Vol. XVII. 



DEC. 1, 1889. 



No. 23. 



TERMS: $1.00 Per Annum, in Advance; 1 T? <,+ n Til -i o Tt n rl t't/j 7 J? 'V Q 

 2Copies for $1.91); 31or$2.75; 5for$4.00; \ H/O iU>U Lib rOVLV Lib JL O iO. 



10 or more, 75 cts. each. Single num- I published seni-mcnthly by 



ber, 5 cts. Additions to clubs may be 



Knft^'^sro^cEf area ^j/]. /. ROOT, MEDINA, OHIO. 



f Clubs to different postoffices. not less 

 I than 90 cts. each. Sent postpaid, in the 

 U. S. and Canadas. To all other coun- 

 tries of the Universal Postal Union. 18 

 cts. per year extra. To all countries 

 not of the U. P. U.. 12 cts. per year extra. 



OUT-APIARIES, NO. XX. 



GENERAL REMARKS— PICNIC DINNERS, ETC. 



SAVING talked over the main ground of what 

 is peculiar to the work of out-apiaries, I 

 want the liberty of a little desultory talk. I 

 find there is a growing feeling among bee- 

 keepers that they want to keep a smaller 

 number of colonies in an apiary for best results, 

 and, somewhat as a result, the number of out- 

 apiaries is on the increase. I am not so sure that 

 some are not making mistakes. What is just right 

 for one man is not always best for another. With 

 your time and surroundings it may be better for 

 you to limit or lessen the number in your home 

 apiary and confine yourself to that. You may be 

 very successful in a single apiary, doing all the 

 work yourself, and make a dismal failure if you at- 

 tempt to run a number. Then it's one thing to have 

 a force of hands present with you all the time, go- 

 ing from apiary to apiary, and quite another to 

 have each apiary separately manned: Feel your 

 way, and find out just what you can best do. 



In the new Langstroth on the Honey-Bee, so ex- 

 cellently revised by Dadant, he very wisely says: 

 " Do not put your bees on land which is tenanted. 

 Let them be placed at some responsible farmer's 

 own home, for a tenant may leave on short notice, 

 and you can not remove your bees at all seasons." 

 I may add, that it is much pleasanter to go each 

 year to the same place, as you get better ac- 

 quainted. 



When you leave for the winter, be sure that every 

 thing is picked up and left in neat shape at the out- 

 apiary— nothing to offend the eye of the farmer's 

 good wife every time it happens to stray in that di- 

 rection. And here I must confess the superiority 

 of womankind. Many a time when the shop or 

 apiary appears to be in dire confusion, I say to my 



wife or Emma, " It's a hopeless case. You're wel- 

 come to all the physical strength I have— tell me 

 just what you want me to do, and I'll obey orders 

 implicitly, but don't ask me to engineer the thing." 



Another thing in which a woman's presence and 

 skill are appreciated is in the matter of lunch. Of 

 all the meals we eat, I thins none are enjoyed so 

 much as the dinners at the out-apiaries. Of course, 

 every thing is cold, but the weather is such that 

 we're not anxious for hot things. Under the shade 

 of the trees in the pure air, a cloth is spread on 

 some hive-covers, at a safe distance from the hives, 

 so no scolding jbees will be around, and the few ar- 

 ticles of food are placed thereon, with no super- 

 fluous garniture in the way of dishes beyond what 

 are actually needed; seats are taken, God's blessing 

 asked, and we eat with a relish that might well be 

 envied by those who sit before carved tables loaded 

 with costly viands in dishes of silver and gold. 



Sometimes our work is such that we visit one out- 

 apiary in the forenoon and another in the after- 

 noon; and by way of variation we stop at some 

 pleasant point on the road between, and, without 

 leaving our seats, eat our dinner. I say dinner 

 rather than lunch, because it is the principal meal 

 of the day. Although it may not be convenient, if 

 indeed it were best, to have a great variety at one 

 of these out-door meals, the bill of fare from which 

 we may select for different days is by no means 

 small, including cold meats of all kinds, the differ- 

 ent canned goods including fruits, fish, oysters, etc., 

 fresh berries, sandwiches, bread and butter, boiled 

 eggs, morning's milk in a Mason fruit-can, cold as- 

 paragus, peas, beans, etc. 



You can see that it's a sort of picnic every day. 1 

 must say that, if even the plan of having each one 

 isolated at]a separate apiary were just a little more 

 profitable, I should still prefer to keep the crowd 

 together, and I should want no discordant element, 



