1883 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



83 



it. They will make a grab for the robber if he comes 

 behind the glass. He dodges back and hits the glass ; 

 is confused, and keeps trying to get out and up the 

 glass, and out at one side or the other. This will 

 stop robbing, if there is any resistance shown at all. 

 Try this, and don't you forget it. 

 Salem, Ind., Jan. 11, 1883. John Craycraft. 



"glass" idea isTold, and as you say, 

 C, '-when there is any fight in 

 the']^" it will ahuost always stop it; but 

 when a colony won't fight at all, it is of but 

 little avail, until we give them some un- 

 sealed brood, or something to defend. Get 

 the inside of the hive right first, and then 

 these aids are a help. 



KEEPING HONEY TO ACCOMMODATE CUSTOMERS, THE 

 YEAR ROUND. 



I will send in my report for 1883. I had 36 colonies 

 in spring; got 1500 lbs. of comb, and 900 lbs. of ex- 

 tracted honey. I increased to 69 colonies; honey all 

 sold at 20 and 25 ots. I sold my extracted honey for 

 20 cts., and still they come for honey. I should be 

 glad if I had 1000 lbs. more to sell, for I hate to tell 

 those cheerful-looking ladies, when they come after 

 honey, that I can not spare it. I thought it would 

 Increase our sales of honej' to keep it in stock the 

 year round. J. K. Lindley. 



Georgetown, Vermillion Co., 111., Jan. 7, 1883. 



To be sure, it will pay, friend L. People 

 don't have very much of an idea of a bee- 

 man, if he doesn't always have honey. 



an APIARY OF 295 COLONIES. 



The spring of 1882 found me with 175 colonics of 

 bees, having passed the winter without losing a sin- 

 gle colony, and all out-doors, and with the excep- 

 tionlofi,23 Italians, all were blacks. I raised a little 

 over 200 lbs. comb honey, to supply a few "fine- 

 haired" people in my own town, at 25 cts. per lb. 

 All the rest was extracted. I got 13,000 lbs. and a 

 little over; increased the bees to 295; am wintering 

 all outdoors on their summer stands. I have sold 

 about half of my honey at 10 to 12'/2 cts. per lb. ; I 

 have the remainder yet on hand. 



A HOME MARKET WORTH SOMETHING. 



My home market will take from 10,000 to 12,000 lbs. 

 I am thinking of enlarging my bee business, if I can 

 find pasture for them. I can handle 500 or more 

 colonies. I raise nearly all extracted honey. 



HIGH RATES ON SHIPPING LIQUID HONEY. 



I shall have to ship off considerable honey. I find 

 one thing about shipping extracted honey that is 

 wrong; viz., the freignt on honey from here to Chi- 

 cago is 65 cts. per 100 lbs. ; on syrup and molasses, 

 41 cts. —24 cts. difference on 100 lbs., and in the same 

 proportion to other places. The fact, as it appears 

 to me, is, the railroad managers have made their 

 freight on honey, as comh honey, the most delicate 

 and frail thing there is, almost, to ship, while ex- 

 tracted honey is a new enterprise, comparatively, 

 and to this difference they have not had their atten- 

 tion called in particular. 



Now, I think if our large bee conventions would 

 appoint a committee to talk with the railroad man- 

 agers about it, that this thing could be made right, 

 and freight on extracted honey, in barrels be made 

 the same as syrup and molasses. This extra freight 

 must come out of the consumers, and will debar a 

 great many from using it. I hope others will look 

 after this matter, and try to get It as it should be. 



I think it can be done, and would be a great help in 

 selling our honey. The railroad men are not so 

 very unreasonable. As a rule they will do the fair 

 thing, if we approach them in a friendly manner, 

 when they have time to attend to us. Honey can be 

 shipped as syrup, but it doesn't look just right, does 

 it? Edavin France. 



Platteville, Grant Co., Wis. 

 I should think 10,000 or 12,000 lbs. a pretty 

 big home market, friend F., unless, indeed, 

 you go to all the large cities around you. — 

 This matter of rates of freight on honey is 

 indeed one that needs looking into. A few 

 years ago they classed all bee-hives as double 

 first-class, even when in the flat; and even 

 now there are some roads that will coolly 

 ptit on this enormous rate, and say all bee- 

 hives in any shape are classed so. Since the 

 matter has become understood, that bee- 

 hives are no longer great bulky frail struc- 

 tures, with glass "drawers" in them, we 

 have, with most roads, a respectable rate of 

 third class for hives in the flat. If they 

 have the idea, as you suggest, that all honey 

 is a " breakable," we ought surely to have it 

 righted. It occurs to me, however, that syr- 

 ups are generally shipped from large cities 

 only, where merchants have low rates to all 

 small towns, and that honey is shipped only 

 by the farmers, to cities and towns, so it can 

 not go at the regular rates of syrups from 

 the cities, but must go at a local rate. Will 

 the Thurbers please tell us if they can ship 

 honey as cheaply as they do syrups to their 

 customers V If not, we will surely have our 

 conventions take it up. 



CELLARS MADE OF CONCRETE. 



Yes, our cellar is made of concrete, such as friend 

 Savage describes on page 24, except that we used 

 nothing but sand and gravel from the lake shore, 

 and large stones from the field. We used water- 

 lime, or cement, except for about 16 inches that is 

 above ground. I think it is the best cellar I ever 

 saw. Our bees wintered in it last winter without 

 loss, and a part of them this winter, and they are do- 

 ing well. It is the cheapest way a building can be 

 made, where there is plenty of material at band, 

 and it can be made to look as well as any brick or 

 stone building ever made. We used one bushel of 

 cement to three of sand, three of fine gravel, three of 

 coarse gravel, and as many large stones as we could 

 work in. Holy-Lands are the best. IlaMichenee. 



Low Banks, Ont., Can., Jan. 10, 1883. 



BUYING HIVES WITH A "PATENT," ETC. 



In the spring of 1881 1 bought one swarm of black 

 bees; have taken during the whole year about J5 

 lbs. of comb honey, no increase. The industry of the 

 little creatures, and the sweet of the honey for my 

 children, made me interested. In the fall I bought 

 another swarm of black bees in a patent hive (with 

 patent) for $12.50. Knowing nothing about scientific 

 bee-keeping, I thought I had a little fortune on my 

 wagon. The secret was all in the patent moth-trap 

 attached. To-day the hive is placed in a corner, and 

 is for sale at $1.00, with jjatent. My bees are trans- 

 ferred to a Simplicity hive. In the spring of 1883 I 

 bought one more swarm, in box hive, for $3.00. This 

 made me three swarms to commence with. Then I 

 bought the Simplicity hive, and a friend let me have 

 a copy of Gleanings and his ABC. I saw the value 

 of them, and ordered both. By their help I increas* 



