i8 r r^ 



Or how to Realize the Most Money with the Smallest Expenditure of Capital 

 and Labor in the Care of Bees, Rationally Considered. 



PUBLISHED 3IOXT1ILY. 



Vol. I. 



MEDINA, O., DEC. 1, 1873. 



No. 12. 



m 



STARTING AX APIAKY. 



No. 12. 



IND READER: As we only pro- 



Li posed to give an article with the 

 ahcve heading for each month in this 

 year, we are now near the completion of 

 our task; and, before commencing in an- 

 other year s ..volume 



• HOW TO CONDUCT A.N W1AKV. 



we feel like pausing with a feeling some- 

 what akin to that, experienced by a young 

 man or woman when first settling down 

 by themselves, as "'children no longer." 

 We presume you are all "started,'' after 

 some sort of a fashion, at least, and, per- 

 haps, some are depending on us to some 

 extent to tell them what to do next. 



We have tried to impress upon you the 

 importance of having all work with bees 

 done up in its proper season, yet we are 

 pained to receive quite a number of let- 

 ters from those who had not fed their bees 

 as late as November. While this is bad 

 and may result in heavy losses, there is 

 still a chance. 



A neighbor of ours came to us in De- 

 cember, a few years ago, and asked if his 

 bees could be saved, stating that some 

 boys had turned the hive over and robbed 

 it of all the honey and nearly all the 

 comb. As it was a box hive the bees had 

 clustered on the stumps of comb remain- 

 ing in the top, and he could not think of 

 letting them starve. We told him the 

 ease,was*n early hopeless, but as be was 

 determined to try feeding them, wt di- 

 rected him to nail a fine fanning mill seive 

 over the hive to keep them in, and to 

 place them in the cellar, the hive inverted, 

 and to feed them on sugar syrup sprinkled 

 through the sieve on the cluster until 

 spring. This he did and they came 

 throng!, strong enough to build new comb 

 in the spring and swarm beside. Since 

 then we have heard of other instances on 

 a larger scale, when winter feeding turned 

 out badly. Perhaps the secret is to feed 

 only so fast as they consume it, and then 

 we run a risk of starving them unless fed 

 daily. 



We have another instance of a swarm 

 being wintered without a particle of comb, 

 the amount of honey they required being 

 given them daily. 



Although the editor ot the Bee Keepers' 

 Magazine replied to correspondents most 

 positively that bees could not be wintered 

 without comb, we havesometimes thought 

 it might be the safest way, could they 

 have their food furnished] them" promptly 

 without trouble. A "log house 7 ' made of 

 sticks of candy might do, and if any 

 among our readers try it we hope they 

 will report. In this locality we usually 

 put our bees indoors about November 

 20th. Many of our colonies are now 

 quite weak, owing to their "cider diet," 

 we think, and as these have not got their 

 stores sealed up well, we. anticipate some 

 losses before spring, The colony ^that 

 had the "gallon of cider" have no sealed 

 stores and we should give them some from 

 other hives were we not desirous of test- 

 ing the matter still further. We are 

 pretty well satisfied now that cider acts 

 almost as a poison to bees when confined 

 to the hive by cold or otherwise, and 

 shall take prompt measures nexi season 

 to keep our bees busy elsewhere during 

 cider time. 



See your bees often in winter as well as 

 summer and try and know at nil times 

 their exact condition. Many of us have 

 succeeded finely in wintering one or two 

 hives at times when their prospects seem- 

 ed very doubtful ; can we not now, when 

 we have our dozens, or hundreds, do the 

 same thing over again if we give them 

 attention in proportion. 



With best wishes to all who have fol- 

 lowed us thus far, whether they accom- 

 pany us through the year of 1874, or not, 

 and hoping our efforts to assist in "Stall- 

 ing an Apiary" have been productive of 

 some good, we remain, as ever, hopeful 

 and willing to labor for the rewards thai 

 another year may have in store for us. 



North American Bek-Kkepers' Socie- 

 ty. — The next annual session of this 

 society will be held at Louisville, Ky., 

 commencing the first Wednesday in De- 

 cember and holding two or three days, 



