,^H\tE'S 



18^ 



Or how to Realize the Most Money with the Smallest Expenditure oi" Capital 

 and Labor in the Care of Bees, Rationally Considered. 



PUBLISHED MONTHLY. 



Vol. I. 



MEDINA, O., JUNE 1, 1873. 



No. 6. 



STARTING AN Al'IARY. 



No. 6. 

 \Tl)9)Y June 1st, all Colonies should be 

 il*J) strong and ready for gathering, and 

 (lie skillful Bee Keeper should be able by 

 diligence and care, to make them so; 

 independent in a measure, of unfavor- 

 able weather. That is, if we are un- 

 able to make up for bad weather dur- 

 ing the yield of honey, we should be 

 at least able to get our stocks all in con- 

 dition for honey gathering before the hon- 

 ey season does open. To do this, brood 

 rearing must be kept up during March, 

 April and May, and this must be done, 

 even should a season occur colder and 

 more backward than was ever known by 

 the "oldest inhabitant," etc., and in short, 

 we shall tell you that if you don't get hon- 

 ey, the fault is in the Apiarist and not the 

 season. If colonies get weak as they will 

 sc (mutinies, it may be necessary to take 

 tliem to a warm room, and to avoid the 

 inconvenience of invading our dwellings, 

 we will have a stove in the bee house tem- 

 porarily, in the spring if needed. If the 

 upper ventilator be made of galvanized 

 iron it will answer equally well for a chim- 

 ney, and a stove can be set up with little 

 trouble. Warmth and food will always 

 induce the queens to lay, but it is another 

 thing to get the eggs hatched into larvae, 

 (see Problems.) 



Losses in the spring months must lie 

 avoided, and after one or two lessons of 

 experience, we shall expect you to keep 

 good all stocks having a laying queen aft- 

 er they are on their summer stands. Let 

 every reverse only make you all the more 

 determined to do better in future, and keep 

 at tins time of the year a constant watch 

 over each individual colonj', for you may 

 set it down that those colonies that are 

 petted, opened and handled most, will 

 always be the best ; be gentle and careful 

 and don't stand before their door-way, nor 

 annoy or hurt them in any way, for 

 they very soon learn to distinguish your 

 attentions from the rude bumps and jars 



that too often fall to the lot of bees be- 

 longing to those who seem to think them 

 sworn enemies to mankind. 



We are often told to provide hives, etc. 

 for new swarms, but we say provide bar- 

 rels for your honey, and we should say at 

 least one for every five colonies, for 3*011 

 may have a tlood of honey without notice 

 or warning, that must be taken care of as 

 fast as it comes, or it is lost irretrievably. 

 Get good, sound, new oak barrels ; strong; 

 and tight, and to be sure they won't leak, 

 treat them as follows: Get bungs nicely 

 fitted and everything handy and then pour 

 into the bung-hole, through a tunnel with 

 an opening as large as will go into the 

 bung-hole, not less than ten lbs melted 

 bees-wax made quite hot; drive in the 

 bung, twirl it quickly on one end then the 

 other, then roll it once over and back to 

 the point of starting; knock out the bung, 

 which should come out with a "pop," (re- 

 member not to hold your head over it, ) 

 with the help of an assistant pour out the 

 wax, and if you have done all "quicker 

 than blazes," you will find your barrel 

 nicely coated, every crack and cranny 

 filled and not more than \ lb. of wax used. 

 The hot wax heats and expands the air 

 inside forcing the wax into the pores of 

 the wood and coating the whole as if it 

 were varnished ; with a small mirror you 

 can reflect the sun on the interior so as to 

 examine the quality of the work. 



Place your Extractor on a bench or 

 shelf placed at the center of the south 

 side of .your bee house, and of such a 

 height as to allow of rolling a barrel so 

 that the bung-hole just comes under tile 

 molasses gate. Screw the Extracted' down 

 firmly ami make some little bags of cheese 

 cloth for strainers, these are to be hung 

 in the bung of the barrel with a wire ring 

 a little larger than the hole, sewed in the 

 top to support it. AH the arrangements 

 should be used and taken care of by some 

 one of the "neater" sex, for it their 

 strength is not as great, they more than 

 over-balance this by their dexterity and 

 cleanliness in the use of such implements. 

 A couple of barrels make all the stands 

 or tables needed. (They should be well 



