66 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



Jan. SI, 



the cover was quietly removed and the bees left uncovered but 

 undisturbed for a short time before attempting to handle 

 them. In some respects it was really less trouble handling 

 the bees under these circumstances than out-of-doors in warm 

 weather. Queens could be found easily and any desired manip- 

 ulations might have been made. 



1 shipped at this time over 100 pounds of bees. The 

 colonies were taken from an out-door temperature close to 

 zero, and on being opened immediately in the warm room 

 would exhibit a liveliness that would be rather perplexing to 

 one who advocated that bees hibernate, or even fall into a 

 "semi-dormant" condition in winter. Ten pounds of bees con- 

 fined in a cage, in an agitated condition, will generate an as- 

 tonishing amount of heat, much more, it seems to me, than an 

 equal weight of any other form of animal life with which I 

 am acquainted. 



It might be supposed that handling at such a time would 

 be injurious to bees that it was desired to preserve, but I feel 

 sure that if properly done it does not hurt them in the least. 



Some of the colonies brought in for shipment proved 

 on examination to be in such good codition that they were re- 

 turned to the yard. All wintered nicely and were among the 

 best colonies the following season. 



Much of my experience in handling bees in winter was ob- 

 tained in a still more remarkable way, to relate which will 

 perhaps be interesting as a bit of curious history. I once had 

 my bees construct a large number of queen-cells in Jan- 

 uary. This was done, not for the sake of the queens, 

 but for the royal jelly, for which I had an order. 

 I believe the man who wanted it had tried to get 

 it of other bee-keepers, who had told him it was an im- 

 possibility to procure it at that season. There are very few 

 things that are impossible. I undertook this and succeeded. 

 I never found out definitely what the man wanted with it, 

 though it wasi probably for medicine. He assigned another 

 use for it, but this was too improbable to be considered. He 

 paid me $25.00 per ounce for it, and probably thought I 

 ought to be satisfied not to ask questions. This is probably 

 the highest price ever paid for any of the products of the 

 apiary. Ottawa, 111. 



Colonies of Bees as locubators. 



BY A. S. KOSENKOLL. 



In 1880, I went from Winnipeg, North-West Territory, 

 to Queensland, in Australia, and for a time lived in Brisbane, 

 the capital of the colony. I occupied a cottage with garden in 

 South Brisbane. This part of the city is situated on the south 

 side of Brisbane River on a rich, grassy plain, partially en- 

 closed by a bend of the river, and was only thinly settled in 

 those days. The tidy cottage gardens and small orchards, and 

 the fact that cows and horses were allowed to graze and roam 

 unhindered within its precincts, gave the place a pleasing rura' 

 appearance. 



I kept two saddle horses, and spent a good deal of my 

 spare time, of which I had plenty on hand, in riding, hunting, 

 fishing, boating and other sports. Occasionally Baron Von 

 Rocderer — the son of the German minister in Switzerland, 

 who I believe came to Australia as an explorer, and to study 

 life on the goldfields, of which he would have required at least 

 two for his own use to keep him going at the rate he was liv- 

 ing — kept me excellent company in these pastimes. 



In a shady nook of my garden, under a row of locust 

 trees, I kept a few colonies of bees, which I had established 

 on the Langstroth system. As a result of the mild, winterless, 

 semi-tropical climate, the bees kept on breeding throughout 

 the whole year, and I have considerable diCHculty to prevent 

 their excesses in swarming. However, through ventilation, 

 removal of queen, etc., I generally succeeded in breaking the 

 swarming fever, and obtained a fair harvest of splendid honey. 

 The flora in these parts is certainly excellent, the large va- 

 riety of eucalyptus trees, pitosporiim and other shrubs, and 

 the masses of wild flowers supplying an abundance of honey. 



Cue day, in September, the spring month in the Southern 

 hemisphere, while out hunting in the direction of Rocky 

 Water Hole, I discovered a pheasant nest, containing nine 

 eggs. I carried them home with me. Not being able to ob- 

 tain the services of a brood hen, the idea struck me to let the 

 bees hatch them. In order to carry this novel idea into effect, 

 I took an empty comb-frame, 2 inches wide, and divided it by 

 means of card board strips into a number of partitions, into 

 which I placed the eggs, each one into a separate little nest. 

 After covering both sides of the frame with wire netting, to 

 prevent the bees from building in the empty spaces, I hung it 



into the brood-nest of a strong colony of bees, and waited for 

 the result, making observations from time to time. 



At last, after 15 days of patient waiting, my bees pre- 

 sented me with eight healthy and lively young pheasants, 

 which appeared none the worse for having been hummed into 

 life among such strange surroundings. 



A second experiment which I made with fowls' eggs was 

 similarly successful. An ordinary 2-inch wide Langstroth 

 frame can easily be made to accommodate two dozen of eggs, 

 which should occasionally be turned over, or the frame re- 

 versed. 



In again following up my profession as a surveyor and 

 pioneer engineer, which tied me for many years to a wander- 

 ing tent life, far away from the haunts of civilization, I was 

 prevented from making further experiments, but I have no 

 doubt that this system of hatching eggs is capable of much 

 improvement and extension, and well worth the consideration 

 of poultry breeders, as expensive and complicated incubators 

 could be dispensed with, and giant colonies of bees take their 

 places. 



Los Angeles Market — Selling Honey at Retail. 



BY C. W. DAYTON. 



The first honey I took into Los AngelesI, in July, I ex- 

 pected to sell readily at a good price, because I had vis- 

 ited many apiaries and not found a ton of new honey, 

 while many were feeding the bees. But, lo ! a whole row of 

 merchants stood up and declared independently that there 

 was a biy crop! But where? "In the mountains!" "In the 

 mountains," thought I. Well, I should like to know what 

 mountains. "All of them, the nearest, — about ten miles out." 



As my price was 11 cents, and their price 8 to 9, it was not 

 difficult to understand this piece of lafTy, and the bulk of my 

 load was stored in the house of a friend, except enough to 

 peddle my way home again as I peddled on the way out. 



Of all the ways to dispose of the crop this one of turning it 

 right into the receptacles of the consumer suits me the best, 

 and as a rule they will buy about as large a quantity at the 

 country houses as at the retail store. And the more 

 honey there is produced in a country the easier it sells. 

 In this year of scarcity any one would naturally expect a 

 brisk call for honey, but it is not the case. It takes a host of 

 small producers to make a demand. It was nearly as easy to 

 dispose of honey last year as this. The price then was a 

 little lower, but there was more honey and the market alive. 

 Other luxuries and most necessaries, are risen in price much 

 higher than honey, while honey is also a substitute. There is 

 not only a better price in the retailing, but the original re- 

 ceptacles are usually retained or exchanged. These are worth 

 a cent a pound on the honey, besides shipping and cartage. 

 Then to produce honey by the carload one has to locate so far 

 from settled country that it costs at least a cent a pound more 

 to get it out to railroad. To this add expense of help, rent 

 and numerous other incidentals, and off years, and deduct the 

 same from 4J-^ cents a pound, or less, and you will be able to 

 receive what remains without the trouble of putting forth 

 both hands. 



Los Angeles is a city of 100,000, and a one-horse load 

 of honey taken there and sold at the stores would cause a 

 co.mplete inundation, where, to distribute a like amount around 

 to families would not amount to a taste. Then the dealer 

 would S'how the next honey man a 12 or 24 pound case with 

 a half dozen measley sections in the front end, and tell of 

 the great deluge about to move down from "the mountains." 

 Then, if the honey man was not posted, or accustomed to 

 taffy in sections with no sharp corners missing, or could be 

 induced to speculate with the aforementioned lazy bees, he 

 might think himself lucky in arriving ahead of the great in- 

 undated and offer his at a still less price. This would con- 

 vince the dealer of a certain deluge, and bring visionary car- 

 loads into all but fingers' grasp. 



So it shows that to force honey upon the market is like 

 pouring oil upon water, while delivering it to the consumer is 

 literally taking it out in blocks as deep as broad. The one is 

 big show and little profit, while the other is big profit and no 

 one pinched, but many benefitted. And by the removal of 

 cubes some one is rendered uneasy and kept so until other 

 material, or more of the same, is secured to fill the breach. 



If it is worth three cents a pound to produce five tons of 

 honey (and I produced it for less last season), I look for at 

 least three cents a pound more in the disposal of it. The 

 trouble is that a great many prefer to work hard for a short 

 time and then rest, when ihere should be enough love for their 

 avocation to stay with it, or at it, the year around, or, at least, 



