76 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Feb. 



discussing tlie subject as regards its paying quali- 

 ties? 



Again: One of our most practical apiarists, who 

 had watched the honey mai'ket for years, told us at 

 the convention that if we all placed our honey on 

 the market in '/^-Ib. sections in the fall of 1883, it 

 would not bring a cent a pound more than if all 

 placed their honey on the market in 1-lb. boxes, and 

 I believe he was not far from the truth. 



I have thus written my views regarding the small 

 sections, hoping that, by so doing, I might persuade 

 our brethren not to go into this thing " in haste, to 

 repent at their leisure." As the IVa-lb. sections sell 

 in market at the same price as the 1-lb., and suit my 

 surplus arrangements just as well, I shall continue 

 to use those in connection with the 3-lb. section, 

 thus attesting my faith by adhering to the thing 

 which gives me the greater profit. 



G. M. DOOLITTLE. 



Borodino, N. Y., Jan. 16, 1883. 



I am inclined to thinlc, friend D., that 

 your views are a little extreme in the matter, 

 although it may be as bad as you say. 

 Granting it is, if our friends still insist on 

 little packages, we shall be driven to take up 

 the old question of some means by which we 

 can cat comb honey up into little squares, 

 and not have it "ieak." At the Michigan 

 convention I suggested that a large sum of 

 money could easily be raised for the man who 

 would show us how to cut up our honey, aft- 

 er we had got it in full-sized frames. 1 sup- 

 pose it is well known, that the bees will 

 make beautiful honey, and at a great rate, 

 in nice new ordinary brood-frames, with the 

 help of fdn. Can it be done V 



A CRATElFUIi ABC SCHOLAR. 



ANOTHER PLEASANT LETTER FKOM OUR FRIEND 

 ROESE. 



e BEING no report from our Badger State, I shall 

 take great pleasure in informing you of my 

 prosperity with my bees during the past year. 

 T am an old bee-keeper; kept them without profit 

 for 10 or 13 years, and yet I am just in the ABC 

 class. I used to keep them in home-made box hives. 

 In the winter they would die, and in the summer 

 they would fly away. Six years ago 1 lost them all. 

 Five years ago I took one swarm in box hive on a 

 debt, and commenced the old box-hive way again; 

 and only two years ago I got knowledge through 

 Farm and Fireside of Gleanings. Since reading 

 this journal, my interest in the new way of bee- 

 keeping became awakened, and I adopted, gradual- 

 ly, the Langstroth and Simplicity hives. 



In the fall of 1881 1 went into winter quarters with 

 45 colonies, and wintered safely 35, which number 

 increased by natural swarming the past summer to 

 86 swarms. I sent for a Novice extractor and other 

 implements and supplies rather in the rush of bus- 

 iness, and the result was, that every thing went 

 wrong with me; my goods were miscarried by the 

 carelessness of railroad officials, and I lost the best 

 of my honey-flow. On receiving my extractor, July 

 23. 1 went to work with all my might. I extracted 

 from such colonies as were in movable-comb hives, 

 and transferred other swarms from candy and 

 cheese boxes and nail -casks, into new Simplicity 

 hives, and succeeded in gathering a honey harvest 



amounting to 1200 lbs. of honey— about 500 extracted 

 and 700 in combs; and I should judge, from the free 

 use of honey in the family, of which I have not kept 

 account, about 200 lbs. were thus consumed. 



My extracted honey I marketed in Mason fruit- 

 jars. Price charged for quart, 55 cents, and 1/4 gal- 

 lon, f 1.00; sold all at the rate of 15 cents per lb. My 

 comb honey was in bad shape, a largo portion in 

 large wide frames for holding section boxes, for I 

 did not get my Simplicity sections in time; and 

 when I did get them I could not fold them without 

 breaking. I was obliged to let the bees work in 

 wide frames, and fill whole upper story; conse- 

 quently I had to sell it all at 15 cents per lb. 



On summing up all income for bees and honey 

 during the past season, I have realized the sum of 

 $344.20. On deducting from this amount IT1.30 ex- 

 pended for hives. Implements, fruit-jars, tin pails, 

 and supplies of various kinds, I have a profit of 

 il62.90 left, which profit paid a mortgage on our 

 homestead, which hung over our heads for 7 years 

 past. The principal was $150, and interest, lOri' per 

 annum. This my bees paid, within $2.90, both prin- 

 cipal and Interest, and blacks at that. 



Friend Root, if you had seen the bright eyes of my 

 "better half," and the cheerful countenance of the 

 juvenile "Badgers," you would have joined in with 

 us In a hearty laugh and pleasant smile on seeing 

 me carry the gold and silver in a little tin pail to our 

 next-door lady friend, who held the mortgage. You 

 "bet" we slept soundly that next night; and little 

 Minnie, your Maiden's Rock story-teller in Sept. Ju- 

 venile, said, "Father, as you have that mortgage 

 paid, you will save $15.00 interest next year; can't 

 you afford to buy me button shoes next summer ? " 

 I answered with a hearty "Yes." Don't you think 

 so too? 



Now, my good friend Root, I owe all this prosperi- 

 ty in bee-keeping, while in the ABC class, to your 

 good instruction through Gleanings and the ABC 

 book. My bees have paid nearly all my little debts. 

 We all think and talk about Mr. Root as we would 

 a dear friend, and you have our best wishes, both of 

 little and big in the family, and we should feel lost 

 without Gleanings. Please don't forget to send 

 Nov. and Dec. numbers. If I don't get them there 

 will bo a link missing In the connecting chain. I 

 am greatly encouraged in bee-keeping, and will 

 gladly give you credit for Instructing me, and God 

 the glory for his blessing. I feel better than I did 

 when thieves stole my bees and honey last October. 

 tithing. 



I went into winter quarters with 76 swarms of 

 bees, mostly all in good condition, packed in chaff. 

 It seems to me that the Lord, the origin and foun- 

 tain of all blessings, ought to have a share in them. 

 Don't you think so? I have an impression, that the 

 tithing system is binding on all mankind through- 

 out all ages and generations. If so, the Lord would 

 own 7 colonies in my apiary. What do you think? 



Stephen Roese. 



Maiden Rock, Wis., Jan. 6, 1883. 



I am very glad indeed to see you are so 

 grateful, friend R., and I rejoice, too, to see 

 it take the shape of gratitude to God. I, too, 

 have paid off mortgages before now, and I 

 think I can fully sympathize with you about 

 the time when you had the " honey money " 

 in that tin pail. There are few things in this 

 world I enjoy more than paying honest debts, 

 especially after I have been working hard, 



