360 



THE BEE-KEEPERS' REVIEW. 



THE Sp:COND stack — p;XPANSION. 



Next comes the stag-e of expansion. 

 Thoughts of the flora, the most favor- 

 able fields, of out-apiaries and carloads 

 of honey will begin to take possession 

 of the mind. Books and journals will 

 be studiously conned for the latest and 

 best methods, and devices and ideas. 

 Most careful study will be made (jf 

 hives and supers, that, if possible, he 

 may unerringly fix upon those best 

 suited to him and his locality. A honey 

 house will receive due attention, and 

 the best method of wintering- for him 

 will agitate his thoughts. The country 

 about will be explored to discover the 

 most convenient and promising localities 

 for establishing apiaries. The making 

 of hives, supers and other supplies - 

 shall he manufacture them himself, or 

 some classes of them, and to what ex- 

 tent? If he has some manual skill, es- 

 pecially if he be without abundant 

 means, he will, in the interest of econ- 

 omy, make about everything needed, 

 except the sections. A saw-table 

 at home will be the most conven- 

 ient, but the work can be profitably 

 done by the use of a saw at a neigh- 

 boring planing- mill. Prospects of 

 larg-e crops of honey, even a larg-e crop 

 already secured, will not be allowed 

 to breed extravagance. A low grade 

 of lumber, if it be white pine and bee- 

 tight, is quite as g-ood as the upper 

 grades, barring a trifie more waste, 

 and if used with reasonable care, will 

 last a lifetime. Practical utility and 

 not show will hold sway until a firm 

 foothold in the business has been secur- 

 ed. Growth will be substantial rather 

 than rapid. Labor may be cut in two 

 by studying conveniences, so care will 

 be exercised at every step in the pt)- 

 sition of the apiary, with reference tt) 

 the honey house and the wintering- re- 

 pository. So far as possible, no tall 

 or difficult trees will be allowed near 

 the apiary, that annoyance and loss of 

 time may be reduced to a minimum 

 during the strenuous season of swarm- 



ing-. The selection and careful culti- 

 vation of a strain of bees of the hig-hest 

 excellence will command the best at- 

 tention from the outset. The tempta- 

 tion which the easy methods of increase 

 present will be firmly resisted. Some 

 moderate rate of increase, not to ex- 

 ceed doubling yearly, will g-ive the 

 best results and doubtless more bees 

 in the end. 



THE LAST STAGE — FRUITION. 



But the time for fruition comes on. 

 The colonies have become strong and 

 are numerous. The promise of honey 

 producing-flora is everywhere pronounc- 

 ed. The ring- of hammer and saw is 

 hushed and the ranks of supers filled 

 with foundation-furnished sections are 

 in order ready for the bees at a mo- 

 ment's warning; for the bee-keeper 

 may surprise time, but he must not be 

 surprised by it. He will have all 

 thing-s in i-eadiness that when the sea- 

 son for surplus stock arrives he maj- 

 be free to give all necessary attention 

 to securing it. As soon as the hives 

 are teeming with bees, and nectar is 

 beg-inning to come in freel3% a super 

 will be furnished each colony, and 

 others will be furnished as rapidly as 

 the requirements of the colonies de- 

 mand them. With these conditions and 

 all requirements satisfied, the mass of 

 the product will rapidly swell so that 

 the bee-keeper himself, as he removes 

 and stores the bright capped nectar, 

 will feel that his cup runneth over and 

 be satisfied. But, however beautiful, 

 he has no thought of holding it perma- 

 nently; for now, as so<jn as possible, 

 ■ he would convert it advantag-eously 

 into the coin of the realm, and this is 

 his next and final trouble. Not that it 

 is difficult to sell it; that is easy 

 enough, but to sell it advantageously. 



DISPOSING Ol' rHK CROP. 



This whole subject is sometimes call- 

 ed commercial bee-keeping, but bee- 

 keeping is not commercial, it is ]nn-eh' 

 industrial. Thedisposingof the product 



