THE /^MERICAJS BEE JOURNAL. 



149 



For tbe American Bee Journal. 



Does it Pay to Rear Dollar (Jueens. 



W. Z. UUTCHINSON. 



Mr. Salisbury, in any discussion 

 tliat we may have as to whetlier it is 

 prolitable to rear dollar queens, would 

 it not be better to say nothing as to 

 whether it is profitable todeaHn tlieuiV 

 It is a subject about which we know 

 notliing from actual experience, at 

 least 1 do not, and I presume that you 

 are equally ignorant. If a man owns 

 a paper, and sees fit to advertise his 

 wares in it, that is his business; and if 

 lie gives his subscribers a good paper, 

 one worth tlie subscription price, no 

 one ought to complain, had tliey'i' 

 Please do not let us have any more 

 discussion ujjon this point— unless in 

 a separate article — but turn our atten- 

 tion to the question : does it pay to 

 rear dollar queens, i. e., does it pay 

 the ordinary queen breeder, one who 

 does not own a bee-papery 



According to the figures that you 

 gave, on page 104 of the i3EE Jour- 

 nal, it appears that it does not pay. 

 But are those figures imaginary, or 

 do they represent the results of an 

 actual e.xperiment? If the former, 

 they prove nothing; if the latter, they 

 either show bad management, or a 

 poor location; perhaps both. You 

 say: "For circulars, advertising, and 

 correspondence. 390." That $40-a- 

 month expert should print the circu- 

 lars and price lists upon a cheirograph, 

 and no circulars sent out unless called 

 for. The majority of people have so 

 many circulars shoved under their 

 noses, that they are sick of the sight 

 of them, and toss them, almost un- 

 noticed, into the waste basket. And 

 now in regard to advertising, Mr. S., 

 I hope that you will not be offended 

 if I ask, if you liave not indulged in 

 too many "spread-eagle" ads.;* Do 

 you suppose ttiat cut of a nice, large, 

 queen bee, with which so many of 

 your ads. have been adorned, ever 

 brought you any customers; if so, how 

 manyV Again you say: "500 cages, 

 $50." That$40-a-month expert should 

 make the cages. If he does not have 

 time to make them, and attend to the 

 bees, I will furnish them for % the 

 money, and can clear $2 per day wliile 

 making tliem. In regard to the loss 

 of queens wliile in the mails, I do not 

 know whether your estimate is too 

 liigli or not; but it is a greater loss 

 tlian / have ever experienced. "Syrup 

 forfeeding 100 nuclei, SIOO." Three 

 years ago, in August and September, 

 I was obliged to feed, in order to keep 

 tilings moving; but the entire ex- 

 pense was only about 15 cents for each 

 nucleus, during the two months of 

 feeding. It was grape sugar that I 

 used for feeding. In all of my queen 

 rearing this is the only time, with per- 

 haps two or three slight exceptions, 

 that I have found it necessary to feed. 



my nuclei usually storing some sur- 

 plus, and after consolidating them in 

 tlie fall, tliey have always had plenty 

 of honey without feeding. "Lamp 

 nursery and oil, §7." Mr. S., you 

 ought only to charge, had you, for the 

 interest upon tlie money invested in a 

 lamp nursery, and for the oil burned? 

 Whieli certainly would not amount to 

 S7. You speak of capital invested in 

 nucleus hives, etc., to which I take 

 no exceptions, unless it is to remark 

 that many breeders go to the expense 

 of makiiig a small hive for each 

 nucleus, when, by using division 

 boards, and putting 2 nuclei in an 

 ordinary hive, nearly % the expense 

 for hives could be avoided. Y''ou 

 speak of "queens to be replaced when 

 complaints are made." This is some- 

 thing that 1 know but little about, 

 having had to use only two queens in 

 this manner. Neitlier do I "cut up 

 combs for eggs to rear queens from." 

 I merely cut holes in the combs; cells 

 are built around these holes, and, 

 after the queens have hatched, the 

 combs are given to some strong 

 colony, and the bees immediately re- 

 fill the holes with comb. Y"ou say 

 that "in running 100 nuclei it is out 

 of the question for one hand to keep 

 them filled with queens against their 

 will." I, at one time, had nuclei, and 

 that was at a time when but little 

 honey was coming in, and yet no 

 nuclei ever remained queenless 1 week 

 at a time, 2 days being the average; 

 and when honey is coming in plenti- 

 fully, a young queen is usually given 

 to a nucleus at the same time tliat a 

 laying queen is removed; and, 9 

 times out of 10, slie is accepted. Please 

 allow me to copy a leaf from my ac- 

 count book. Bee account. Dr. to in- 

 terest on $200, invested in 15 colonies 

 of bees, and the necessary hives and 

 implements, $16; advertising, $30; 

 postage, $20; stationery, $1 ; materials 

 for queen cages, $3.75; oil for lamp 

 nursery, SI 25; queens lost in the 

 mails,$20.70;total, $92.70. Bee account 

 Cr. by an increase of four colonies, 

 at $7, $28; 600 lbs. honey, at 15 cents, 

 $90; 375 queens, at an average price 

 of 90 cents, $337.50; total, $455.-50; 

 profits, $362.80. 



The above is my bona flde account 

 for the year 1880, which was my most 

 prosperous year. Last year we had a 

 late spring and I did not commence 

 queen rearing until about a inontli 

 later than usual, and my profits from 

 18 colonies, were only $277.74. In 

 making my reports I have never 

 counted my time, simply because 

 other bee-keepers have not done so in 

 making tlieir reports; but if I should 

 deduct $160 for niy labor, do you not 

 see that tliere would yet be a good 

 profit? And tlie expert at our house 

 not only cares for the bees, but he 

 cares for a nice, large garden, asquash 

 patch of a quarter of an acre, and a 

 potato patcli; lie splits the wood, milks 

 the cow, helps take care of the babies, 

 and does otlier chores too numerous 

 to mention. 



Mr. S., you may have kept bees 20 

 years, and yet have to learn how to 

 rear dollar queens at a profit. I know 

 a liee-keeper who has kept bees 20 

 years, and kept them in large num- 



bers part of the time, and yet he has 

 never made the business very profit- 

 able; many of the years it was a bill 

 of expense. Five years ago, I had 

 never opened a bee-hive, although, 

 from reading, and from visiting apiar- 

 ists, I had a good theoretical knowl- 

 edge of tlie business, yet in the five 

 years that I have been engaged in the 

 business, during four of which I have 

 reared dolhir queens, my average 

 profits, per colony, have been about 

 $18 each year. If I deduct $160 for 

 my labor, my profit would average 

 about $10 per colony, each year. 



Many men say that farming is not 

 profitable; and, judging from the 

 manner In which they conduct the 

 business, and the results that they 

 obtain, it certainly does not appear 

 -t'erj/ profitable; wliile others amass 

 small fortunes in following this oc- 

 cupation. A few have obtained great 

 riches by engaging in mercantile pur- 

 suits, wiiile thousands upon thousands 

 have failed in the business. Some 

 bee-keepers say that foul brood can- 

 not be cured with salicylic acid, while 

 others have cured the disease with 

 the acid. Some bee-keepers assert 

 that dollar queens cannot be reared 

 at a profit, while others do rear them 

 at a profit. If they do not, why do 

 they continue in the business? It 

 makes no difference to me what course 

 others pursue, when I cannot rear 

 dollar queens at a good fair profit, I 

 shall drop the business so quickly 

 that it will fairly make your head 

 swim. 



In a good honey season, I presume 

 that the raising of honey would be 

 nearly, if not quite, as profitable as 

 queen rearing; l)ut in a poor season, 

 by a little judicious feeding, queen 

 rearing can be made more profitable 

 than the raising of honey. 



The above criticisms are plain and 

 out-spoken, but they are made with a 

 kindly spirit, and I trust that they 

 will be received in the same manner 



Rogersville, Mich. 



For the American Bee Journal. 



Potatoes vs. Honey Production. 



J. H. SIAKTIN. 



It is very evident that our German 

 friends, mentioned by A. R. Kohnke, 

 on page 104, were not successful cul- 

 turists of the potato, and it seems 

 that Mr. K. agrees with them, and 

 advises that our potato lands be sown 

 to honey producing plants. 



I am strongly inclined to think that 

 it would not pay. I live in the midst 

 of a great potato-growing region. 

 This (Washington) county is the ban- 

 ner potato county in New York State, 

 and our shipments I'eacli about four 

 millions of bushels annually. In this 

 vicinitv the farmers plant from 8 to 

 .50 acres each. Suppose one farmer 

 who plants only eight acres has also 

 bees ; his potatoes last fall yielded an 

 average of 150 bushels per acre, and 

 were sold for one dollar per bushel or 

 SI. 200. Now, if he had planted the 

 eight acres to the most approved honey 

 plant, to make the value equal to the 

 potato, each acre would have to yield 



