696 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



For the American Bee Journal. 



Bee and Houey Report for 1882, 



G. M. DOOLITTLE. 



By refeiTin,<; to back numbers of the 

 Bee Journal, the reader will see 

 how my SO colonies of bees came 

 through the winter in good condition, 

 but, owing to the cold weather the 

 last half of April, they were quite re- 

 duced in population, although no colo- 

 nies were lost. As April 30th was a 

 pleasant day, all had a fine fly, and a 

 little pollen was brought in "for the 

 first time. With May 2d it became 

 cold, and snow and frost prevailed till 

 the VMh, when we had a few warm 

 days. Apple blossoms were late, not 

 opening till about June 5th ; and ow- 

 ing to cold winds, clouds, and rain, no 

 honey was secured from them except 

 a little on June 8th. Owing to the 

 cold spring, the bees had reared but 

 little brood previous to this, hence, a 

 good supply of honey still remained 

 in the hives to carry them through till 

 white clover. 



About the middle of April I sold all 

 my bees, except forty-five colonies 

 on account of the continued sick- 

 ness of my father, which brought an 

 extra amount of care upon me, so that 

 I feared I could not properly handle a 

 larger number of colonies. Of these 

 30 were set apart for the production 

 of honey, and the remaining 15 de- 

 voted to queen rearing. ^Vhite clover, 

 although quite abundant, yielded no 

 honey, and July 6 found the honey in 

 my hives all equalized and so reduced 

 that each colony had but little more 

 than enough to last 4 or 5 days. But 

 fortunately the cold weather caused 

 the wild mustard, which is plenty in 

 the fields of grain hereabout, to se- 

 crete a little honey, so that July 8th 

 bees obtained a living, and from the 

 12th to the 20th, a small gain was made 

 in the nearly destitute brood-chamber. 

 July 26 found the basswood open, and 

 as the weather was just right for the 

 secretion of nectar, and my bees, be- 

 ing in readiness for a flow of honey, 

 splendid work was done during the 

 five days yield which followed. Then 

 came two days of closing up, and the 

 shortest season for honey I nave ever 

 known was at an end. Although a 

 large acreage of buckwheat was sown, 

 and the bees hummed merrilly over 

 the sea of white blossoms, still not 

 a cell of dai'k honey was to be seen in 

 the seciiuus. As this is the fifth year 

 buckwheat has failed to produce 

 honey, it is hardly worthy the name 

 of "honey plant,"' in this locality. 



My bees have been increased to 80 

 colonies in good condition for winter. 

 As a result from the 30 colonies set 

 apart for honey, I have obtained 1,089 

 lbs. of comb honey and 441 lbs. of ex- 

 tracted, giving a total of 1,530 lbs., or 

 an average yield of 51 lbs. per colony, 

 which is the lightest crop I have re- 

 ceived for the past 10 years, except in 



1876, when the yield was 50 lbs. I 

 also took about 500 lbs. in nicely sealed 

 frames, but as I have used that to pre- 

 pare my united nuclei for winter, I 

 shall not bring it into the average 

 yield. 



From the 15 colonies set apart for 

 queen rearing, I have sent out 197 

 queens. My section honey was sold 

 at 17c. per pound and extracted 10c. , 

 delivered on board the cars here. 



After footing up the total sales from 

 my bees, and deducting all expenses 

 therefrom, except my own work, I 

 find I have $822. As I have the same 

 number that I had one year ago, this 

 gives me the above amount clear, ex- 

 cept my work, for one of the poorest 

 seasons known in this State." As a 

 decade of years has now passed since 

 I have kept a close account with my 

 bees, perhaps it may be interesting to 

 your readers to know how such report 

 stands ; for it is only by a number of 

 years' experience, in any business, 

 that a true result can be obtained. A 

 report of a very prosperous year, is 

 often misleading, but one extending 

 through a period of 10 years, should 

 approximate very nearly to whatmight 

 be expected for the same length of 

 time to come. My average yield for 

 each colonv in the spring of 1873, was 

 80 lbs.; 1874, about 100 lbs.; 1875, a lit- 

 tle over 106 lbs.; 1876, 50 lbs.; 1877, a 

 fraction of a pound, less than 167 lbs.; 

 1878, 71 lbs.; 1879, .58 lbs.; 1880, a little 

 less than 62 lbs.; 1881, nearly 135 lbs.; 

 and in 18S2, the present year, it was 

 51 lbs.; making an average yield each 

 year, for the past 10 years, of 88 lbs. 

 per colony, five-sixths of which has 

 been comb honey. The average 

 price at which it has been sold, is about 

 20c. for comb honey, the highest price 

 283^0. being obtained in 1874, and the 

 lowest mic. in 1878. Thus the 88 lbs. 

 at 20c. per pound gives S17.60 average 

 cash yield for each colony. Hence, if 

 a man is capable of keeping 50 colo- 

 nies, his income would be $880 a vear ; 

 if 100, it would be $1,760. After an 

 experience of 14 years in the bee busi- 

 ness, I can see no reason why it does 

 not compare favorable with any other 

 pursuit in life, as far as dollars and 

 cents are concerned, and when I look 

 at it as a fascinating and health-giv- 

 ing pursuit, it places most other 

 avocations in the shade. 



Borodino, N. Y., Oct. 17, 1882. 



For tbe American Bee Journal 



Bees and Honey Shows at Fairs. 



S. HANSON. 



Hagerstowii, a picturesque, thriving 

 town situated at the head of the Cum- 

 berland Valley, has been the scene of 

 considerable excitement, occasioned 

 by the Agricultural Fair; and the 

 second meeting of the Union Bee- 

 Keepers' Convention. The exhibits 

 at the fair were unusually large and 

 fine, and the number ot visitors in 

 excess of any previous year. As your 

 readers are most interested in bee 

 matters, we will omit a description of 

 mammoth pumpkins, etc., and devote 

 our time to a description of apiarian 

 exhibits. 



Mrs. L.Valentine had on exhibition, 

 at the main hall, several fine speci- 

 mens of honey in the comb ; also, 

 specimens of comb foundation. 



Dr. Herman also showed several 

 pounds of choice comb honey ; both 

 exhibitors receiving premiums. 



The largest .and most extensive, 

 however, was that of " Sunnyside 

 Apiary," Baltimore, Md., C. H. Lake, 

 manager, and deserves especial men- 

 tion. Mr. L. made his exhibit in a 

 large tenti profusely decorated with 

 flags, while the word "Apiary," in 

 large letters, stretched upon the side, 

 caught the eye of the visitors as they 

 entered the fair grounds. Tables were 

 constructed around the sides of the 

 tent, laden with every conceivable ap- 

 pliance required inaiirst-classapiary. 

 A magnificent display of bees, in va- 

 riety, were shown in glass hives of 

 unique construction, finished in ebony 

 and maple, where every movement of 

 the bees could be seen— the queens de- 

 positing their eggs, brood hatching, 

 bees nursing, queen cells in all stages 

 of development, etc. 



Among the different varieties we 

 noticed the new Holy Land or Syrian 

 bee, the Cyprian and the Bellazona, 

 claimed by the gentleman in charge to 

 be the largest bee known in America. 

 Also imported Italians, producing the 

 so-called Albinos ; Holy Land hybrids, 

 also producing the same bee ; Golden 

 Italians and improved American 

 strains of Italian and other bees. 



A full colony of the most docile of 

 any bees that ever came under my 

 notice was that of a daughter of an 

 imported queen of this season, were 

 handled in public, without smoke or 

 protection of any kind, and all the 

 bees flying as if in their own home, 

 upon ciur first visit to the tent. Later, 

 we found them all confined, owing to 

 the annoyance they gave the proprie- 

 tors of the confectionery stands. 



In the center of the tent, upon a 

 raised base, was a pyramid of 220 lbs. 

 of comb honey— the production of one 

 colony of bees in about six weeks. 

 This was shown in a case, constructed 

 with full glass sides and erected with 

 great taste. Upon the top stood a 

 counter boy and shipping crate com- 

 bined, filled with the most . luscious 

 nectar. The whole was crowned with 

 a French glass shade, containing 18 

 sections of 11)^ lbs. each, of the choic- 

 est and clearest honey ever seen in 

 these parts, perfect in every particular 

 and white as snow. On either side of 

 the case was a photographic view of 

 the apiary — the hives in full working 

 order, showing the honey in the hives. 



We noticed, in a conspicuous place, 

 a photograph of an old friend and 

 pioneer in bee culture, llichard Colvin. 



Among the hives we saw the " Old 

 Keliable," an air chamber hive, said 

 to winter and summer the bee satis- 

 factorily. 



Among the new features were the 

 Automatic self-spacing frame of tin 

 or wood, that causes the frames al- 

 ways to fall into position upon the rab- 

 bet, and cannot be glued together by 

 the bees. 



The " Boss" feeder, on the principle 

 of "Root's" Tea-kettle feeder, de- 

 serves attention. A grass-knife for 



