plan of putting a board over the 

 entrance to shut off the direct rays of the 

 sun on cool days and blast of wind is excel- 

 lent. When the weather is too cool for the 

 bees to fly, it is not desirable to have the 

 simlight strike the entrance. —Ed.] 



WHAT CAN BE EXPECTED FROM THE BEES ? 



I am a novice in bee-keeping, and desire 

 to ask a question. What is considered a 

 fair or average income from an apiary of a 

 hundred colonies if fairly well managed, and 

 in, say, a good field, practically wild flow- 

 ers, a range of low valley, and medium up- 

 land? How many colonies can one man at- 

 tend? J. C. Bretsford. 



Berwyn, Md., Nov. 15, 1905. 



[This is a large question. It would be al- 

 most impossible to give a satisfactory ans- 

 wer in a brief footnote, and I would, there- 

 fore, refer you to the general subject of 

 Profits in Bees, as given in our A B C of 

 Bee Culture. I may say in a general way, 

 however, that a fair average per colony is 

 about 35 lbs. of comb honey and 50 of ex- 

 tracted. On this basis an apiary of 100 col- 

 onies would give a gross income of from $300 

 to $400. From this amount, of course, would 

 have to be subtracted time spent on the 

 bees, and cost of any supplies in the way of 

 sections and shipping-cases, or other honey- 

 packages to put the product on the market. 

 To that cost should be added the 10-per-cent 

 on the total value of the bees, hives and all. 



An expert bee-keeper with 100 hives, if 

 engaged in some other occupation, might, 

 nights and mornings, so manage the bees 

 that the labor item could be cut out of the 

 calculation— especially so if the work of the 

 bees were a recreation. In that case the 

 net income would be materially larger.— 

 Ed.] 



who pays for the winter supply of su- 

 gar syrup? 



If I took some bees to work on halves, I 

 to get half of increase, honey, etc., for one 

 year, and as there was no increase, no hon- 

 ey, nothing, and they have got to be fed or 

 there will be no bees at the end of the year, 

 who should buy the sugar for them if I keep 

 them ano*her season? or, in either case, if I 

 do or don't? A Shuscrirer. 



Brignton, Col. 



