The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1884-08-18
The Bee-Keeping Business.


The Bee Keeping Business.
Talk with Bee Dealers in New York Evening Post
While the keeping of bees said Mr. King,
lis as old as the most ancient records, and
honey before the sixteenth century was the only
sweet in general use, it was left for men of this
generation, most OF whom are yet living, to
discover the laws governing the economy Of the
hive, and to invent apparatus the use of which
has completely revolutionized the whole bust
ness. As in almost every other industry, our
own country leads the van in this, and has in
creased the revenue from honey and beeswax
within the last fifteen years from So coo, 600 to
nearly $4,000 000 annually. Since the intro
duct:on of italian bees, and the movable comb
system in beehives, which gives the bee keeper
complete control Of all the operations Of the
hive, the yield Of honey has increased from an
average of fifteen pounds per hive under the old
management of our fathers to about eighty
pounds under the modern system, and this is the
average OF the country / can point to several
instances where bee keepers under the most IA
yorable circumstances have secured in one sea
son from single hive 400 TO 200 and in one in
stance LOCO pounds of fine honey. Such remark
able yields are, of course, confined to persons
who thoroughly understand the use of all the
modern appliances, and use them For instance.
the honey extractor by which the combs in
hive may in good honey-ffows be einptied
OF their honey and returned undamaged to
the bees three or four times a week, will secure
nore than double the quantity that can
be obtained with the little glass boxes The
reason Of this viii appear when we consider that
for each pound Of empty SeInb IN the hive twenty
pounds of honey have been used in its pr0duc-
ton. A good sized hive contains about five
pounds of comb when empty, or, in other words,
represents one hundred pounds of honey, all of
which is saved by the use of the extractor. An
other modern invention is ''cemb-foundatien."
by which l mean thin sheets of pure beeswax
with the impression of the hexa9onal cells on
both sides The bottoms Of those cells are so
thin and transparent that one can read through
them, but the side walls are left thick enough to
afford material to finish the cells; which
is done by the bees in manner very
similar to the drawing out of iron I'M
der the hammer of the blacksmith By
the use of this foundation comb the crop of
honey Is at least doubled We owe to Germans
the FIRST invention of the condemnation, the
us to take the bees honey away from him with
out compelling him to build his cells all over
again. bat we Americans have improved these
inventions almost beyond recognition. The first
honey extractor was suggested to its inventor by
the sight Of boy who tied piece Of honey
comb to string, and swinging it around his
head compelled the honey to gather at one spot
in the extractor the frames of honey are placed,
so that when turned rapidly the honey is thrown
against the sides of the vessel and runs out at
the bottom
Under the old system of management if was
supposed that bees gathered honey at all times
during the warm season, but it is now known
that they gather only for small part OF the
time and that often one weeks work will make
all the difference between failure and success.
For this reason the intelligent beeSkeeper
watches the blooming and the honey secretlng
qualities of the flowers very closely, and when
ever there is dearth he feeds his bees SO that
breeding is kept up and the hive is always
crowded with the busy workers, single hives
often containing from 80, 900 to- 10000 bees In
the height of white clover and bas-
wood bloom hives have been known
to increase in weight from twenty to
thirty Ave pounds each daily, j. w. Hosmer
of GAINESVILLE. Mimi, took tons Of honey IN IL
days from $50 hives; d Gallup, Of Orchard, Ia,
took 80 pounds in one day from single hive,
James Heddon. of Dawagiac, Mich. took 80
pounds in the same time from one of the largest
and strongest of his stocks; L. G. Root of north
ern New York, obtained 20 pounds per day, for
several days in succession, from some of his
strongest stocks Such instances might be
greatly multiplied, but mention few to show
something OF the possibilities of bee culture
under intelligent management There are many
apiaries in the United States, varying in size
from so to 1000 hives which bring their owners
an annual revenue far exceeding that obtained
by our average farmers. d. A. Jones, OF Canada,
owns about 800 hives and has for the last FIVE
years sold an average of % coo pounds Of honey.
j. S. HARRISON of California, keeps about 8, 600
hives, employs ten men, and sells ON an average
some 100000 pounds of honey Capt J. f.
de6ner1ngt0n. OF CherRy valley, New York,
keeps about /, 200 hives, attended by eight men,
and has received for a single season production
500, 600 in cash. e. N. Doolittle, Of Borodino, N.
Y, has kept for the last eight or nine years an
average Of fifty hives in connection with the
fruit business, and although taking but small
part of his time, he has averaged over 81 600
year from the sales of his honey; last year he
took 4, 900 pounds of Linden honey, all Of which
his bees gathered from a Linden forest six miles
distant There are large number of persons
now engaged exclusively in Bookkeeping, and
several thousand, including women, who keep
few hives for family honey and some money.