1238 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Dec. 1 



the old laying queen from the first, we have 

 kept busy drawing out frames of foundation 

 into nice extracting-combs, and we have also 

 kept them from any desire to swarm by 

 taking their combs of capped brood away as 

 fast as they had some to spare, and giving 

 this brood to this newly made increase. 



In this way of managing your bees you 

 have no swarming to bother with, and at the 

 same time you have increased your 100 colo- 

 nies to 300, and all are in good condition for 

 any harvest that commences after July 4. 



Now, what I consider a fairly good location 

 (and no man ever ought to bother trying to 

 produce honey in a poor location) will fur- 

 nish a surplus of three or four pounds of ex- 

 tracted honey per day for as much as 35 

 days during July and August. This will 

 give us about 100 lbs. per colony, or a total 

 surplus of 30,000 lbs. from our 100 colonies, 

 which we started with in the spring. This, 

 at the wholesale price of 6 cents per lb., 

 brings us $1800. Then we have 200 colonies 

 of an increase, worth about five dollars 

 apiece, 'which gives us $1000 more, or a total 

 income of $2800 from our 100 colonies we 

 started with in the spring. Now we will de- 

 duct the necessary expenses. 



First, $50 for the honey or sugar we fed 

 them to stimulate early breeding; and there, 

 my friends, is the key that unlocks all the 

 rest. Then we have $400 for the expense of 

 new hives filled with foundation for our 200 

 increase ; then the matter of hired help will 

 cost about $125, and the necessary barrels to 

 ship your honey in will cost nearly $100 more, 

 making a total expense of about $675. 

 This, subtracted from your income, leaves 

 a net balance of $2125 — a very nice income 

 for less than six months' labor which is not 

 very hard at any time. 



Now, don't say that this is overdrawn, 

 and borders on the visionary, for I know it 

 is not. I have several times taken a few 

 colonies in the spring and given them special 

 care as I advise in the above, and in every 

 case they have done still better than this. 

 No, my friends, there is nothing in the 

 above that is overdrawm 



The trouble with us all is, we try to keep 

 too many colonies, and in doing so we do 

 not give them the care they ought to have. 

 Some time before spring I will take up 

 this subject again and explain to you how to 

 have surplus laying queens on hand to use 

 in making this large increase, for I intend 

 to prove that this nice income can be mac'e 

 from the 100 colonies without buying any 

 queens to help it along. The man who re- 

 quires 500 colonies to give him an income of 

 $1000 a year is not half as good a bee-keeper 

 as the man who will make that amount or 

 more from 200 colonies. 



Study your business so as to keep fewer 

 bees and better bees, and make more money; 

 also have less idle capital invested; and I 

 know you will have less to worry about than 

 if you continue as many as you are doing. 

 I repeat, study your business until you un- 

 derstand it well for I assure you that igno- 

 rance of any thing connected with our busi- 



ng;' s is f ar!1 more costly than all the bee- 

 uooks and journals we now have. 



Think this subject over well this winter; 

 and when another season comes, have all 

 your plans well laid on a good foundation, 

 the cornerstone of which must be strong col- 

 onies early in the season; and the only way 

 I know of to secure these is to stimulate 

 early breeding by early feeding; then all the 

 rest is easy enough. Don't think for a mo- 

 ment that I advocate taking any steps back- 

 ward — far from it. I like to see men push 

 ahead in their business, and make it a suc- 

 cess, whether it be with 100 colonies or 1000; 

 but in doing so, do as our successful business 

 men do— look well to the amount of capital 

 you have invested; look close to your annual 

 income, and then, with a critic's eye, look 

 to the net profits of your whole business. 



Delanson. N. Y. 



LWhile we must admit that Mr. Alexander 

 has a splendid locality, yet a careful reading 

 of this article shows that he has not lost 

 sight of the importance of the right methods 

 at the right time to get all that is possible 

 out of that locality. Judicious feeding at 

 the right time to get a strong working force 

 of bees is, I believe, a very important factor 

 in his success. 



But when Mr. Alexander tells us that 

 what he would consider a "fairly good lo- 

 cation ' ' is one that will furnish three or 

 four pounds of extracted honey per colony 

 every day for over a month, he almost takes 

 our breath away. The most of us would 

 consider such a locality an extraordinarily 

 good one. Very possibly Mr. Alexander's 

 methods would make an ordinary one or two 



Sound surplus per day swell up to four or 

 ve. 



At all events, this is an article that will 

 bear very careful reading, as it is prelimi- 

 nary to some other very valuable and inter- 

 esting matter from the same writer. He 

 speaks not from the standpoint of theory or 

 guess, but from actual experience with ac- 

 tual results in crops of honey that run away 

 up into the carloads. Such a man com- 

 mands not only our respect but the most 

 careful study of his methods, especially when 

 he is perfectly willing to give all the secrets 

 of his success. 



There may be something in making a good 

 locality out of a poor one; and if that is 

 true, then it is very important for us to 

 know how that may be done.— Ed.] 



PROTECTION FOR SUPERS. 



The Value of Protection; Why Supers 

 be Kept Warm. 



Should 



BY S. SIMMINS. 



If I understand Dr. Miller, he considers 

 that protection can make no difference to 

 the actual weight of honey collected. In my 

 opinion it is the one thing that makes a 

 mountain of difference. I think I can pres- 



