68 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



so abundantly furnislied by these 

 nucleus-hive queen breeders which 

 as a rule give such poor satisfaction, 

 for there is not more than one in 

 every five of such queens worth tlie 

 time and trouble of introducing them. 

 We have tried and tested the queens 

 thus raised to our full and entire 

 satisfaction. It is this nucleus sys- 

 tem which has both ruined the quality 

 of queens and overthrown just and 

 fair prices for good stock. Therefore, 

 we raise a warning voice against all 

 such frauds, no matter whether in 

 queens thus raised, glucose, or any 

 other dishonorable commodity pro- 

 duced by dishonest venders to deceive 

 the unsuspecting. 



Sentiment and Bee-Keepiiig.— "Ilaii 



Columbia " in the Western Agricultur- 

 ist, gives apiarists a bit of her experi- 

 ence, as follows : 



" Of all the liobby folks that I ever 

 saw, bee-keepers are the hobbiest. 

 They all have new inventions, each 

 one so much better than the last, and 

 by the time that lialf of usget this last 

 new thing, and get used to the hang 

 of it, or the slide of it, or the lay of it, 

 as the case may be, behold, it is old 

 and out of date, rejected by all leading 

 bee-keepers. Get the best, get the 

 best, and we go flying from one in- 

 vention to another with a rapidity 

 distracting to sober-minded people. 



When I first began bee-keeping I 

 had the Langstroth hive, with a 

 honey box the size of the hive, and 

 matters seemed , easy and simple 

 enougli ; but that was too much box, 

 it discouraged the bees, and those 

 boxes were cut down to half size, and 

 that lasted one season. Then came 

 the one-pound frames, the prize box, 

 and the section boxes, following each 

 other in quick succession. When I 

 took in honey to sell in small frames, 

 the grocerymen wanted prize boxes ; 

 when the next month I took them the 

 prize box, they wanted section boxes, 

 and now I have the section boxes, but 

 by next season there will be something 

 new. 



" These forty thousand bee-keepers 

 won't let anything alone. As for me, 

 I'm worn out. Tliere seems to be no 

 end to the rabbets and sections, and 

 Cyprian queens. Italians ! was the 

 cry, and now when we all had them 

 and had got used to their ways, they 

 must hatch up a new kind of queen, 

 fresh from the isle of Cyprus. Mr. C. 

 was patient with me for several years, 

 but when he saw there was no end to 

 it, he declares he'll have to build an- 

 other house to hold the bee fixings ; 

 he says it takes more clap-trap and 

 bang-ups to run a hive than it does to 

 run a sawmill. " Why," says he, "my 

 father used to get more honey out of 

 his old bee gums than you do with all 

 your regalia." 



" Then there is another side to bee- 

 keeping that I never can get on — that 

 is the sentimental side. It is the 

 fashion for bee-keepers to say : ' I 

 love my bees, I hate to sell them, I 

 think they recognize me,' etc. I like 

 my Ijees well enough when they be- 

 have themselves, but just as soon as 



one stings me I get mad, and every 

 additional sting makes me madder 

 and madder ; repeating the ten com- 

 mandments or the multiplication table 

 don't prevent — the mad will come." 



What HiTC to Use.— The Hon. L. 

 Wallbridge, in the Canadian Farmer, 

 gives the following advice concerning 

 the hives to be used for comb and ex- 

 tracted honey: 



This is the season of the year in 

 which the bee-keeper should get ready 

 his hives for next summer's cam- 

 paign. To those who have not yet 

 decided upon any particular hive, I 

 would say, have only hives of one 

 pattern in your apiary. 



As to what the proportions of the 

 hive should be depends very much 

 upon the manner in which you intend 

 to manage your bees, or rather in 

 vi'liat way you desire your honey pro- 

 duct to go to market. If you desire 

 box honey or honey in sections, I do 

 not know of a better hive than the 

 Langstroth. As this hive left the 

 hands of the inventor, its size was 

 ^S% inches long, U^j inclies wide and 

 7;a inclies deep, all inside measure- 

 ments, and contained ten frames, 

 cube contents 2563 inches. Many use 

 thisliive with nine frames, 121.3 inches 

 wide, and are well satisfied with it. 

 The contents cubic of this hive would 

 be 2268 inches inside measurement. 

 Tlie Langstroth hive affords more 

 honey surface, and the section frames 

 will contain eiglit one pound sections 

 each. This is a very convenient form 

 in which to send honey in the comb 

 to market. 



A section 4>4x4>4, and two inches 

 broad, will contain just one pound of 



Case of 8 sections, 4>4 x 4)4 inclies, 

 for Langstroth Hive. 



honey. Much depends on neatness in 

 commanding ready sales. 



If, however, you intend to extract 

 your honey, and market it in tliat 

 way, you will find a hive of the follow- 

 ing proportions very convenient, both 

 as containing combs well proportioned 

 for the extractors, and the hive itself 

 easy to handle — IG inches long, 12J3 

 inches wide, 12 inches deep, cubic 

 contents 2400 inches. The frame 

 adapted to this hive will be found to 

 be nearly square, and very convenient 

 in tlie extractor. 



Many bee-keepers neglect to get 

 their hives ready until swarming time 

 commences. Sucli persons, instead 

 of having the bees in one kind of liive 

 (as I strongly recommend) will find 

 at the end ot the season their bees 

 will be in boxes, kegs, barrels, and in 

 all conceivable shaped things. You 

 must give up this method, or quit bee- 

 keeping. 



Does it Pay J— Mr. George Grimm, in 

 Oleanings, says it does. His report is 

 as follows : 



Though my report is not a very bril- 

 liant one, yet I am well satisfied with 

 my season's work. About 200 per 

 cent, net on tlie capital invested is 

 not a bad gain. Last winter left me 

 392 colonies ; but though my loss was 

 less than 10 per cent., the remainder 

 after the ordeal they had passed 

 through, could not all be in good con- 

 dition. The demand for bees was so 

 great and so urgent, that almost be- 

 fore I knew it I had sold 248 of my 

 best colonies. This left me but 144 — 

 and, of course, the poorest of the lot. 



The season opened up with the best 

 prospects for a honey crop, and I be- 

 gan to wish that I had back the good 

 strong colonies that I had sold. Find- 

 ing several parties not far distant, 

 wliom the past poor season and the 

 trouble of last winter had entirely 

 disgusted with the business, eager to 

 sell out, I bought the weak, half- 

 starved, and partly queenless remnant 

 of the colonies at a bargain, and was 

 enabled to face the new season with 

 alout 190 colonies ; or, perhaps, I had 

 better say, nuclei and colonies. An- 

 ticipating a good demand for bees 

 next spring, and having a large num- 

 ber of hives and about 2000 combs on 

 hand, I determined to increase as 

 much as possible. I divided tliem up 

 into five apiaries. At home I started 

 some 80 small nuclei to rear queens. 

 Myself with one assistant did all the 

 work. Nov. 18th to 21st, my bees • 

 were put into cellars— 610 colonies. 

 Two were left outdoors. Nine-tenths 

 were supplied with young queens dur- 

 ing the season, and all have a good 

 supply of honey. Oct. 1st I returned 

 from a trip to northern Dakota. Not 

 a cell of brood was to be found in any 

 of the hives. What feeding I did was 

 done after that time. The colonies 

 are, as a rule, of niediuiii strength, 

 and present a good appearance. I be- 

 lieve they will winter well. 



***** 



Does it payV Well, I should say 

 so ! 200 good swarms can be bought 

 for f 1,400. In a poorer year than this, 

 an average surplus of 50 to 100 

 lbs. per hive, and an increase of 50 

 lier cent, would not be extraordinary. 

 The increase would easily jiay for ex- 

 penses, and 10,000 to 20,000 lbs. honey 

 at 20 cents would be belter than 4 per 

 cent on U. S. bonds. Or take Aiy case 

 this year; 190 not good colonies; in- 

 cre;i8e, 422; prospective loss during 

 next winter, 10 per cent, or 61 colmiies 

 (but I am certain 5 per cent to 8 per 

 cent will be the limit), leaves a bal- 

 ance of 361 in spring at $7.00 per colo- 

 ny is $2,527, and honey $300. gives 

 total gross gain, $2,827. My expenses 

 were between $500 and $600; leaves 

 balance of at least $2,227. If 1 esti- 

 mate good colonies worth $7.00, my 

 190 were worth on an average not 

 more than $5.00. It is not liard to do 

 twice or three times as niiicli with 

 good colonies as with poor ones I 

 think we'll stick to the business a few 

 years more, even though every winter 

 should equal the last. 



Jefferson, Wisconsin. 



