THE PRACTICAL COUNTRY GENTLEMAN 



In starting with bees it will be wise to visit 

 some friend who keeps them and spend the day 

 learning the ins and outs of their management, 

 how to tell the queen, workers, and drones, the 

 opening of hives and handling of frames. 

 More information can be gained in a short time 

 in this way than could be gotten from a book in 

 months of study. Before buying any bees send 

 for a hive and study all its parts. There are 

 many different makes of good hives, but the 

 Langstroth pattern is, I believe, the standard. 

 Usually bees are bought hive and all, but fre- 

 quently the hive is not the right sort, and then 

 the bees have to be transferred. 



An outfit of five hives and all the necessary 

 tools for beginning can be bought for about 

 eleven dollars. Italian queens cost from three 

 dollars to ten dollars. A good select tested 

 queen, suitable for starting with, can be had for 

 three dollars. It will be much less expensive to 

 start with a one-frame nucleus in each hive, 

 which if properly managed, will make good 

 strong colonies by fall. These will cost two 

 dollars each. So each hive will stand the pur- 

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