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THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



For tbe Amerlcim Bee Joumak 



My Report for 1885. 



B. F. WOODCOCK. 



As I have kept a strict account of 

 the expenses and receipts of my 

 apiary during tlie season of 1885, it 

 may not be uninteresting should I 

 present it for inspection. 



Mv number of colonies in the fall 

 of 188-i was 37 ; in the spring of 1885, 

 34 ; I then doubled them down to 30. 

 I credited my apiary with the follow- 

 ing: 



134.5 lbs. comb honey at 1.5c $201 7.5 



1710 lbs. extracted honey at 10c 171 00 



4 Italian colonies sold 26 00 



1 hybrid colony sold 6 00 



I am not permitted to count my in- 

 crease, $3{i8.so I have kept bees for 

 nine years, and there has been but 

 one year out of the nine in which the 

 bees did not give me 50 per cent, 

 better results tnan anything on the 

 farm. If any one wishes to know 

 bow I managed my bees to get over 

 100 pounds per colony, spring count, 

 in an average season, the informa- 

 tion will be freely given. 

 Pleasantville, <? Iowa. 



Total $404 7.5 



In addition to the above I think I 

 should be safe in counting my in- 

 crease, as I had them out for a (light 

 a few days ago, and every colony was 

 alive, and in tine condition. I had 36 

 swarms, but I sold some and doubled 

 down the rest to 28. This would, at 

 $5 per colony, add $140, making 

 $•544.7.5. Our good friend, Dr. Miller, 

 can count the swarms or not, but if 

 he does not, we will make them count 

 next summer. 



It may be asked, " But did you pay 

 out no money V" Yes, and here are 

 the figures : 



30 lbs. of foundation $ 9 75 



6-50 1-lb. sections 3 2-5 



300 2-lb. sections 2 00 



Glass, nails, tacks, etc 2 00 



1 keg of white lead & 2 gals. oil. 3 00 



Oil-cloth 1 00 



20 Langstroth hives in the flat. . 12 50 

 Honey- pails not returned to 

 stores 2 45 



Fop tbe American Bee Journal, 



JoMsoii Co,, InL CoiiTeiitioii, 



Total $35 95 



I do not charge up the remaining 8 

 hives necessary for the swarms, since 

 they were kept over from the previous 

 year, and had been charged up to that 

 year's honey account. 



Some may inquire, " How about 

 vour honey-crates and kegs V" The 

 bees were charged with and paid for 

 the crates several years ago; and 

 when I sell a keg of honey I charge 

 the purchaser with the keg. 



'■How do you get 10 cents per pound 

 for all your extracted honey, when we 

 are glad to get 8 cents, and throw the 

 keg in?" I do it by having worked 

 hard for seven years to create a home 

 market. I liever have shipped a 

 pound of comb honey, and very little 

 extracted. I sell most of the ex- 

 tracted honey at my door in 3 to 5 

 gallon jars, the customer in almost 

 every case buying the jar along with 

 the honey, and that at aproHttome, 

 as I buy them by the wholesale. The 

 honey is all sold except about 2-50 

 pounds, and I could sell that in half a 

 day by hitching up tlie ponies and 

 going out with it ; but it is not neces- 

 sary as it will all be taken away from 

 the honey-house long before new 

 lioney is on the market. 



The way I figure it, my bees have 

 given me $.508.80 for my pains ; or, if 



The Johnson County, Ind., Bee- 

 Keepers' Association met at Frank- 

 lin, Ind., on April 3, 1886, with Pres. 

 Hall in the chair. About liO bee- 

 keepers were present, and the con- 

 vention was an enthusiastic one. 

 Pres. Hall delivered his annual ad- 

 dress, on " The Bible Bee." 



The following officers were elected : 

 President, C. H. Hall, of Franklin; 

 Vice-President, W. W. McCaslen, of 

 Franklin ; Secretary, L. 11. Jackson, 

 of Urmeyville ; and Treasurer, Phebe 

 J. Kelly, of Franklin. 



Prof. D. A. Owen then read an 

 interesting essay on " The Benefits of 

 Bee-Keepers' Associations." The fol- 

 lowing experiences were given : 



H. H. Luyster— I first commenced 

 bee-keeping with the box-hive. I 

 made a failure of it, and in a few 

 years lost all my bees. In 3 or 4 years 

 I tried it again with the Langstroth 

 hive, and I have since been moderately 

 successful. 



A. T. Kelly— I have 27 colonies in 

 Langstroth hives. Bees have win- 

 tered well. 



L. R. Jackson— I have lost 5 out of 

 6 colonies of my Syrians. The Ital- 

 ians have wintered without loss. 



G. Kerlin— I had 30 colonies last 

 fall, and I think they are all alive 

 now. I give no protection to them, 

 and lose but few bees. 



H. Williams— I protect my bees by 

 a tight fence on the west side of the 

 apiary, and a shed over the hives, 

 filling the upper stories with leaves to 

 absorb the moisture. 



W. W. McCasleh— I give my bees no 

 protection. I wintered them in a 

 house one winter and lost all of my 

 bees, and now I prefer to leave them 

 on the summer stands. 



H. H. Luyster— I winter my bees 

 without protection. This winter I 

 left the boxes on a part of them, and 

 the hive-covers of 2 colonies were so 

 warped that they had strong upward 

 ventilation, yet they are in good con- 

 dition. 



John Tilson — I put part of my bees 

 into the cellar, and they have used 

 less than lialf as much honey as the 

 ones left on the summer stands. They 

 are all living and in good condition. 

 I do not believe that bees will freeze. 

 They may chill so that they cannot 

 move the" cluster to the honey, and 

 starve with plenty of honey in the 

 hive. 



F. L. Dougherty- Bees have win- 

 tered well wherever I have been. I 

 have tried wintering both in the 



cellar and out-doors, and I prefer 

 leaving them on the summer stands. 

 During my father's life we built a 

 large cellar for our bees, and the first 

 winter we did not lose a colony. The 

 next winter we placed the bees in 

 the cellar and lost all ; since that I 

 have tried every way that I have 

 heard of, and I find nothing that 

 suits me as well as to lay sticks across 

 the frames to hold the quilts up, and 

 cover with forest leaves. I do not 

 believe that bees will freeze as long as 

 they can get to the honey. They may 

 become chilled, and to all appearance 

 be dead, and remain in this condition 

 for 24 hours, and then if they are 

 warmed and fed they will live. 



Prof. Owen— I would like to know 

 if our bee-keepers generally keep a 

 record of their bees, and know the 

 condition and the work of each colony. 

 I believe it very essential that this 

 should be done. If we wish to suc- 

 ceed in any business we must know 

 what we are doing. 



F. L. Dougherty— I keep a record 

 of my bees. 



L. R. Jackson— I also keep a record 

 of my bees, the age of the queens, and 

 the amount of honey taken from each 

 colony. 



Adjourned till 2 p.m. 



AFTERNOON SESSION. 



The convention was called to order 

 at 2 p.m., Pres. Hall in the chair. 



On the subject of " Spring feeding 

 of bees," Mr. F. L. Dougherty said— 

 I would not feed to stimulate breed- 

 ing. If the bees are short of stores, 

 feed enough at once to last them. 



L. R. Jackson— Do bees hibernate ? 

 Prof. Owen says that they do not ; 

 some others say positively that they 

 do. I have never found them in a 

 condition that I would call hibernat- 

 ing. 



Pres. Hall — That depends upon 

 what is meant by '" hibernating." 

 More than -3 of the discussions of 

 this subject; come from not under- 

 standing the true definition of the 

 term used. If it is meant exactly 

 what the word really means, they do 

 not hibernate. 



F. L, Dougherty— A few— only a 

 few— claim that bees hibernate ; but 

 they have been downed at every point 

 of their argument. It seems to me 

 an easy thing for any one to settle 

 this question in his own mind. 1 have 

 opened a hive of bees every day in 

 the year, and have never found them 

 in a condition to be called hibernat- 

 ing. The least jar will cause the bees 

 to move, which they would not do if 

 they were hibernating. 



PREPARING FOR THE HONEY-FLOW. 



Pres. Hall— I put the boxes on and 

 let the bees get ready themselves. I 

 do not pretend to know how it should 

 be dome. 



A. T. Kelly— I put the boxes on 

 when the bees begin to whiten the 

 combs in the brood-chamber. 



F. L. Dougherty— I do not know^ of 

 any better general rule than that 

 given by Mr. Kelley. I can tell from 

 the hum of the bees when they are 

 getting a surplus of honey, and then 

 give more room ; but not too much at 



