1556 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Dec. 15 



I do know this, that quite a number of good 

 bee-keepers requeen every two years, and 

 some say they prefer a qiieen one year old, 

 not because her liees will do any better work 

 in the supers, but because they will be less 

 inclined to swarm. — Ed.] 



Grant Stanley writes that, for four years, 

 he has been using with satisfaction a hive- 

 stand made like mine, only he uses 2x4 stuff 

 "for the bottom, standing them on edge. 

 This makes a stand 5 inches high." If he 

 means he lays a floor on the 2x4's for the 

 bottom-board to stand on, I don't like it. 

 Jf the hive stands directly on the edges of 

 the 2x4"s it's better than uiine. I am thor- 

 oughly convinced that it is a bad thing for a 

 bottom-board to stand flat upon a consider- 

 able surface. The water gets between the 

 two surfaces, and stays there very much as 

 in a sponge, to rot the bottom- board. A 

 good thing might be to have the hive rest 

 upon two rather sharp edges covered with 

 tin to eliminate the sponge business. Or the 

 two edges might be of cement. 



" Is IT TRUE that these off seasons of clover 

 are coming with more painful frequency than 

 formerly? " p. 1484. I didn't sav they were 

 coming with more painful frequency. I do 

 not know that they are any more frequent 

 now than they were 45 year's ago. You say, 

 .Mr. Editor, "We are almost forced to con- 

 clude that clover per heads vields as much 

 nectar as ever." I quite agree with you; I 

 am not almost Ijut altogether forced to that 

 conclusion. "Is it not rather true that there 

 is less of clover owing to intensive agriculture 

 than 20 or 30 years ago? " It is not true in 

 this locality: clover is as plentiful or more so 

 than ever. There are no more bees than for- 

 merly. Your talk about changes has no 

 bearing on the question. All through my 

 bee-keeping life seasons have occurred with 

 painful frequency when the clover blooms 

 and blooms and blooms, all right in appear- 

 ance, but the bees just d(jn't get any honey; 

 and I wish some one could tell us what the 

 trouble is. [It is true that you do not claim in 

 that particular Straw that those off seasons 

 of clover were coming more frequently; but 

 this Straw, taken in connection with some of 

 your others, and some conversation I had 

 with you at one time when we discussed the 

 question why clover did not yield as it used 

 to do in old times, led me to take up the 

 question in a general way — especially so as 

 not a few have claimed that clover did not 

 yield now as it did formerly. If I misunder- 

 stood you in your position." then I stand cor- 

 rected. — Ed.] 



Figures in that New Zealand article, page 

 1488, seem to need some doctoring One 

 statement is that 100,000 colonies in a poor 

 season would produce over 20,000 tons of 

 honey, returning $300,000. Another state- 

 ment IS that 8 tons from 220 colonies was a 

 cautious estimate for a normal season, and 

 that $200 a ton profit was reckoned on. By 

 the first statement the average per colony is 

 400 lbs. in apoor season; by the second state- 

 ment it is 73 lbs. for a normal season. By 



the first statement honey is | cent a pound- 

 by the second statement, 10 cents. All this 

 doubtless refers to extracted honey, and | 

 cent seems very low and 10 cents very high. 

 But I don't know how to doctor it. ["^s, 

 there is evidently a mistake here somewhere! 

 for the two sets of figures are not consistent! 

 Since the writer of the article is, for the most 

 part, telling what Mr. Hopkins has said, it 

 IS quite likely that, somewhere or other, he 

 has made an error. For instance, when he 

 speaks of the 20,000 tons of honey from 

 100,000 colonies, it is quite probable that he 

 meant 2000 tons (English tons). Theamount 

 per colony would then be about 45 pounds, 

 and the price per pound over 6^ cents. With- 

 out doubt he means that the $300,000 is the 

 net gain after all expenses are paid. This 

 would make the selling price of honey very 

 high; but Mr. W. K. Morrison says that the 

 price of New Zealand extracted honey ?> 

 high, and that it is not unusual for it to bring 

 10 or even 12 cents a pound. The second set 

 of figures refers to a specific case, and gives 

 as a result 81 pounds per colony at about 8 

 cents a pound, taking the English ton of 2240 

 lbs. It looks as though this 8 cents were the 

 net price after the expenses for selling had 

 been deducted. — Ed.] 



Where did you get your information, ]\Ir. 

 Editor, that comb honey sells in England for 

 48 cts., p. 1483? The highest I can find in 

 British Bee Journal is only half that. [I ob- 

 tained my information from Mr. W. K. Mor- 

 rison, who has made a study of honey mar- 

 kets the world over, for the statement in 

 question. Referring to the British Bee Jour- 

 nal, page 166, April 26, I find this statment: 

 "Scottish bee-keepers state that last season 

 they had no difliculty in obtaining 1 shilling 

 4 pence (32 cts.) to 1 shilling 6 pence (36 cts.) 

 per lb. for Scotch heather honey, and 7 to 8 

 pence (14 to 16 cts.) per lb. for clover hon- 

 ey." The preceding quotation was from a let- 

 ter from ShawBro., commission men of Lon- 

 don, and referred to extracted honey. Then 

 again, on page 202 of the same journal for 

 May 24, we find this: "Bee-keepers in Scot- 

 land can easily obtain from 1 shilling 4 pence , 

 (32 cts. ) to 1 shilling 10 pence (44 cts.) per 

 lb." This also referred to extracted and to 

 what the bee-keeper obtained, and not what 

 the honey was selling for in London or other 

 principal markets. After it gets there it 

 would retail for 48 cts. at least. If it had 

 been comb honey the price would have been 

 even higher. 



You will note that there is a difference in 

 price between the ordinary clover and heath- 

 er honey, for the former seems to be very 

 highly prized in London, if the quotations 

 mean any thing. 



In regard to clover selling at a lower price, 

 Mr. Morrison says the English clover is apt 

 to be mixed with other less desirable flavors 

 and hence it is lower quality. 



Again, on page 194, May 17, British Bee 

 Journal,! find this: "A bulky barrelful of 

 the past season's Scottish heather honey 

 would have been worth more than a barrel- 

 ful of good Scotch whisky. Although honej 



