694 



AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL, 



Nov. 2, 1899. 



Paul Yiallon— Tjouieiana. 1887— 75 to 100 lbs. comb; 100 to 125 lbs. extracted; 



18^8- uu lbs.; I8y» 80 lbs. extracted. 

 W. Z. Hutchinson— Michigan. 1887— &n lbs. comb; 1889— about 100 colonies. 

 Jas. Heddon- Michigan. 1887—50 lbs. comb, 75 lbs. extracted, and liO percent 



increase in number of c-lonies. 

 O. O. Popnieton— 1>-87, 110 lbs. extracted, in Iowa: 1889-110 lbs., mostly extr'd, 



in Iowa; is98— Nut more than 100 lbs., in Fioiida. 

 R. Wilkin- Calif. 1887- SSlbs.; 1889-75 lbs., mcsliy extracted; about 300colo'8. 

 Mr. Doolittle— New York. 1887—75 lbs. comb, I5'> lbs. extracted (but is on the 



decrease.) 1888—75 lbs. comb; 1889- 801bs.; about 45 colonies, spring count; 



1898-75 to 90 lbs. 



A.J.Cook (in Michigan the first three answers; in California for the last.) 

 1887—50 lbs. comb. 75 lbs. excracied; ih'-8— 5o lbs. comb, loo lbs. extracted is 

 perhais high; I8y9— 75 lbs. until the last 3 years; about 2o colonics. 1898— 

 about 75 lbs., in California. 



C.C.Miller- Illinois. I8s7— 3^^ lbs.; 1889— a little less than 40 lbs.; 200 colo- 

 nies 1898— from 25 to 30 lbs. 



E. France— Wisconsin. 18S7— 103 lbs. extracted for the years 1883-1886 inclu- 

 sive; 1889— lOO lbs.; several hundred colonies; 1898- about 50 lbs. extracted. 



B. E. Hasty- Ohio. 1887— below 20 lbs., in a poor location. 

 Mrs. Harrison— Illinois. 1888—25 lbs. 



H. D. Cutting— Michigan. 1888- 80 lbs., comb. 



J. P. H. Brown- Georgia. 1888-40 lbs.; 1898— 30 lbs. 



Eugene Secor-Iowa. 1888— 50 lbs., comb, 100 lbs., extracted; 1898—50 lbs., if 



properly managed. 

 R. L. Taylor— Mich. 1888—35 to 40 lbs. ; 1898—40 lbs. comb from good colonies. 

 J. B. Pond— Massachusetts. 1888—50 lbs. is perhaps high. 



C. H. Dibbern- Illinois. 1888—40 lbs.; 1898— about40 lbs., himself, 



G. W. Demaree— Kentucky. 1888—50 lbs., not counting the last 3 years; 189s— 



40 to 50 lbs. 

 J. M. Harabfuigh— (Illinois for the first answer. California for the last.) 1888- 



•JO lbs., comb, 75 lbs., ext'd ; 1898— lou lbs. if in the hands of good bee-keepers. 

 H. K. Bnardman— Ohio. 1889—45 to 50 lbs., leaving out the worst seasons. 

 P. H. Blwood— New York. 1889-40 to 50 lbs. 

 A. K. Manum— Vt. 1889— from 500 to i,0(.io colonies; about 18,000 lbs. yearly 



from about 350 colonies during the last lo years. 

 .). A. Green- Illinois. is89— 45 lbs., comb. 90 lbs .extracted; 1898— 25 lbs. 

 J. H. Martin— (while yet in the East > 1889-40 lbs., extracted, about 150 colonies 



The following correspondents answered only in 1898 : 



E. S. Lovesy— Utah. 60 to 70 lbs. W. G. Larrabee- Vt. 40 lbs. 



Jas. A. Stone-lli. 50 lbs. R. C. Aikin— 40 lbs. 



Mrs. J. M.NuIl-Mo. Bo to ino lbs., extracted: 35 tort" lbs., comb. 

 S. T. Pettit— Ont. 125 lbs. extracted, if properly handled; 75 lbs. corab, if prop- 

 erly handled. 

 Rev. M. Mahin— Ind. 25 lbs., taking all bee-keepers into consitleration. 



D. W. Heise- Ont. G9 lbs. tor himself, but probably only 25 lbs. taking all bee- 

 keepers into consideration. 



The first thing- that appears from these fig-nres is how 

 much lower is the yield now than it was 10 years ago. Why 

 it is so would take too much space here to discuss, but the 

 comparison between the 1898 column and the three others 

 tells the tale at once. 



Another point is clearly shown, that is, more honey can 

 be obtained by working" for extracted than for comb. 



The most striking feature is the enormous discrepancy 

 between the maximum yields and the average yields. For 

 instance, Mr, Doolittle gives us a maximum of 566 pounds 

 of extracted and 309 pounds of comb, and in one instance 66 

 pounds brought in in three days by a single colony, and 

 then informs us that his average yield is only 80 pounds. 

 Two causes contribute to the fact. One is the great differ- 

 ence between the colonies composing an apiary ; this shows 

 that our methods, or rather practices, of management could 

 be improved ; there is no reason why the bad colonies 

 should not be as good as the best. The other is the differ- 

 ence between the seasons. As an illustration, the follow- 

 ing from E. France & Son is striking : 



1880- fi.OfXi lbs. from 124 coldnies, about 48 lbs. per colony. 



1881— 4.000 lbs. from 75 colonies, 54 lbs. per colony; increase to 157 colonies. 

 1882—13.000 Ihs. (record loHt): increast to 295 colonies. 



188.3— ■22.05y lbs. from 211 colonies; loo lbs. per colony; (increase not reported.) 



1884—31,489 lbs. from 291 colonies; 109 lbs. per colony. 



18H.5— 30,079 lbs. from 321 colonies; 91 lbs. per colony. 



1880— lo.ooo lbs. from 50 colonies sold ; 200 lbs. per colony. 



188(1- 42.4Ht) Iha. from 396 colonies; lo8 lbs. per colony; increast to 507 colonies. 



1887— 5,' (IN lbs. irntii 41n colonies; 12 lbs. per colony. 



1H,«8— 1I.K24 Ills. Iroin 4:{i colonies; 28 lbs. per colony; increast to 588 colonies. 



1889—2(1,070 lbs. Jroiu 531 colonies; 49 lbs. per colony. ■ 



1890— 3,125 lbs. from 049 colonies. 4 lbs. per colony; increast to 661 colonies. 



1891— 30,0()(_) lbs. from .'">80 colonies: about 52 lbs. per colony. 



1892- no surplus. G2i) colonies— fed 14 barrels sugar. 



1893— 41,42."> lbs. from 323 c(»lonies; 129 lbs. per colony. 



1894— 3,71-10 lbs. frc^m 4_'() coldnies; about 9 lbs. per colony. 



1895— no surplus; fed 7 barrels sugar and killed 160 colonies to save feeding. 



This from Mr. Stolljey is perhaps still more to the point : 



These reports need no commentarj' about showing the 

 difference between seasons. 



The following is R. C. Aikin's report (in Colorado) for 

 1890 ; swarming was prevented by removing the queens : 



2 colonies gave 28 lbs. each. 



2 colonies gave r.6 lbs. each. 

 12 colonies gave ^4 lbs. each. 

 37 colonies pave 1 12 lbs. each. 

 44 colonies gave 140 lbs, each. 



]9 colonies gave lfi« lbs. each. 

 H colonies gave 19fi lbs. eaco. 

 ri colonies gave 224 lbs. each. 

 1 colony gave '2o2 lbs. 



Only supers full (of 28 pounds each) were counted. The 

 135 colonies were increast to 285. The flow lasted only 50 

 days. Of the 2 colonies which gave only 28 pounds each, 

 one swarmed and the other superseded its queen at the time 

 she ought to have been laying the most. 



The following is Mr. Jones' (an old correspondent of 

 Gleanings in Bee-Culture) record of a hive on scales, and 

 weighed daily during the basswood flow, three years in 

 succession : 



1889. 



July 11 



" 12 (wet nay) 



..gain of 7 lbs. 

 •• Ifi ■■ 



14 



15 



Ifi (supers full). 

 17 



IH 



19 



20 



21 



22 



23 



24 



2<i 



20J^" 



in •• 



9 " 



19 " 



2B " 



19 " 



22 " 



21 " 



Total 

 Average, IGrJilbs per dn.v 



2.=i0 1bs. 

 The aver- 

 age yield per colony for the whole 

 apiary was r)2 lbs., mostly comb. 



1890. 



.Tuly 12 gain of 14 lbs. 



•■ 13 •■ 16 " 



" 14 (supers full)... " 8 " 



"• 15 " 15 " 



" 16 •• 20 " 



" 17 ■' 16 " 



1890. 

 July 1ft gain of 15 lbs. 



16 

 16 

 8 



(Supers full and swarmed.! ■ 



Total 144 lbs. 



Average. 14 2-5 lbs. per day. Average 



yieM lor the whole apiary, 8U lbs., 



mostly extracted. 



1891. 

 July 12 gain of 12 lbs. 



13 



U (rained) . 



12 

 24 



16 

 17 

 13 



Total 149 lbs. 



Average of 16 lbs. per day. leaving 

 out the 14th. Average yield for the 

 apiary, 83 lbs. per colony, extracted. 

 About 130 colonies. 



Mr. L,. E. Mercer's colony on scales (in an 8-f rame hive) 

 gave for 1890 in California : 



April 1 



M.ty 



Total during that period, 351 pounds. From June 12 to July 20 there was a 

 gain of l^j to 2 pounds per day. 



All the above items are taken from Root's " A B C of 

 Bee-Culture," Prof. Cook's "Bee-Keeper's Guide," the 

 American Bee Journal from 1888 to date. Gleanings in Bee- 

 Culture from 1886 to date, and the Bee-Keepers' Review. 



Knox Co., Tenn. 



Notes on Cuban Bee-Keeping-. 



BY H.\RRY HOWE. 



BEE-KEEPING in Cuba is not so very much different 

 from bee-keeping anywhere else. The most important 

 difference is the time of year for the various opera- 

 tions. At present the routine work seems to be about like 

 that for June in New York. It consists in building up 

 nitclei, .swapping brood for honey, and honey for brood, 

 spreading brood, etc. Here, where the nights are always 

 warm, one can spread brood without much danger of chilled 

 brood. 



There is not enough honey as yet in the fields to keep 

 the bees breeding as much as I like, so I am practicing 

 stimulative feeding by putting out honey at one side of the 

 apiary, as I have done at home for several years. Some 

 have thought that the neighbors' bees would getsome of it. 



