FEBRUARY 1, 1915 



I'lU. 



-Iru D. Bartlett's 1 GO colony apiaiy. Another view of this apiary is shown on the cover. 



this. The following season I increased to 

 seven ; and, although there was no white 

 honey stored, there was a heavy fall flow, 

 and all had plenty for winter. Besides, I 

 extracted 175 lbs. of buckwheat honey from 

 tlie super on one of the parent colonies. 



The extractor I used was a four-frame 

 non-reversible for which I traded a hound 

 pup, giving $2.00 to boot. This extractor 

 was used until I had nearly 100 colonies. 



I wintered my colonies right from the 

 start in winter cases quite similar to what I 

 use now, and was very successful. I started 

 buying colonies from others about me who 

 were not as successful as T, and kept in- 

 creasing gradually until I had some fifty or 

 so, when I found it to my interest to move 

 them out of town during the summer. I 

 returned the bees in the fall for several 

 seasons, wintering them in father's back 

 yard, and in a neighbor's when father's was 

 full. 



Finally I moved for good to twenty acres 

 owned by my father. This ground later be- 

 came my property, and was my home until 

 a year ago when I moved to town, where I 

 now live. 



From the start I got my increase from 



natural swarming and the buying of bees, 

 and purchased no queens until a few years 

 ago, when I divided my colonies after the 

 honey-flow in July, and purchased as many 

 queens as I made divisions. I have followed 

 this practice until now, excepting that I 

 tried dividing in June this past season on a 

 few colonies. I must say that I was im- 

 pressed that this method is ahead of the late 

 division. I made nine increase from two, 

 and had four extracting-supers filled with 

 honey, besides redividing several of the 

 increase the first of August, when I made 

 my regular increase. Doesn't this look 

 better? 



I put into winter quarters this fall nearly 

 500 colonies, wintering 140 in cellars, and 

 the rest in my regular winter hives, which 

 hold four colonies each. 



Now, I have been successful as a whole 

 during my beekeeping career; but you must 

 not think that I have not had to work and 

 study and plan. From the start I had to get 

 ahead as best I could. It took money to buy 

 supplies — in fact, for quite a while it took 

 all and even more than I got from the bees 

 from year to year. My father said I spent 

 more than I earned, and so would never 



