

' ^e\?ie 



}e (t)ee-j\eepeps 



A MONTHLY JOURNAL 



Devoted to tl^e Interests of Hoqey Producers. 



$L00 A YEAR. 



f . Z, HDTCHfflSON, Editor and Proprietor. 



VOL XII, FLINT. MICHIGAN, NOVEMBER. 10, 1900, NO, 



NEAT DELAWARE APIARY, 

 AND HOW IT IS MANAGED 

 FOR COMB HONEY. BY J. 

 COLBY SMITH. 



This apiary is situated nine miles be- 

 low Dover, 3>^ miles west of Woodside 

 "Del. R. R.," and six miles from Mason 

 and Dixon line. It is 144 feet long, and 

 72 feet wide, and faces southeast. On 

 the southwest there is a hedge for a wind- 

 break; and on the west, northwest, and 

 north, a light board fence three feet high. 

 The fence is utilized as a trellis for grapes. 

 You will notice in the picture that four 

 rows of hives face the southeast, and one 

 row the northwest, and I will say here 

 that I do not notice any particular differ- 

 ence in the way they face — that one colo- 

 ny does equally as well as the other. 



When I first started I had some difficul- 

 ty with the weeds and grass. I first tried 

 sawdust to keep them down. It was too 

 wet in a wet time and too dry in a dry 

 time; and it blew into the hives. Then I 

 tried sand ; which was equally as bad in 

 another direction, as the rain would dash 

 sand up against the sides of the hives, 

 and I would have them to clean after a 

 shower. Finding that neither sawdust 

 nor sand would answer, I removed saw- 

 dust, sand, and weeds, aud do not allow 



anything to grow, excepting apple trees, 

 (which are two years old) and rose bush- 

 es; which are mostly hidden in the pic- 

 ture by the hives. The building in the 

 distance is the honey house of galvanized 

 iron. Whera my little grandaughter sits 

 is the workshop where I make my mis- 

 takes. 



There are 80, eight-frame Dovetailed 

 hives. The alighting boards are movable, 

 and are painted, alternately, red, white, 

 blue and yellow. I think this is an ad- 

 vantage; as it enables the young queens 

 to find their home. 



I work principally for comb honey; 

 practice contraction of the brood-nest; 

 and g'^t the honey from the swarm. 



Shallow brood- chambers won't answer 

 here; as the bees put too much pollen in 

 the sections. We have both a spring and 

 a fall-flow of honey, and remove the su- 

 pers with bee-escapes; which I leave on 

 until the next spring. There are winter- 

 cases lined with paper which fit the bot- 

 tom boards, and where the cases are put 

 on the hives in th^ fall a cork mat is used 

 on the bee-escape, which is already on 

 the hive. 



The shade-boards seen on the hives are 

 the covers for the winter cases. 



I prefer natural swarming; believe in 

 clipping queens; and all that I have done 



