388 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



Dec. 7, 



If you should be nervous or fear rob- 

 bing whilst transferring, make a 

 smoke to your windward so that it 

 will pass over the open air. 



And now, one word of caution, just 

 here, to the novice : we will say that 

 our judgment dictates feeding back 

 the honey, especially if it is done at a 

 time when there is none coming in. 

 When you have fed back all your 

 honey (which I think ought to be fed 

 at intervals), you will lind that your 

 queen has been doing her best to breed 

 up, and as a consequence, she is and 

 will be depleting her stores. Guard 

 against this by after feeding, and see 

 that they do not want, for she will 

 very likely have a large family on her 

 hands. 



I will remark that this plan has 

 worked so well with me that really, 

 when it is through, you feel like there 

 is something else yet to come, but you 

 wonder what it is. You look at your 

 hive — you see no robbing, and if there 

 is anything to work on, you will see 

 the bees go and come with so little 

 excitement about their home, that it 

 really seems that nothing has hap- 

 pened. 



From Western Stock Journal and Farmer. 



Report on Bees— 1881. 



O. CLUTE. 



I began the season with 30 colonies 

 which had survived the fearful winter, 

 but were by no means strong. Most 

 of these were Italians, having queens 

 grown the previous year from an im- 

 ported mother bought of Mr. Dadant. 



My hive is the Simplicity. All 

 hives are exactly alike. Hives are so 

 made that one can be set on top of 

 another, so as to make a hive two or 

 more stories high. My frame is the 

 Gallup, just ID4 inches square. 



Believing that it would be more 

 profitable to increase my bees than to 

 get surplus honey this year, I planned 

 the season's work mainly with this 

 view, expecting to get only so much 

 honey as could be secured while mak- 

 ing a large increase. 



In order to secure straight worker 

 combs, and to save the time and honey 

 consumed by the bees in making wax, 

 I used nearly 200 lbs. of comb founda- 

 tion. 



An attempt was made to prevent all 

 natural swarming. It was not en- 

 tirely successful, for 3 colonies issued, 

 one of which left for parts unknown. 

 In making my increase, I practiced 

 the nucleus system of swarming. 



It was my purpose to increase in 

 such a way as to have about doubled 

 soon after white clover should open; 

 then, if possible, keep them at work 

 without any attempt at further in- 

 crease of colonies until after linden 

 and white clover were gone ; then 

 again to double the number and get 

 all in as good condition as possible to 

 gather the fall harvest. I was able to 

 do a little better than I had planned. 



Because it seemed easier when I 

 was working tor increase of colo- 

 nies, to get my surplus in the shape of 

 extracted honey rather than comb 

 honey, I determined to make no effort 

 for comb honey, but depend entirely 

 on extracting for my surplus. 



This year " winter lingered long in 

 the lap of spring." Great snowbanks 

 were on my lawn until April 10. 

 April ]■">, the bees, which for more than 

 5 months had been in the cellar, were 

 set out. April 17, they began to bring 

 in pollen. At a single bound the 

 weather passed from winter to sum- 

 mer. The last half of April and all 

 of May the weather was warm and 

 clear. There was hardly a day on 

 which the bees could not fly. The 

 spring bloom was profuse. Willows, 

 elms, maples, cotton-woods, box-el- 

 ders, cherries, apples and raspberries 

 opened in rapid succession, and gave 

 sufficient honey and pollen to keep up 

 brood-rearing and to allow a little to 

 be stored. Honey from raspberries 

 had ceased but a short time before the 

 earliest white clover was open. Soon 

 the fields were covered with its starry 

 carpet of green and white, but ft 



yielded honey only moderately. At 

 no time during the season did it yield 

 so largely as is sometimes reported. 

 Linden gave an abundance of bloom 

 and it seemed to yield honey, but sev- 

 eral rainy and windy days kept the 

 bees in the hives, and washed the 

 honey from the bloom. It yielded but 

 a moderate surplus. White clover 

 continued to yield in small quantities 

 after linden was gone, the season 

 seeming to be prolonged by copious 

 rains. After the middle of July the 

 weather became dry, but the ground 

 was so saturated that the clover con- 

 tinued to bloom for some time. The 

 dry weather was severe and long-con- 

 tinued. Very little rain fell for 

 weeks. I had expected that there 

 would be scarcely any fall blooom, and 

 no fall honey worth mentioning. But 

 the reverse was the case. We had a 

 heavy Hood in the Iowa river about 

 July 12. The water swept everything 

 before it. The bottom lands were 

 cleaned of all crops and weeds. Then 

 heartsease grew up in great profusion. 

 There were many acres of it. It be- 

 gan to yield soon after white clover 

 ceased. The flow from it was not very 

 copious, but it was steady. Frosts 

 held off for full a month longer than 

 usual, and during this added month 

 the days were mostly clear and warm. 



From the 30 colonies I increased to 

 140. I took 2,500 lbs. of honey, nearly 

 all extracted. The honey is selling at 

 15 cents a pound. The crop is worth 

 $375. The bees are worth $8 a colony, 

 making the 110 colonies of increase 

 worth $880. Total, $1,255. My ex- 

 penses for hives, frames, foundation, 

 paint, labor and sundries were $305, 

 giving a net gain of $950. My bees in 

 the spring were worth $10 a colony, 

 or $300 for the 30 colonies. The gain 

 has therefore been 316 per cent. But 

 the winter is yet to come, and it is 

 quite possible that it may bring dire 

 disaster to my "blessed bees." In 

 the spring I will report my method of 

 wintering, and its success or failure. 



Iowa City, Iowa, Dec. 1, 1881. 



For the American Bee Journal. 



Our Bee and Honey Report for 1881. 



L. C. ROOT & BRO. 



In giving the results of our present 

 season's operations we desire to say, 

 first, that such results could only be 

 attained under very favorable circum- 

 stances. Such reports without expla- 

 nation may easily lead the uninformed 

 to engage in the business expecting 

 similar results at once. Bee-keeping, 

 like all other pursuits, must be made 

 a study, and it can only become a suc- 

 cess by close application. 



We commenced in the spring with 

 160 colonies, most of them in good 

 condition. As is generally known, the 

 early spring was very unfavorable for 

 all operations with bees; in fact, we 

 have never, with one exception, seen 

 a more discouraging outlook. 



During fruit bloom the weather 

 was very favorable, and from that 

 time everything was unusually so. 



Our bees were located in 4 places, 40 

 colonies in each ; one apiary 7 miles 

 north, one 4 miles south, and one 7 

 miles southeast. Upon this point of 

 locating bees, the number of colonies 

 that should be kept in one place, etc., 

 an entire article might be prepared. 

 By the adding of combs at proper 

 tmes and by thorough attention, our 

 colonies became extremely populous. 



If space would allow, we might con- 

 sider a question at this time which is 

 of extreme importance to every bee- 

 keeper, namely, that of increase. 



We will simply say that with us 

 there have been two seasons during 

 the past 10 years, when our stock 

 might have been doubled and at the 

 same time more surplus have been se- 

 cured than to hold all of the force to 

 the original colonies. With the un- 

 certainty of a continued yield of 

 honey, we find that we must be in 

 readiness to secure honey rapidly du- 

 ring any short period that it may be 

 afforded. Our conclusion is that, for 

 our location, very moderate if any in- 



crease is preferable ; we have there- 

 fore made no increase. When extrac- 

 ted honey is secured, swarming is 

 easily controlled. We do not advise 

 the entire prevention of increase, for 

 the average bee-keeper. Probably 

 most beginners will succeed best with 

 a moderate increase, but we advise 

 that it be limited to at most one col- 

 ony from each good colony even in 

 best seasons. 



Let us say that the combs we had 

 packed away which contained the 

 honey gathered late in the fall pre- 

 vious, proved of great value. A nice 

 comb containing 3 to 5 pounds of 

 honey with the cappings broken by 

 rubbing a knife over it and then placed 

 in the center of a strong colony, would 

 be rapidly emptied, and the cells 

 would be readily occupied by the 

 queen. 



By June 1, clover and raspberries 

 afforded honey bountifully ; in fact, 

 we have never known clover to yield 

 so much honey. We extracted our 

 first honey to any extent June 28. 

 We will give the results of our best 

 apiary: June 28. 1,500 lbs.; July 9, 

 2.5751bs.; 16.2.0001bs.; 25,26.3,140 lbs.; 

 late honey, 512 lbs. Total, 9,727 lbs. 



From one colony of best Italian bees 

 at our home apiary, we took as fol- 

 lows : June 25, 96 lbs.; July 4,62', 

 lbs.; July 8, 114 lbs.; July 12,66 lbs.; 

 July 19, 40 l -.nbs.; July 22, 36 lbs.; Aug. 

 5, 42 lbs.; A~ug. 27, 27 lbs. Total, 484 

 lbs. June 26, this colony gathered 

 over 20 pounds during the day. July 

 10, the hive was weighed at intervals 

 during the day, showing results as fol- 

 lows: At 1 p. m. 155 lbs.; at 4 p. m. 

 160 lbs.; at 5 p. m. 163 lbs.; at 6 p. m. 

 166 lbs.; at 7 p. m. 171l£ lbs. 



Our entire yield from the four apiar- 

 ies was 32,809 lbs. With one extrac- 

 tor we took in one day 2,760 lbs. This 

 we believe to be the largest amount 

 of honey ever taken in one day with 

 one extractor. 



Our fall yield of honey was almost 

 entirely cut off by the extreme drouth. 

 AVe have never secured a finer quality 

 of honey than during the present 

 season. 'Our bees, as well as bftes in 

 general, go into winter quarters in 

 very good condition. On Nov. 17, 

 they had a free flight. We placed 

 them in winter quarters on Nov. 21 

 and 22, which practically closes the 

 season of 1881. 



We give this report to induce a more 

 thorough examination of the best 

 methods of bee-keeping ; the advan- 

 tages for so doing may be found on 

 every hand. Besides the bee periodi- 

 cals devoted exclusively to this in- 

 terest, every agricultural paper of 

 note in the land has its bee-keeping 

 department, noting the various ope- 

 rations of advanced bee-culture. 



It is a matter of greatest surprise to 

 us that, with these opportunities 

 which may be so easily taken advan- 

 tage of, so many may be found who 

 are yet contented to keep bees in box 

 hives and in the old way. 



Mohawk, N. Y., Nov. 25, 1881. 



For the American Bee Journal. 



The Disposal of Honey. 



JAMES IIEDDON. 



I wish to say to Mr. Geo. W. House, 

 that I still believe I am right in say- 

 ing that buyers are " bears," and com- 

 mission men "bulls." Dealers like 

 low prices, because it increases sales, 

 commission men desire to sell our 

 goods at high prices, because it satis- 

 fies us better, and insures to them our 

 consignments, thus increasing their 

 sales. The bee-keeper spoken of by 

 Mr. House on page 380, should have 

 limited the selling power of that linn 

 to stipulated prices, and if they would 

 not be limited, it would have shown 

 they were not the right firm. If ever 

 the demand for honey becomes staple 

 (which I still am in doubt about), then 

 the wholesaler may do as well by us as 

 the commission man. But, as Mr. 

 House aptly says, " Facts are of great 

 value." 



For the past 15 years we have had 

 one or more wholesale buying bouses 



in Chicago— houses offering to buy a 

 commodity that had no fixed and reg- 

 ular price. They bought the honey of 

 the inexperienced, but finally we found 

 that the commission houses could and 

 did sell to them and others for 20 to 40 

 per cent, more than they would offer 

 us. and consequently the commission 

 men have the trade to-day. It is no 

 infrequent thing to find these commis- 

 sion men selling odd lots for these 

 buyers. So much for comb honey. 



How about extracted ? Commission 

 men handle this but little in Chicago. 

 Buyers have control of this style of 

 bee product. Look at the prices. 

 Comb honey 20(a22c. : extracted honey 

 9c. We have been told that extracted 

 honey was reaily worth the most ; was 

 all pure honey — no indigestible wax to 

 swallow. How long is it going to take 

 consumers to find this out? 



Does it not seem to argue that if 

 honey is a staple, or anything like it, 

 comb honey is really worth more than 

 twice as much as extracted? If it is 

 not, then honey is nowhere near a sta- 

 ple yet. How is it — which way shall 

 we have it? Oris it that one being in 

 the hands of commission men, and the 

 other in the hands of buyers, makes 

 all this difference r" 



Witli the use of our best comb foun- 

 dation, I feel sure there is no such dif- 

 ference in the cost of production, and 

 if in this I should be mistaken, and 

 cost of production should be urged as 

 the argument, then it follows that the 

 demand is below the supply, for such 

 a state of things gives all the favors 

 to the consumer. If the benefits aris- 

 ing from the invention of the honey 

 extractor are. all in the hands of the 

 consumer, t lien it must be that demand 

 does not keep up with the supply, or 

 that the product is being badly han- 

 dled, or something is wrong, some- 

 where. Where is it — in my reasoning, 

 or where V Why not tell us now ? 



Beesare flying lively to-day (a month 

 or more later than last season), and 40 

 colonies put into cellar a week ago are 

 still as death. If this winter continues 

 with its present characteristics, will 

 not cellars get into disrepute again V 



Dowagiac, Mich., Nov. 30, 1881. 



[Our correspondent evidently labors 

 under a misapprehension of the mean- 

 ing of the word "staple." Webster 

 defines it : 



2. Established in commerce ; settled ; as n sta- 

 ple trade. 



3. According to the laws of commerce ; fit to be 

 sold. 



4. Regularly produced or made for market ; 

 chief ; principal ; as atujtle commodities. 



It is used with the same signification 

 in commercial parlance. It does not 

 follow that the price for different 

 grades should be uniform, or even pro- 

 portionate one to the other ; if honey 

 commands a ready sale, and is quoted 

 in the price-lists as marketable, it has 

 become a staple, even though one kind 

 or grade brings triple the price of an- 

 other. That commission men handle 

 one kind and jobbers another, makes 

 it none the less a staple. 



In regard to uniformity in price, one 

 with another, we find honey is no ex- 

 ception to the general rules of com- 

 merce. There is also less variation 

 in figures, taken onecity with another, 

 than in almost any staple article. 



That there is an unjust difference 

 in the prices of comb and extracted 

 honey may be true ; it may be equally 

 true that, reckoning failures with suc- 

 cesses, comb honey costs more than 

 double as much as extracted, by the 

 time it is placed upon the market — 

 that is, take the total production, ad- 

 ditional freight charges and destruc- 

 tion in handling, combined with its 

 lesser production, might make the 

 difference. 



But there are many other reasons 

 for the disproportion in prices, chief 

 among which (as none knows better 



