70 



THE BEE-KEEPERS' REVIEW. 



contracted during the cold months to 

 winter well out-doors; and, with my 

 system of working, to get the most 

 honey with the least labor, it is out 

 of the question to handle brood 

 frames to any extent. 



LABOR THE PARAMOUNT FACTOR IN 

 HONEY PRODUCTION. 



A word about labor. With bees 

 selling at from one to three dollars a 

 colony, as they are now-a-days, it is 

 evident that labor is the paramount 

 question in the production of honey. 

 If the reader will keep this in mind, 

 I will try and tell him how to man- 

 age, perhaps a good many more bees, 

 with the labor he is now expending, 

 by adding a few more out-yards. 



ADVANTAGES OF HAVING APIARIES 

 WIDEIvY SCATTERED. 



I have four yards at present — about 

 350 colonies altogether. Three are up 

 here in Mecosta county, and one is in 

 Clinton county; and so much confi- 

 dence have I in yards at distant 

 points, that I expect to leave the four 

 yards mentioned, and go 100 miles 

 north, a year from now, and place 200 

 colonies there. 



Why do I place apiaries so far 

 apart? I do it to put l)ee-keeping on 

 a solid, paying foundation. You 

 know, W. Z., that bee-keeping has 

 the name of being uncertain, not an 

 occupation to be depended upon whol- 

 ly for a living, and I am trying to 

 overcome most of these uncertainties 

 by placing apiaries so far apart that 

 I will get a crop at some of the loca- 

 tions. Without going into particulars, 

 all old bee-keepers know, perhaps to 

 their sorrow, that one location may 

 be yielding a splendid crop, while the 

 bees are in a starving condition only 

 a few miles away; and, that, too, with 

 the same kind of pasturage. The 

 weather conditions make the diff^fr 



MANAGING AN APIARY WITH ONLY FOUR 

 VISITS A YEAR. 



You ask me to tell the readers of 

 Review how I managed an apiary by 

 visiting it only four times in one year, 

 yet received, on an average, JfJlOO a 

 trip for the four trips. When I made 

 that statement at our State conven- 

 tion at Lansing it was simply a rough 

 estimate, and I was quite surprised 

 myself, when I came to figure it up 

 carefully to find that it had averaged 

 $150 a visit during the two years that 

 I have had the apiary in that loca- 

 tion. During this time, this apiary, 

 which is fifty miles from here, has 

 been Avorked as an out-yard, and 

 what I have so say will be in regard 

 to this yard. 



The bees are wintered on their 

 summer stands in packing cases. 

 About October 1st, I make a trip down 

 there, laok them over, feed any light 

 ones until each colony has at least 25 

 or 30 lbs. each, and then pack them 

 for winter in from two to six inches 

 of chaff. They are not disturbed 

 again I put the upper stories 

 on the first of June. 



As oiu' honey season does not open 

 until about June i5th, it will be seen 

 that the bees have plenty of room 

 previous to the flow, hence do not get 

 the swarming fever; and, as I put 

 two upper stories on each of the 

 strong colonies at this visit, there is 

 no swarming, except in cases of super- 

 sedure of queens during the honey 

 season. This does away with all 

 watching for swarms. 



As I want my clover honey separate 

 from the basswood. I make a third 

 trip, the first of July, and extract 

 what clover there is, putting back the 

 upper stories to catch the last end of 

 the clover and basswood flow. 



What clover and basswood there is. 

 I extract about August Jst; and, as 



