814 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



June 15 



rescue. Indeed, a cry of pain from an in- 

 jured bee is quite liable to be followed by a 

 sting or two from other bees. — Ed.] 



GOOD REPORT FROM A NORTHERN- 

 MICHIGAN BEE-KEEPER. 



A PHOTOGRAPH OF A LIVE BEE SIPPING 

 NECTAR FROM A PETUNIA-BLOSSOM. 



BY D. E. LYON. 



The accompanying illustrations are of a 

 Caucasian bee sipping nectar from a petu- 

 nia blossom, and of a swarm of bees. The 

 bee on the blossom was alive when I took 

 the picture, and not a dead bee posed for the 



;A CAUCASIAN CAUGHT IM THE VERY ACT. 



occasion. The swarm was one that came 

 from H neighbor's apiary, and clustered on 

 a raspbt rry-bush back of the house. I cut 

 a limb off the bush and hung it over the 

 cl>ihesline to photograph the bees. 

 Rye, N. Y., May 27. 



[It is very difficult to get a live bee on a 

 blossom and catch it with a camera. This 

 is the second time Dr. L\on has succeeded. 

 He is to be congratulated. — Ed.1 



The Importance of Putting the Very Best 

 Honey in the Very Neatest Package. 



BY IRA D. BARTLETT. 



I began my bee-keeping career in 

 the sprmg of 1895, at which time I was 

 eighteen years of age, with one colony pur- 

 chased of a farmer near me. Later on he 

 lost his entire apiary by foul brood. I in- 

 creased to two colonies the first season, win- 

 tering them successfully, and increased to 

 seven the next year. We got no white hon- 

 ey this year, but the buckwheat yield of 

 honey was something unusual. 



All of my seven colonies were well sup- 

 plied for winter, and out of one super on one 

 hive I extracted during the fall flow 175 lbs. 

 I have never since had any thing like it, and 

 during the last three years we have gotten 

 very little if any buckwheat honey. 



I kept increasing until I had upward of 

 100 colonies, buying out several small apia- 

 ries, but never selling any bees. I lost very 

 few colonies during the winter, but in the 

 spring I usually lost some by robbing or 

 dwindling through various causes; and as I 

 always make it a point to keep all good 

 strong colonies during the honey flow I 

 would unite my smallest swarms with some 

 rather weak colony, and get them ready for 

 the surplus boxes. 



It would be almost impossible to tell here 

 how I manage; but I can simply say that I 

 learn to know my bees and try to give them 

 just what they require. Of course, I have 

 to run over the yard often, but it pays. 



I have averaged about 100 lbs. to the col- 

 ony one year with another. My best year 

 was 1902, when I averaged through the yard 

 160 lbs. I sell my honey to the merchant 

 almost entirely, putting up the extracted in 

 glass, and my comb I pack in the no-drip 

 shipping-case, 24 sections to the case. 



I winter by packing my bees in a special 



AN APIARY THAT AVERAGES 100 LBS. OF HONEY PER COLONY. 



