438 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



I do not belong to that class who 

 cannot " buy a few pounds of founda- 

 tion," as I shall probably use 100 

 pounds of it this season, but not in the 

 brood-nest, as I have experimented 

 until I am satisfied that I use it there 

 only at a loss. 



I have hived between 40 and 50 

 swarms this season in the new Hed- 

 dou hive ; they hfive all built their 

 own combs in the brood-chamber, and 

 I do not think there has enough drone- 

 comb been built to till one hive; while 

 the combs are as straight and true as 

 one could wish. 



Rogersville,^ Mich. 



Read at the Cynthiana. Ky., Convention. 



Hot to make Bee-Keeping ProfltaWe. 



C. F. MUTH. 



The experience of some of the past 

 years has been hard on bee-keepers, 

 as well as on farmers, manufacturers, 

 and every other branch of business. 

 There is,"apparently, an over-produc- 

 tion, or there is no demand, and many 

 times sales could not be made unless 

 at low figures. Business was unprofit- 

 able to manufacturers and merchants. 

 Again, the misfortune of the farmer, 

 i. e., cheapness of produce, was the 

 good fortune of the masses. The ever 

 restless change of time does not allow 

 us to despair ; for, sooner or later, 

 matters will turn again in our favor, 

 and only the week-kneed will fail. 

 The low prices of corn, hogs, etc., be- 

 ing at times in many localities, below 

 the cost of production, should as soon 

 induce farmers to quit, as the low 

 prices of honey should weaken the in- 

 terest of the bee-keeper. We must 

 produce and stimulate consumption. 

 To find a market is, although second- 

 ary, of as great importance as produc- 

 tion, and every individual interested 

 should do his share in this respect. 

 Just as the fruit-farmer or gardener 

 supplies his neighbors,-so should the 

 bee-keeper. He can realize better 

 prices when retailing, and, if his crop 

 is larger than his retail trade requires, 

 let him sell the balance to a dealer. 



The idea advanced by some, to avoid 

 all middlemen, is absurd. A fair 

 dealer, although he cannot do without 

 a profit, takes upon himself a larger 

 amount of work, and is under a 

 heavier expense than most producers 

 imagine ; and he finds a market for 

 more surplus honey than a thousand 

 or more producers could do. It is to 

 the dealer's advantage to obtain good 

 prices, and this re-acts on the pro- 

 ducer, who shares in the profit. Let 

 us, however, expose all adulterations, 

 that our honey may have a respectable 

 name. Some enormous adulterations, 

 which are very profitable to the opera- 

 tors, are practiced in this country; 

 these increase the so-called stock on 

 the market many times, fill the con- 

 sumer with distrust, and create a dull 

 market. Every vocation has its draw- 

 backs and unpleasantness, and bee- 

 keeping cannot be expected to be an 

 exception to this rule. It has proven 

 detrimental to many to confine them- 



selves to bee-keeping alone. The 

 same has been the case with other 

 specialties ; and in order to avoid such 

 disappointments, we should not " haz- 

 zard our fortune on one number." 



Honey has made good headway in 

 proving a table necessity, and is be- 

 coming a competitor with cane-sugar 

 for manufacturing purposes. To pro- 

 duce a full crop should be our object. 

 The best manner in which to accom- 

 plish this is the aim of this article. 



As a number of different bee-keep- 

 ers, with more or less knowledge of 

 the business, are to be reached, and, 

 in order to save repetition, allow me, 

 here, to reproduce an article written 

 by me, some time ago, for the Co7n- 

 mercial Review, which, iilthough in- 

 tended for the beginner, rather than 

 for the experienced bee-keeper, may 

 make the modus operandi of honey- 

 production more comprehensible to 

 many : 



" BEB-IvEEPERS OF THE PRESENT 

 AND PAST." 



When, twenty-five years ago, the 

 bees would swarm it would create an 

 excitement and a sort of feast in the 

 farmer's family. Old and young 

 would ring bells, drum on tin pans, 

 and make as much noise as possible to 

 cause the swarm to settle. When this 

 was accomplished, pater familias 

 would put on his bee-jacket, gauze- 

 wire face in front, tie up his sleeves 

 and trousers, put on a pair of mittens, 

 and carefully approach the swarm. A 

 wliite clotli was spread under the 

 limb or bush on which the swarm had 

 clustered, and a good stroke landed 

 the swarm in the box beneath, which 

 was then placed on the cloth and left 

 there until dark, when a new place 

 was assigned it. The job was consid- 

 ered a good one, if the " king " had 

 been secured. 



The farmer next proceeded to take 

 the honey. All the combs the old 

 colony had built in the upper part of 

 the hive were cutout, placed in crocks 

 or buckets, and taken to market ; or 

 they were broken, the liquid honey 

 pressed through a cloth and preserved 

 for future use. This honey was taken 

 from the hive at a time when the re- 

 maining beeS could least spare it ; as 

 all the old bees, which are the sole 

 honey-gatherers, had left with the 

 swarra, leaving behind them only 

 voung bees, which, for the first eight 

 or ten days, are nurses and comb- 

 builders and do not leave their hives 

 until after that time. Consequently 

 they would starve to death with flow- 

 ers around them ever so full of nectar, 

 if, unfortunately, not enough honey 

 was left in their brood- chamber, to 

 examine which tlie farmer of those 

 days would never have thought of. 



The queen is the only perfectly de- 

 veloped female in the colony, lays all 

 the eggs, and is tlie mother of all the 

 bees. Her fertility is so great that 

 she will lay 3,000 eggs per day when in 

 her glory— i. e., during the time when 

 the coloiiy is prosperous and honey 

 comes in freely. Worker bees are im- 

 perfectly developed females, and do 

 all the work inside and outside of 

 their hive, such as building new 



combs, preparing old ones for the re- 

 ception of eggs or honey, foraging, 

 etc. One can see plainly when they 

 have been cleaning house. They take 

 care of the brood ; supply the larvae 

 with food, and cap the cells over (on 

 the eighth day after the eggs are laid) 

 when the larvse have turned into 

 nymphs— have taken the shape of 

 bees. On the twenty-first day the 

 young bees emerge from the cells. 

 Of tills, also, our good frjend knew 

 nothing. But, a swarm had left, was 

 liived, and the first honey crop had 

 been secured from the old colony. 

 When a swarm issues, the colony has 

 generally made for several days pre- 

 vious, preparations for queen-cells, 

 i. e., they selected a number of cells 

 containing worker eggs, which would 

 ordinarily produce their like ; they 

 build these cells longer and larger, 

 and supply the growing larva; with 

 the necessary food, when, in 16 days 

 after tlie egg is laid, a perfect female, 

 or queen gnaws through the capping. 

 After she has fairly stretched herself 

 and feels comfortable, one can see her 

 running busily over the combs, and 

 wherever she finds a sister's cell she 

 bites it open, and, introducing her 

 stinger, kills the young queen inside. 

 No rival queens are tolerated in a 

 colony. On her fourth, fifth, or sixth 

 day, according to the weather and her 

 own maturity, she takes her bridal 

 flight, and if successful will lay eggs 

 on the second or third day thereafter. 

 Of all this the bee-keeper of old 

 knew nothing; and, if the queen's 

 bridal trip had been unsuccessful, 

 which i's of daily occurrence, he would 

 say the coming fall, that he had had 

 bad luck with his bees, and that the 

 bee-moth got among them. In the 

 fall he had another crop. Every hive 

 would be lifted, one after another, 

 and, while the heavy ones were con- 

 sidei-ed safe for wintering, the light 

 colonies were doomed to the brim- 

 stone pit. His honey would be pressed 

 through a cloth, together with pollen, 

 larvpe, and otiier animal matter, and 

 the combs rendered into wax. An 

 average yield of 15 pounds per colony 

 would be considered a good harvest. 

 Since the introduction of movable- 

 comb hives, honey-extractors, and 

 comb foundation, a system has been 

 attained in bee-keeping. The bee- 

 keeper of the present controls every 

 part of the hive or colony. He knows 

 that a swarm is at the expense of his 

 honey crop, prevents all such desires 

 of the bees, and make his swarms 

 just about the time harvest is over. 

 He does not believe that natural 

 swarms are the best, because he can 

 give his swarms made by division all 

 the young bees they need, as well as 

 all the honey, pollen, combs and a 

 healthy queen, i oinig bees are the 

 nurses and comb-builders. Without 

 them no colony can prosper, and it is 

 herein that a good many err. Bees 

 over 10 days old are foragers, and de- 

 test housework so much that they ab- 

 solutely refuse to accept a new queen 

 when their own is lost, and their at- 

 tempts to rear a new one have failed, 

 and their nurse-bees have become 

 foragers in the meantime. They (the 

 workers) make, however, a desperate 



