October, i 



American Hee Journal 



303 



)^^^^^] 



pounds if there is brood in the hives. 

 .Vow, it is generally believed, that no 

 colony wintered on the summer stand, 

 should start the winter on less than 25 

 pounds of honey, and that 30 would be 

 better; and so we weigh our hives hav- 

 ing colonies of bees in them which we 

 intend for wintering, 53 pounds is as 

 little as should be allowed, wliile 58 

 would be better; or, 61 if the colonies 

 have brood. As the hives are weighed, 

 the weight of each one is set down on 

 a piece of section, and this tacked to the 

 hive, so that after the weighing is over, 



1 can go through the apiary and know 

 for the looking just what each colony 

 has for winter. 



To save a second going over to look 

 at all the pieces of sections, where any 

 colony has sufficient stores, a small stone 

 or a piece of brick is placed in the cen- 

 ter of the top of the iiive, which tells 

 me at a glance over the hives, all of 

 those which need no further looking 

 after. All that do not have this stone 

 on are looked up, and frames of honey 

 given them till they have sufficient. 



Suppose' we come to a hive which has 

 the weight of 45 pounds marked on it. 

 We will go to one of the hives having 

 frames of surplus stores, and take out 



2 frames, the combined weight of which 

 will probably lie 12 pounds, and carry 

 them to this hive. We will now open 

 the hive and take out 2 of the very light- 

 est combs, and put those we brought in 

 their places. These combs taken out 

 may possibly contain one or 3 pounds of 

 honey, but as we have brought 12 pounds 

 instead of the 8 needed, we are all right, 

 as we wish that each colony should have 

 25 pounds or more. In this way we keep 

 on until all have the required amount, 

 when the bees are ready for winter, as 

 far as good queens, number of bees, and 

 honey, are concerned. If we do not 

 have combs of sealed honey, of course, 

 other feeding must be resorted to, but if 

 all are anything like the writer, oiicc 

 feeding any liquid poured into a feeder, 

 will suffice for all the rest of their bee- 

 keeping life. The combs of honey are 

 so easily obtained, by a little forethought 

 during the harvest, and are so easily 

 used in preparing colonies for winter, 

 that I cannot think of going back to 

 feeding liquid food under any considera- 

 tion, short of an entire failure of the 

 honey crop. 



Reader, if you have never done this 

 preparing for winter thus early in the 

 season, or have never used full combs 

 of capped honey for winter feeding, give 

 it a careful trial, and, my word for it, 

 you will not be guiltj' of using any of 

 the slipshod ways again. 



Borodino, N. Y. 



A Crippled Bee- Keeper and 

 His Apiary 



BY JESSE G. COCKR.AM. 



I began bee-keeping in the old-fash- 

 ioned way, like many others, not know- 

 ing anything aliout the new method, etc. 

 I kept my bees in this way for about 11 

 years, getting just a little honey to eat 

 sometimes, and a few pounds of chunk 

 honey to sell now and then when they 

 got rich at rolibing time, which, accord- 

 ing to the old rule, was about June. But 



Crippled Jesse G. Cockram in- His Api.\rv. 



it very often happens that bees are not 

 rich at this robbing time. Then the old- 

 fashioned bee-man has to wait until next 

 year, or kill his bees in the fall of the 

 year and take all they have laid up for 

 winter, destroying good colonies of bees 

 that would very likely be worth hun- 

 dreds of dollars in a few years if per- 

 mitted to live, just for the sake of a 

 few pounds of honey. 



Let me say right here — suppose you 

 get $5 or $6 worth of honey and bees- 

 wax per colony at "killing time," that 

 is surely all you will ever get from them 

 in all time to come. My bees last year 

 averaged 50 pounds of good surplus 

 section honey per colony. Fifty pounds 

 of honey at 12^2 cents per pound is as 

 much as any one generally gets from 

 the very best and richest box-hive when 

 he kills the bees and takes it all. I get 

 this much by working my bees in the 

 new way, and I keep my bees alive to 

 get that much from them next year. 

 Count up then what a colony of bees is 

 worth. Just suppose it to live 10 years 

 in a good frame-hive, averaging 50 

 pounds of section honey per year, and 

 selling it at i2'/2 cents per section ($62.- 

 50) ; and this is not all yet. The swarms 

 from this colony for 10 years, and all 

 their increase and honey, too; take this 

 into consideration, and then you will 

 begin to find out that it surely does not 

 pay to kill a good colony of bees at all. 

 Xo, indeed, it surely does not pay to 

 take that sweet, useful life away. I 

 never expect to kill another colony of 

 bees. I wish I had never killed any. 



Get good modern hives and transfer 

 your bees into them, if you have them 

 in box-hives or log-gums. Do as I have 

 done, and save your bees for many years 

 to come, and just watch them go to work 

 for you, bringing in some 25, some 35, 

 some 43, some 50, some 60, and some 75 

 pounds of honey per colony in one sea- 

 son, and have plenty to winter on be- 

 s.des, but if there happens to come a 

 bai season, so that the bees can not pull 



through, feed and take care of them 

 until they reach a good season. Be 

 faithful and merciful, and the Lord will 

 bless you. 



Yes, I would rather work with bees 

 than at anything else. I just have a love 

 for the bees, and have had from child- 

 hood. I have crawled off into the woods 

 many times and hunted for wild bees. 

 I love to transfer bees from old trees 

 into frame-hives, just to see them go to 

 work where they can do well for me and 

 themselves also ; where I can remove the 

 honey out of their way, and furnish 

 them more room, just as they need it, 

 and feed and take care of them, if they 

 happen to need any feed. 



I haven't walked for 32 years. You 

 see by the picture the way I cross my 

 legs when I am crawling about. But I 

 do not let my legs remain crossed at all 

 times. If I were to uncross my legs and 

 sit on the bench, you could hardly tell 

 in the picture that I w'as a crippled man. 

 I work at the shoe-trade some through 

 the fall and winter. I can uncross my 

 legs and lay my feet on the back of my 

 neck. I am strong in the other members 

 of my body. I believe the lost strength 

 in my feet and legs has gone to the 

 other members of my body. My legs are 

 small, but I have the right feeling in 

 them, just the same as I have in my 

 arms and hands, and they do not pain 

 or hurt me anj'. If I let them remain 

 crossed too long they get tired, then I 

 have to uncross them and let them rest. 

 I can climb trees with my legs crossed 

 as you see in the picture. 



Woolwine, Va. 



Moving an Arizona Apiary 



BY W. O. COREY. 



The picture I am sending was taken 

 in April. The apiary is located south 

 of the Mule Mountains, about 3 miles 

 from the famous copper camp Bisbee, 

 and about 5 miles from the Mexican 



