Vol. XT1T. 



FEBRUARY 1, 1889. 



No. 3. 



^sVo^^^t?:^} Established in 18^3. 



10 or more, 75 cts. each. Single mira- \ published semi-monthly by 



ber, 5 cts. Additions to clubs may be 



^nft^V^xo^cE 6 ^ Jlt0 U /. ROOT, MEDINA, OHIO. 



JC-bs to different postofflees, not less 

 th^ 90 cts. each. Sent postpaid, in the 

 U S. and Canadas. To all other eoun- 

 I tries of the Universal Postal Union, 18 

 cts. per year extra. To all countries 

 L not of the U. P. U., 42 cts. per year extra. 



OUT-APIARIES. 



SHALL I START ONE? 



fHlS question is likely to come up in the minds 

 of not a few; and although each one must 

 answer for himself, there are a good many 

 side questions that may present themselves 

 for reply before the main question is reach- 

 ed. On some of these I will try to throw some light, 

 without going through the formality of stating the 

 questions. If you decide that you will keep three 

 or four hundred colonies of bees, it is a pretty clear 

 case that you can not profitably keep them all in 

 the home apiary. Just how many you can profita- 

 bly keep there, is an exceedingly difficult thing to 

 determine. Supposing that, by a series of careful 

 experiments extending over fifty years, it has been 

 pretty satisfactorily determined that 93 colonies is 

 the largest number that can, on the average, be 

 profitably kept in Mr. Smith's apiary, 20 miles dis- 

 tant, it by no means follows that the same series of 

 experiments would reach the same conclusion on 

 your ground. The same kind of flowers may not 

 be on your ground; the soil may be different, or, if 

 these be alike, the rainfall may differ; and sup- 

 posing no difference can be detected in any of 

 these, how are you going to measure the number 

 of flowers to be found on the one, two, or three 

 thousand acres that constitute the range of the 

 bees in each apiary? Suppose you have a crop of 

 6000 lbs. from 80 colonies one year, and the next 

 year from 100 colonies you get 5000 lbs., it does not 

 certainly follow that 100 colonies overstock the 

 ground; for in the last case there may be a bad 

 year, and it is possible that the very next year may 



be so much better that 100 colonies shall store 10,000 

 lbs. surplus. So you see it is a very difficult thing 

 to decide what is the largest number you ought to 

 keep, in order to the greatest profit. 1 wish I could 

 give you some rule by which you might determine 

 the matter, but I can not; and I am obliged to con- 

 fess that, after a good many years of experience, 

 all of it on the same ground, I am not able to say 

 with any degree of confidence whether 75, 100, or 125 

 colonies will bring me the greatest profit. The 

 best I can do is to say that, if your location is an 

 average one, it is not likely you would better keep 

 more than 75 or 100 colonies in one apiary. If any 

 one should accuse me of presumption in attempt- 

 ing to speak so definitely, I am ready to bear the 

 reproof very meekly, and confess that I know little 

 about it. Close observation for a series of years 

 may help you to a more reliable guess as to your 

 own locality. 



If you find that 50 or 75 colonies occupy the most 

 of the time that you can spare from other business, 

 it is hardly advisable for you to attempt a second 

 apiary, for you will find that it will make a draft 

 on your time in a different way from the home 

 apiary. Often there is some little thing to be done 

 which needs only a few minutes to do; but if you 

 must go three or four miles to do it the case is 

 quite different. 



Suppose you find, or think you have found, that, 

 after you have reached 75 colonies, the next 25 will 

 do a good deal better in an out-apiary, you must 

 still keep in mind that this 25 will entail more ex- 

 pense (I include time and labor, of course, in ex- 

 pense) in proportion than the first 75, and the prob- 

 ability is that you would better keep the 100 at 



