178 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Apk. 



small amount of time and labor when both are par- 

 ticularly precious, and alwaj'S attended bj' con- 

 siderable loss from bruising' and breaking of sec- 

 lions, elo., oven where the most careful hands are 

 used. I have never found it advisable to try to 

 keep the different kinds of early honey wholly sep- 

 arate, nor any of the Idte-gathered kinds, except 

 buckwheat, which bothers mo but little, as the bees 

 nearly always have better pasturag'e at that time. 

 Where one has crates of nearly finished sections at 

 the close of any harvest, he may readily secure 

 their completion by means of judicious feeding-, or 

 such sections oan always be disposed of to advan- 

 tage in your home market, while those that are un- 

 suitable for this purpose can either be extracted, or 

 be used as the basis of the next harvest, as may 

 seem most advisable. 



But I had nearly forgotten that one more capable 

 than I has been called upon to discuss these ques- 

 tions, and who will doubtless view this matter from 

 quite a different standpoint; so I will bring this 

 article to a close. In conclusion, you speak of hav- 

 ing had quite a number of complaints from parties 

 to whom I sent sections last year. I think I may 

 safely conclude that the complaints were chielly 

 from those who were expecting dove-tailed sections 

 from you; and having never tried the nailed ones, 

 thought, like friend Green, that they would not like 

 them. I am led to say this much, as I never receiv- 

 ed but the one complaint from him, and, as you have 

 seen, he changed his opinion after a thorough trial; 

 and as several of the half-dozen parties to whom I 

 sent sections for you have since ordered largely 

 from me, I take it for granted that they have re- 

 pented also. Byron Walker. 



Capac, St. Clair Co., Mich., Feb., 1883. 



Thanks, friend W. I am inclined to think 

 the points you have been discussing are of 

 great moment to us all. Shall we take our 

 sections singly out of wide frames and crates, 

 and pack them in boxes to ship, or shall we 

 give the bees a case of 20 or more, and after 

 they have filled them, send them to market 

 just as they come from the hive V I am 

 strongly inclined to the latter. The case 

 sent by friend W. is so nearly like our own, 

 we do not give an engraving "of it. Instead 

 of hand-holes in the end-boards, he simply 

 runs a groove the whole length. As this 

 groove can be quickly run in before the stuff 

 is cut up, we think it will be a quicker way, 

 very likely. The sections were H in. thick 

 when first received, but they have now 

 shrunk a full sixteenth. This latter matter 

 is one that will make trouble, if we don't 

 look out ; for if wo space the bottom-bars so 

 as to exclude the queen, the sections must 

 stand exactly over the spaces, or bees as 

 well will be' excluded. The sample case 

 sent, if tipped on one side, will, since the 

 sections have shrunk, close a great many of 

 the spaces. I think this a matter that should 

 be well looked to, in setting cases over the 

 hives. Turn the case over and look into the 

 spaces, and be sure the bees can pass freely 

 into the sections. If they have shrunk, 

 wedge them up a little on each side, instead 

 of crowding them up from one side only, for 

 this will tend to keep them nearer over the 

 spaces. I remember to have heard of a bee- 

 man who complained that his bees would 

 not work a bit in the boxes, when the real 



trouble was, they could not by any possibili- 

 ty get in. 



If we are to omit separators, I think it is 

 quite likely true that a If-inch section is to 

 be preferred rather than a 2-inch one ; and 

 this will enable us to make a crate holding 

 28 sections that will easily go inside of a 

 Simplicity hive. As the case is to be sold 

 with the honey, a cheap stout case will be 

 wanted; and as the demand for them will 

 likely run up into the thousands, we shall 

 have to keep them crated up, just as we do 

 sections and Simplicity hives, stacked up in 

 the warehouse, ready to ship. 



HOW A " BUSTED" BEB-MAN GOT EVEN 

 AT I.AST. 



ALL IS WELL THAT ENDS VfELL. 



(;Pj]:OME three years ago one of my neighbors let 

 1^)) me have a swarm of bees, for which I gave 

 ^— him ?3.00. They did well, and in the fall they 

 Were heavy and full of bees. They wintered well, 

 and in the spring were in good condition, worked 

 well, but would not swarm; and having a wish to 

 have two colonies, I got a neighbor, a bee-man, to 

 divide them — he cou'.d do it "just right."' Well, he 

 divided them, and 1 had all I wanted. But when 

 fall came thei-e were not enough bees and honey to 

 winter. 1 put both into one hive, and fed well. But 

 in the spring they were weak and sickly. Then I 

 bought three swarms; and when fall came they had 

 done but little. One swarmed out and disappeared, 

 and the other two I fed ; but they " went up " before 

 spring. This left only the sickly one. 



But I determined not to five it up. I sent to you 

 for two nuclei; the first oue came to hand June 30, 

 1881 — the most beautiful queen and bees I have 

 ever seen. I put them into a Simplicity; they did 

 well ; filled the hive half full of comb and honey, and 

 plenty of bees. But fearing they would not winter 

 well I took out several frames and put in their place 

 frames containing C or 8 lbs. of honey; and when 

 spring came they were in good condition — worked 

 well and increased rapidly, and I felt encouraged to 

 get one good colony. But, to my great surprise, on 

 the 3d of July, 1882, they sent out the largest swarm 

 I erer had, after putting them into a Simplicity 

 (they looked large enough to fill the hive). Then I 

 went back to see if any bees were left in it. But 

 you may imagine my surprise to find the old hive 

 still full of bees; and fearing lest they would send 

 out another swarm, I put on a cap I got of you, with 

 36 boxes in it. This kept them from swarming. 

 Both colonies did well; and when fall came I got 

 from old hive, 18 lbs. of honey; and from seven, 12 

 lbs.; all together, 30 lbs. 



Now, from that nucleus I got 30 lbs. honey, say 20 

 cts. per lb., $6.00; 2 colonies, say $10.00 each, $20.00; 

 total, $26.00. 



I put colonies at $10.00. This may be too high; 

 but I would not take that for them, unless the con- 

 stable were at my door; but as he has no business 

 with me, $10.00 each will not buy them. 



Brazil, Ind., Feb. 2i, 1883. L. O. Schultz. 



Why, friend S., it seems to me that you 

 are a man very easily pleased. Some of our 

 youngest juveniles, I can imagine, will 

 '" snicker right out "to hear you tell of be- 



