THE BEE-KEEPERS' REVIEW 



175 



supers the same day they are to go on 

 the hives, and, if the bees do not work 

 foundation within forty-eight hours, we 

 stop putting on supers until such time that 

 they can work it. I would rather the 

 bees would do their loafing in the hives 

 than in the supers, gnawing and cutting 



the foundation until it looks like a bell in 

 some distant tower, using the cuttings to 

 fasten up crevices. 



In the next issue 1 will give some of 

 my experiences in the care and grading 

 of comb honey. 



Camillus, N. Y., May 14. 1910. 



Producing a Crop of Comb Honey with Four 

 Visits During the Harvest, and no Swarming. 



MRS. S. WILBUR FREY. 



"WHEN I read 

 X^ a book or 

 an article, I al- 

 ways like to 

 know something 

 of its author, so 

 1 will mention a 

 few things of 

 myself, especial- 

 ly as they refer 

 to my bee keep- 

 ing life. Twenty- 

 five years ago, at the time of my mar- 

 riage, my husband had 15 or 20 colonies 

 of black bees in box hives. He hated to 

 be bothered with them, and hated the 

 stings still more. There was plenty of 

 work on the farm, so the care of the 

 bees fell upon me. The bees increased 

 until 1 found it necessary to hire a girl to 

 help with the housework, and stay with 

 the children, while I worked in the bee 

 yard. The bees continued to multiply, 

 until, some years, we had so many that 

 we killed the increase in the fall. We 

 finally concluded that this did not pay; 

 so we began the establishing of out- 

 apiaries. These apiaries were located 

 near the low lands of the Rice Lake 

 region, where there are plenty of swamps 

 and streams, yet near a good farming 

 country with its orchards. Others, see- 

 ing our success, started in the business, 



until, at one time, we could count 900 

 colonies within five miles of our present 

 apiaries. It was like a berry patch 

 where there are more pickers than 

 berries. This condition lasted a few 

 years, then came hard winters and late 

 springs that few apairies were prepared 

 to endure, and piles of old hives now 

 mark the locations of most of these 

 apiaries. Of course, we had our share of 

 reverses (it is not a very dependable 

 warrior who has never been in battle); 

 but 1 can truthfully say that our heaviest 

 losses and hardships have been the real 

 stepping stones to our greatest successes. 

 At present we have three apiaries. As 

 already mentioned, we keep a hired girl 

 or woman six or eight months out of the 

 year, but a large share of my time is 

 claimed by my home and family; as 

 there are many things that only a mother 

 can do. With this as an introduction, 1 

 will now take up the actual work of the 

 season, as it begins in the spring. 



IMPORTANT TO HAVE AN ARMY OF WORKERS 

 WHEN THE HARVEST IS ON. 



I have found that, in order to secure a 

 good crop of honey, the bee keeper must 

 thoroughly understand his location — must 

 know the honey producing plants and 

 their periods of bloom. He must hold 

 his colonies together (not allow swarm- 

 ing) and have his hives filled to overflow- 



