1888 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



29 



Next, the cellar cm be used for storing other things, 

 and, by placing some boards in front of the hives, 

 a candle can be taken into the apartment without 

 disturbing the bees, which, for those who keep only 

 a few hives, is very important. 



While I think a thin-walled hive is handier for 

 winter, a ehafif hive would be better for the spring, 

 as we have lost more by spring dwindling than by 

 wintering. Last spring we had C colonies; 2 died by 

 spring dwindling, and the other 4 were very much 

 weakened; increased to 10 and got 500 lbs. comb 

 honey; and if we had had time to take care of them, 

 and put on more sections, we might have had 200 

 lbs. more, as the bees were lying idle in the best 

 part of the season. One hive gave 300 lbs., but no 

 swarms; but as we keep bees only for honey for 

 home use we were content, as we have enough and 

 some to spare. All ten hives are placed in the cel- 

 lar in good condition, save one late swarm, which 

 may need feeding toward spring. I will see how 

 this winter will compare with the rest. 



Reuben Sniuer. 



Lettsville, Louisa Co., la., Dec. Iti, 1883. 



The above is very moderate for the amount 

 of stores consumed, friend S., and anyone 

 ought to be satisfied with it ; but since we 

 have been selling bees by the pound I have 

 often been led to inquire, What is a colony? 

 A single pound of bees may come through 

 the winter safely, and, in fact, I am not sure 

 but that we sometimes see only a half-pound 

 go through and come' out lively, especially 

 if wintered in the right kind of a cellar. 

 Now, what we would like to get at is. How 

 many pounds of stores will be needed for 

 one pound of bees? Suppose we say five, 

 and the result will then be, that, while a 

 small colony may winter all right, and con- 

 sume less than 5 lbs., a good strong one 

 might consume 2o and starve to death after 

 that. One other point: The single pound of 

 bees might, with a good queen, build up so 

 as to eqiial, or even go ahead of, by the first 

 of June, the colony that had 5 lbs. of bees in 

 the winter, and consumed 2-5 lbs. You see 

 from this, friends, one reason why we have 

 such a diversity of reports in regard to the 

 amount required for winter. We have nev- 

 er weighed colonies wintered in the chaff 

 hive, but I think they often winter through 

 until they begin to gather pollen, with not 

 much more than friend S. has reported. 



SEIiLINO EXTRACTED HONEY. 



HOW FBIEND " M.4.LONE " SICCEEDED IN' SELLING 

 HIS HONEY. 



f THOUGHT I would give my experience in sell- 

 ing extracted honey. My first honey I took to 

 market July 18th in Mason quart jars. I sold 

 at 50 cts., jar thrown in. I supplied most all the 

 groceries in the city. I sold my honey readily, and 

 felt proud, "you bet." I loaded up the 22, my sec- 

 ond load, and started to market, feeling happy of 

 course; but not a pound could I sell at any of the 

 groceries. They all told me that they had all the hon- 

 ey I had sold them, and that extracted honey would 

 not sell; if I had comb honey, they would sell it. 

 This gave me the " blues." Now, what to do was 

 what troubled me. The first thought was to buy bar- 



rels and ship my hohey; but a new idea struck me, 

 and that was to start peddling. I had an errand at 

 the mill, so I drove up. Said I, " Look here !" 



He said, "What's that, Bill?" 



I said, " Pure linn honey, just from the flowers; 

 taste it." 



He did, and said, "What's it worth?" 



I said, " Fifty cents." 



1 sold two, and started up town and met a man 

 with whom I was acquainted, and told him the 

 same, and sold to him ; and before I got half way 

 around the square I had sold all out for the cash. 



With the next load I went into the Court-house to 

 the county ofHcers and into the banks, and among 

 the physicians and laAvyers; and nine times out of 

 ten I made a sale, and for the cash too. I was In 

 town yesterday; and every time I go 1 meet people 

 on nearly every corner, and they will say, " BUI, 

 have you got any more honey? Can't you take out 

 a five-gallon keg or jar, and bring me some more 

 honey?" 



But right here a trouble sprang up. Those gro- 

 cerymen commenced to growl; I was selling to the 

 consumer at the same rate I sold to the merchant! 

 Was this right? My honey is all sold, except about 

 400 lbs., and now the trouble is going to be to supply 

 the demand next year, 



RUNAWAY SWARMS COMING BACK TWO WEEKS AFTER 



I had a joung Cyprian queen that took a fine 

 swarm of bees to the woods about Aug. 27, and was 

 gone 15 days, and came back. This seems strange, 

 but I had so much trouble to get her to laying last 

 spring that 1 got acquainted with her, and knew her 

 as soon as I saw her. The sequel is, that the swarm 

 went one mile and stopped, and the tree was cut on 

 the 14th day, and the bees hived; on the 15th they 

 came home and alighted. They were glad to get 

 back. I think I shall breed from her next year. I 

 have my bees put up so warm, that on the 8th of 

 December they carried out dead bees, when the 

 thermometer was U° below zero. This was on a 

 clear day; when cloudy they are still. 



Wm. Malone. 



Oakley, Mason Co., la., Dec. 12, 1882. 



The above letter possesses a double inter- 

 est to us, from the fact that friend M. is the 

 one who gave us the whopping report on 

 page 591 of Dec. No. I quite agree with the 

 moral in the little story above ; but while 

 opening the market in this way by appeals 

 to those whom we know, I would at the 

 same time remember the retailer, and either 

 ask 60c. of consumers, and only 50 from the 

 dealers, or say 45 to the dealers, if we can 

 stand it, or any way so as to have a uniform 

 price at retail, and a clear understanding as 

 to the price the honey is to be sold at. If 

 we do this, no retailer will object to having 

 the market worked up by the producer.— It 

 is true, that a swarm does sometimes come 

 back when disappointed, or upset in their 

 plans, as in the instance mentioned; but I 

 have never been able to decide whether it 

 was the queen that did the business, or the 

 bees, when they confer together in the mat- 

 ter, or whether it was sometimes the one 

 and sometimes the other. We know it is 

 sometimes the queen, for she has been 

 known to lead an entire colony, to which 

 she had been introduced, back to the spot 

 where she took her first wedding flight. 



