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OEOKGE W. VORK, Editor. 



• 





40th YEAR, 



CHICAGO, ILL, MARCH 22, 190D, 



No, 12, 



A Michigan Bee-Keeper and His Apiary. 



BV CARSON VAN BI,ARICUM. 



THE illustration shown herewith is my apiarj', taken 

 some five years ago, when I concluded to engage in bee- 

 keeping. I began to know a honey-bee as early as 1884 

 from that time until 1894 I had from one to eight colonies 

 which were manipulated on the " know-nothing " plan and 

 of course without any profit except what little honey we 

 had for table use. 



My first colony was purchast of a neighbor for $4 00 

 My father did the " riot act " all that summer with cotton 

 cloth around a stick in place of a smoker, which I manipu- 

 lated to his dictation. This same summer (as noted above) 

 my father was badly stung and of course has held aloft 

 from the bee-fever ever since. 



I remember one day when we had finisht 

 taking honey— (to " take " was to cut the honey 

 from the brood-frames, replacing the same to be 

 filled again.) About one hour afterward, we 

 noticed a smoke issuing from the hive we had 

 examined, and coming near we beheld the cover 

 on fire. It took but a moment to remove it ; the 

 quilt was on fire and the brood-frame top-bars 

 were blazing, the bees were in the air and on 

 ■the ground in a state of complete rout. We ex- 

 •tinguisht the blaze and shortly after they cast a 

 swarm which made two colonies. They died 

 "the following winter. 



My next venture was the coming June, 

 when another neighbor placed a swarm in the 

 hive for SO cents, which was the nucleus of my 

 present apiary of 32 colonies. These bees were 

 large brown ones with gray bands instead of 

 yellow ones. 



My bees at present are nearly all Adels, 

 -which I think are superior, having tested differ- 

 ent strains. I have been successful in control- 

 ling the swarming-impulse. 



My plan of wintering has been an entire 

 success for eight years. The winter of 1898-99 

 I prepared on the summer stands for winter 30 

 colonies, and lost two. I then increast them to 

 32. My intention is to double this number the 

 coming season. 



I produce comb honey exclusively, but I 

 have a great call for extracted, of which I shall 

 produce enough to supply the demand. 



In 1898 my crop was 2,400 pounds, of which 

 I sold 2,020 pounds. The past season I had only 

 J, 800 pounds, and have sold to datel,600 oounds. 



My apiary is located as shown in the picture, each hive 

 having its mate, or in pairs. The hives face east, and the 

 two apple-trees on the north were blown out by the wind, 

 so I plant sun-flowers for shade. 



That person— a six-footer— with his thumb down the 

 smoker-nozzle, is myself . The view was taken in the month 

 of May, and in a rainstorm. 



Calhoun Co., Mich., Feb. 25. 



ORGANIZATION AMONG BEE-KEEPERS. 



Enlarg-e tlie Membership of the National Bee- 

 Keepers' Association and Establish Others. 



BY F. GREINKR. 



AS a child is looking forward to the Christmas-time with 

 great anticipations, so some of us bee-keepers look for- 

 ward to the time when we will convene again at our 

 annual gathering. Altho Mr. Hutchinson is of the opinion 

 that the bee-papers have largely taken the mission of dis- 

 seminating knowledge among the bee-keepers away from 

 the bee-keepers' conventions, and that after returning home 



Mr. C. Van Blaricum and His Apiary. 



