364 



THE BEE-KEEPERS' REVIEW 



TH?: EXPERIENCE OF WHICH MR. 

 TOWNSEND IS TO TELL. 



His knowing that we had produced, 

 and sold $900 worth of honey and wax 

 from one yard of 168 colonies, 105 

 miles from home, by rail, this poor 

 season, and being convinced that the 

 same management in a good season, 

 would have swelled this amount to 

 nearly $2,000, is one of the reasons for 

 asking me to write for the Review 

 again. Another reason is, this yard, 

 105 miles from home, was worked for 

 both comb and extracted honey, 84 col- 

 onies for each, and a comparison of 

 results between the relative cost of 

 production will be given. 



Then there are the four extracted 

 honey yards here near home to talk 

 about; but I think I have said enough 

 along this line. 



CUT ODT ALL UNPROFITABLE MANIPU- 

 LATIONS. 



In being able to distinguish between 

 the paying manipulations and those 

 that do not pay, lies much of the secret 

 of successful, extensive bee-keeping. 

 "Always in a mood to learn," should 

 be our motto. We are too prone to 

 hang on to the old methods. We be- 

 come accustomed to doing things in a 

 certain way, our hands become deft at 

 this way of manipulating cur bees. 

 Right here is where most of us make a 

 mistake. The new, and, perhaps, 

 superior way is tried; everything seems 

 strange; we don't get along very 

 rapidly; everything feels awkward; 

 and, if we are not clear sighted enough 

 to see the advantage of the new way, 

 we drop back to the old; likely never to 

 try the new again, and an opportunity 

 for progress is lost. 



But what I will say in "Helpful 

 Talks," will be more in the line of 

 what not to do, rather than adding new 

 manipulations, to the already too com- 

 plicated systems in vogue, at the 

 present time. 



The system I am about to describe 

 is an old tried one, one that has stood 

 the test of years. 



PREPAREDNESS A GREAT FACTOR OF 

 SUCCESSFUL BEE-KEEPING. 



It is now December; my bees are all 

 in their winter quarters; 590 colonies; 

 155 are chaff-packed hives; tie balance 

 in clamps (buried); our season's work 

 is finished, our crop of honey sold, and 

 I am commencing to think about what 

 supplies, etc., will be needed for an- 

 other season; for I usually order my 

 season's stock during January, and 

 have them all nailed up and frames 

 wired during winter, as I consider 

 preparedness a great factor of success- 

 ful bee-keeping. 



THE ADVANTAGES OF INTERCHANGE- 



I am thoroughly convinced that the 

 best is none too good, so I buy factory 

 made goods. I believe in specialism. 

 Specialism in queen rearing; special- 

 ism in the production of honey; and 

 specialism in the manufacture of hives 

 and implements pertaining to our pur- 

 suit. We want every hive in a yard 

 just like every other hive; then we want 

 every yard to have hives and fixtures 

 just like every other yard; everything 

 interchangeable, To illustrate: I con- 

 tract the entrances of my hives during 

 the cold spring months; if I had only a 

 few bees, say in a home-yard, it would 

 not make much difference whether the 

 entrances were all alike or not. I 

 could with a saw, hammer and nails, 

 a few laths and jacknife, take measure- 

 ments and cut lath the right length to 

 fit any kind of an entrance, but with 

 several hundred colonies in out-yards, 

 scattered around the country, this 

 would be quite a long drawn out job; 

 but with every entrance in all our 

 yards exactly alike, the entrance 

 blocks are cut in the shop, during odd 

 spells, with one-twentieth of the time 

 and expense, 



