1877 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



45 



%md§ el pain, 



From Different Fields. 



WILL IT PAY TO BUY AN EXTRACTOR? 



^jfi HAVE 9 colonies of bees all ia frame hives. If I 

 Jjj get them wintered safely I would like to have an 

 ^-' extractor; will it j)ay to send fwr one for that 

 inimber? I made '2 colonies from One last summer, 

 I was not bothered with swarming. 



N. M. Blossek, North Lima, Ohio. 

 If you can sell extracted honey for 15c per 

 U»., an extractor will pay average seasons, 

 with one colony only. If comb honey will 

 sell more readily at 25c, perhaps you will do 

 as well to get the fdn., and the new section 

 boxes. You can secure a crop of extracted 

 honey easier, a much cheaper hive will an- 

 swer, and a beginner will get a crop where he 

 would fail entirely with comb honey ; he will 

 iu fact tiud it so easy, he will be very apt to 

 starve his bees until he learns better. As to 

 whether it will pay, depends very much on 

 the home market you succeed in building up. 



The past season has been my first in bee-keeping. I 

 1 liink I have done well. I commenced with 8 swarms 

 J'lst spring; and transferred them with no trouble into 

 movable comb hives, size 12sl2.xl6 inside, frame 14^x10% 

 inside measure. Spring cold and backward; no swarms 

 until July 5th. July 1st, I had 4 strong and 4 weak stocks. 

 Hived my four first swarms and put back all the rest by 

 hiving in an old box by the side of the old hive and in 

 from 2 to 4 days cutting out queen cells from old hive and 

 .shaking the bees back. I had no trouble from swarms 

 ooining c ut that had been once put back in this way. I 

 i^ot from the 8 swarms (and two of them did nothing) the 

 •t swarms six)ken of above and about 300 lbs. of box honey. 

 Considering that it was nearly all taken from buckwheat, 

 I think they did well. One swarm that had to be fed, up 

 to June 25th, gave PO lbs. of Wox honey ; another with its 

 swarm made 140 lbs. of box honey. I am using Mr. Is- j 

 ham's glass boxes and think them the best I have seen, i 

 < >ur honey plants are finiit blossoms, locust, white clover, i 

 liasswood and buckwheat. We have also a large variety I 

 of fall flowers, and in fact almost every thing in its season. 

 Tliis has been a poor season and bees that have had no ] 

 cai-e have done little. Geo. W. Stanley, j 



Wyoming, N. Y. Jan. 1st. 1877. 



Is there not a little inconsistence some- { 

 nhere friend S., in calling it a poor season, af- j 

 tcr such a report from a novice. \ 



I would not part with either of my volumes from vol. j 

 1st. to the present for four times tbe cost. Last spring I 

 started with 1.3 colonies ; have 26 now and have taken 

 1200 lbs. of honey. Some of my neighbors who purchased 

 hives of me desiretl my aid in taking care of theirs, 13 in 

 all ; we have increased them to 26 colonies and taken 800 

 lbs. making in all, from 26 hives, 52 and one ton of honey. 

 This is a hard climate for bees, so elevated and changea- 

 ble among the Rocky mountains. Foul brood has des- 

 troyed so many bees some have become discouraged. One 

 «i'f our apiarians is trying to overcome the disease by often 

 • hanging the bees into new hives and making new combs j 

 and brood. What do you think of the plan ? ■ 



!•:. Stevenson, Salt Lake City, Utah, Dec. 28th, 1876. ' 



I have taken 12 stands of bees on shares for a tenn of 3 1 

 .rears. I took charge of them in July, moved them 10 j 

 miles, losing one; smothered them \k'{«tc travelinir £• 

 n il .s. I have now 20 even, all thrifty stands in the Lai;^-- 



stroth hive. The stock is from yours, but is badly mi.xcd. 

 Mr. Wilson received one stand of Italians from you, and 

 he never increased them but the whole stock is improved, 

 I go barefaced among my bees and love the work. 



A. H. Beet, Mt. Erie, III. Jan. 1st, 1877. 



I am a beginner, starting in the spring with one colony 

 in a box hive. They sent out a swarm in June, whieh for 

 want of frames I put in a common box. Tlioy gave me 

 one cap and part of another, and were ready for winter 

 with their hive two-thirds full of honey. I purchased 4 

 swarms, made movable frames, and with the swarms from 

 these, and bees given me to stock neuclci, with seven col- 

 onies that I "drove" for a "bee man" who wanted honey, 

 I have commenced the winter with eleven stocks in ten 

 hives ; nine of them in a long box packed with chaff. In 

 the spring, you can tell better in which department to 

 place me. I have never lost a queen by introducing, 

 though I have introduced them in every colony, also have 

 added bees to almost all my swarms. 



FRAMES VERSUS BOZ HIVES. 



I write in behalf of a bee-keeping friend of mine, who 

 has about 75 colonies in boxcj and gums of all imaginable 

 kinds, who has claimed the movable frame useless, and 

 that he could manipulate his boxes and gums quicker 

 than any man could frames and with better resiUts for 

 any object desired, such as taking out queens, making 

 new swarms etc. He was at my place the day after I re- 

 ceived the fdn., and saw it after it had been 12 hours in 

 the hive, and the bees were working it. He also saw the 

 metal rabbets, frame, honey knife and other samples ; the 

 samples were received in good order except the thermom- 

 eter which remains in stahc quo and refuses to be com- 

 forted with either heat or cold. This man saw my ex- 

 tractor in successful operation, .and now he wishes me to 

 learn your price for metal cornered frames, 500 or more. 

 He thinks he will transfer about 50 colonies in the spring 

 and he will be successful, as he understands their "little 

 dispositions" better than any one I ever saw handle bees. 

 J. E. Dart, Farmer City, Dec. 28th, 1876. 



FOUNDATION REPORT. 



Since you asked in Gleanings for reports from 

 those having used fdn., I will say I had some from 

 T. G. Newman. Twelve sheets 12x16 inches for two 

 pounds, with which I experimented in various ways. 

 In brood chamber I filled frames to within about 1 

 inch of bottom bar and it would sag and break down 

 as soon as the bees put a little honey in it. They 

 commenced work on them in two hours after they 

 were put In the hives. The only way I succeeded 

 was with sectional frames made on the i^lan of yours, 

 !)x5 inches filled to within )n inch of bottom bar and 

 lastened at the top with wax. Even then they sagged 

 and stretched. These were made by C. O. Perrine, of 

 Chicago, if I am not mistaken. I also tried the plaia 

 wax sheets having every alternate frame natural 

 comb starter which they filled and capped without 

 touching the wax sheets. Jas. E. Fehr. 



Dakota, Ills., Dec. 19th, 1876. 



I used some of your sections last summer, liked them 

 ■\ery much. I have one objection to them, they have so 

 many pieces. Could you not make them with four pieces, 

 in.stead of 6, having the upright pieces solid ? I think they 

 would be much better. I am making preparations to run 

 10 swarms next season, mostly for extracted honey. 



W. H. Kerr, Waynetown, Ind. Dec. 30th, 1876. 



We now make them exactly as you suggest. 



I have increased from 20 to 47 in the last season, all in 

 good condition. Greatest surplus from one hive 80 lbs. 

 The first swarms gave most of my honey, the old hive 

 iKiving the .sw.irming fever so badly worked little. 



Si:tii Devixe, Kingsbury, N. Y. Dee. 30th, 1876. 



