MARCH 1, 1913 



157 



36 by 6. This is considered as a fruit-farm 

 investment and a summer home, and is not 

 charged up to the bees; in fact, I feel that 

 they eai-n their rent by ser^-ices rendered in 

 fertilization of flowers, of small fruit and 

 vegetables, shown by the increased crops. 



As in farming, an accurate estimate or 

 system of accounting is quite difficult, as 

 present expenditures may not mature for 

 years, as in apple-tree planting. As a fair 

 estimate I place the income from a hive at 

 $15.00; yet I know that my own income is 

 greater if I reckon the income from all 

 sources, such as lecture work and writing 

 and teaching, all of which the bee work fits 

 and enables me to do. 



My honey is in great local demand, and 

 I am able to obtain five cents advance over 

 the market price — thirty cents for comb and 

 45 cts. for a pint of extracted, all of which 

 is put up and labeled as of finest quality. 



My apiarj' is on a road much traveled by 

 automobiles and on a car line, and I have 

 a constantly increasing trade with autoists. 

 The sale often reaches four or five boxes or 

 jars to a party. 



I have demonstrated that honey can be 

 sold from house to house by a personal can- 

 vass, but have not had to practice it for the 

 last two seasons. 



Much of the yard manipulation I can ac- 

 complish alone, except for a little help in 

 the rush season, and at such times I am able 

 to get a school boy or a volunteer pupil w^io 

 offers for the experience. Lifting can often 

 be overcome by the use of a light box of ^- 

 inch stock built on Lang'stroth dimensions, 

 this to receive part of the frames of the 

 hive to be lifted, removed, or manipulated. 

 My wheelbarrow is an invaluable aid to and 

 from the yard, and as a stand in the yard 

 to hold hive, tools, etc. 



Little difficulty is experienced in hiving 

 swarms, and I have been fortunate in keep- 

 ing down swarming to a reasonable degi'ee. 



My approximate yard investment includ- 

 ing bees, hives, and accessories, is about 

 $800 — this from a $25 start six years ago. 

 I also carry about $200 in new goods for 

 sale to pupils and near-by beekeepers, and 

 to draw from for my own use. 



I found that work must be anticipated, 

 and the right thing done at the right time; 

 also that bees will exist under the most ad- 

 verse conditions, but ajDpreciate and re- 

 spond to any attention to their betterment. 

 1 have also learned that one style of hive 

 should be used exclusively, and I have set- 

 tled down to the ten-frame dovetailed with 

 Hoffman staple-spaced frames. 



I regard beekeeping as the ideal work for 

 woxen, and it has opened up new fields and 



opportunities to me socially and financially, 

 and also a deeper perception of nature's 

 ways. 



Wakefield, Mass. 



BEEKEEPING ON THE COTSWOLD HILLS 



BY A. H. BOWEN 



Last season, now happily over, was one 

 of the worst in this district for some years. 

 To the large apiarist the summer was a 

 nightmare, as the weather from the first of 

 June to the end of August was atrocious, 

 and, with the exception of one fine week in 

 July, honey-gathering was almost an im- 

 possibilit3\ The sudden and hea^'y down- 

 pours in June drowned most of the forag- 

 ing bees wliich should have been collecting 

 honey during the few hot days which fol- 

 lowed, so that the colonies which stored sur- 

 plus were few and far between. 



After a rather severe winter, bees on the 

 whole came thi'ough in good form ; and with 

 the help of a little feeding they built up 

 rapidh', the spring being unusually mild 

 and favorable. 



Around the " Garden Town," fruit-trees 

 blossomed almost a month earlier than usu- 

 al; and so forward was the season that, at 

 the beginning of Maj', strong colonies were 

 working hard in the supers. No rain fell 

 for practically eight weeks, during which 

 time the mern- hum of the bees was heard 

 from morn till night, taking every advan- 

 tage of Nature's prodigality. 



As a swarming season, 1912 will be re- 

 membered by many, especiall}' by the straw- 

 skep beekeepei-s, who averaged three to six 

 swarms per hive. The first came out during 

 the last week of April; and from thence 

 until Aug-ust there was a succession of 

 swarms, the last being about the size of a 

 duck's egg. 



Those fortunate ones who made a prac- 

 tice of selling the swarms at $3.00 each 

 reaped a rich harvest. 



Runaway swarms have been another fea- 

 ture of this changeable season. In some 

 cases they rushed out without any warn- 

 ing, and flew straight away into some dis- 

 tant tower or oak tree; in others, they clus- 

 tered a few minutes, and then decamped. 

 I myself lost four swarms which flew away ; 

 but one from an adjoining apiary came and 

 took possession of an empty " decoy " hive, 

 several of wliich I keep in each apiary, and 

 built up into a good colony. 



Foul brood has been unusually rampant 

 this season ; and with hives packed with 

 brood it spread in an alarming manner. 

 However, by shaking all the worst colonies, 



