The Bismarck tribune. [volume] (Bismarck, N.D.) 1916-current, 1928-01-23
RAISING BEES :
DEVELOPS TO
FULL TIME JOB
Fargo Man Starts With One
Colony 10 Years Ago, Now
. Holds World Record

Fargo, N. D.. Jan. 23.--lF--
Starting out with . "sideline" Of
one colony Of bees 10 years ago,
Fred Marquette Of Fargo, who re-
Gently ran up an unofficial world
record for single hive conL honey
production, has $50 colonies Of bees
which produced $4,000 pounds Of
extracted and comb honey during
the year, an average Of 200 pounds
per hive.
Today, Marquette is devoting all
his time to the bee "farm" with
himself, his wife, and six children
depending on the busy little bees
for their entire income. With but
one exception, Mr.. Marquette built
no the $50 colonies, giving each
division queen.
The one exception, however, a
colony Of Caucasian bees shipped in
from Alabama, not only won the
unofficial world record but exceed
ed the previous single-hivc record
overwhelmingly-by ISL pounds Of
the comb variety and AZ pounds Of
extracted. They produced, from
April 20 to Sept. Is, total Of 593
pounds. Figured in ounces, the
$4,000 bees in the hive averaged
over a half an ounce of honey fer
each bee. The previous world rec
ord of 400 pounds of comb honey
was produced by a hive owned by
the late DR.. D. c. Miller of Mar
engo, Illinois.
l 1-.-A:.~ a. n1<n~nA
The Marquette apiary is located
on q small plot Of ground, about
an acre in extent, in the vicinity
Of q sweet clover fielo. The Local
ton is sheltered by natural wind
break of trees so that the bee
hives may be protected in the spring
and fall when cold winds prevail.
In producing the honey in such
quantities, Marquette does his own
work except for few days in
August when outside labor is need
ed. His honey was officially grad
ed by the bee department of the
North Dakota agricultural college
As Fancy Water White" the high.
est grade provided by the United
States grading rule.
| Nearly all of his hives are oc-
cupied by Italian bees and probably
90 per cent of the bees in the Uni
ted States are of the Italian tribe,
Marquette believes. Besides the
Italians and the Caucasians other
races Of bees are the Carniolians
} and Cyprians. The Cyprians are
considered the most ill-teMpered OF
all bee races.
1.-THE Caucasians have proved
themselves" Marquette says, Ito
be the gentlest and most industri-
Gus of all bees and they defend their
hives well against robbers
Work Longer Hours
In a close watch of this record
breaking Caucasian hive, Marquette
observed that they would fly out
earlier in the morning than his
. other races; that they gathered
honey much later in the evening
and that they were generally more
active on cooler days. This is {
factor which makes them prcdom
inantly preferable in the northwest
he said, considering the extra mum
I Der of working hours that they vii
! utilize.
In connection with Marquette
). unofficial record, j. A. Munro, STATE
: cntomologist, says: marquette hal
j the goods to show. He has sworl
4 to an affidavit and l expect hi
: record to be recognized information
ally" -.
1.-THE state as WHOLE" MI
Munro says, "has held first plac
for the past five years over in
a dividual states in average produe
ticn of honey per hive, producing
about 100 pounds more per colon
g than the country as whole.
Q "Thc production Of honey in tn
e state, too, has grown ire .eEdously
d In 1920 there were only 7O8 colon
u les. Today, they number nearl
y 10000 or Is times that Of 1921
e Practically all Of it grades 'Fanc
= Water White and has bette
d flavor than honey from other sec
Il tions Of the country"
u The reason for the rapid develop
ment in beekeeping as an organ
lied industry, Mr.. Munro explain
is due largely to the important pal
which sweet clover plays in tt
2 agriculture Of the state. Approx
mately 1-25th of the. sweet Glove
acreage is being utilized by Il
y bees. Sweet clover, he said, is Il
q most excellent source from whit
20 the bees gather and store larf
y yields Of high quality nectar.