diameter. A portion of tlie colonies receiv- 

 ed bee-bread; otliers were left wliolly desti- 

 tute of tlie same. At the end of tiie space 

 occupied by combs, a division board was 

 placed, so tiiat tlie bees of each colony 

 occupied a chamber, whose dimensions 

 were about a foot each way. Above the 

 frames a quilt was placed, which hung over 

 the division-board; and above this was a 

 sack, made of coarse, unbleached factory, 

 and filled with chaff. 



EXPERIMENTS MADE. 



The burying of hives was tried as an 

 experiment, as 1 have long thought that 

 with proper ventilation, and adjustment of 

 earth, straw, etc., this would prove a very 

 successful method, which if reliable, would 

 possess the merits of being cheap, con- 

 venient, and practicable for all and in all 

 places. , 



In February the colonies in the cellar 

 were all removed to their sunmier stands, 

 and permitted to fly. They all seemed in 

 fine condition, and after a lively frolic 

 were returned to their cellar quarters. In 

 returning to the cellar, a satisfactory but 

 expensive experiment was tried with one 

 of the strongest colonies. The hive was 

 closely shut up above and below, so that no 

 ventilation was permitted other than that 

 between two smooth boards, one of which 

 rested on the other. 



All the colonies were examined and 

 weighed, April 4; and those in the cellar 

 and those burled placed on their summer 

 stands. 



CONDITION IN SPRING. 



Of the colonies buried, one was so moved 

 in the process that all ventilation was cut 

 off. The bees in this were all dead, though 

 they had lived to breed some. The other 

 two colonies showed a good many dead 

 bees, and some soiling of the hives, but 

 were lively, had some brood, and were in a 

 fair condition. 



The colonies that were packed, including 

 the one with straw, uncovered, were all 

 strong, and except one, that had no pollen, 

 contained brood. 



The colonies that were wintered in the 

 cellar were generally in good condition, and 

 all that had bee-bread contained brood. 



The one with no ventilation was extreme- 

 ly weak, and survived removal to the sum- 

 mer stand but a few days. One colony, 

 whose queen was reared the last of the pre- 

 vious September, was queenless, and the 

 one with the imported queen became so in 

 a few days. Ihese two colonies were 

 united witli otliers. So we commenced the 

 season with 15 out of the 19 colonies. 



The average consumption of honey was 

 as follows: The colonies which were 

 buried, 63^ lbs.; those packed in straw, 15 

 lbs.; and those wintered in the cellar. 7 lbs. 



Probably, the very warm February 

 accounts for the large excess of consump- 

 tion of the bees surrounded by straw. For 

 days together, during that month, the bees 

 were out in force. Had the straw entirely 

 surrounded the hives, the result might have 

 been different, as in that case the bees 

 would not have been induced to take such 

 frequent flights. 



Pollen was brought in, for the first, on 

 April 7, while we commenced feeding April 

 4; so the bees commenced to work at once, 

 and we had no trouble with " spring 

 dwindling." Our increase was entirely by 

 dividing. We sold 3 colonies in the spring, 

 captured one foreign swarm, which alighted 

 on the grounds in June, had one colony 

 stolen in October, and now have 28 colonies. 



A POOK HONEY SEASON. 



The season has been the poorest I ever 

 knew in this locality. The yield of honey 

 from white clover was excellent. This 

 admirable honey plant was very abundant, 

 and seemed full of nectar. The yield from 

 basswood was very poor, and tha't from fall 

 bloom but little better. Our financial 

 showing, however, is not discouraging. — 

 Our net cash receipts at the close of the 

 season will be about :$100. Add to this the 

 increase in our inventory, all of which has 

 been made by proceeds from the apiary, and 

 we find 



THE INCOME. 



from the apiary to be over $200. If Ave 

 divide this by 19, the number of colonies 

 with which we began the winter, we find 

 the proceeds to be over .$11 per colony. — 

 Divide by 15, the number of colonies with 

 which we began the season, and we find the 

 net proceeds to be $14 to each colony. In 

 the above account 1 have not counted my 

 own time. Every other expense of what- 

 ever kind is included. My own time was 

 mostly spent in conducting and directing 

 experiments. In fact, much more labor 

 than was necessary to care for the bees was 

 paid for by money from apiary receipts, and 

 hence consiilered in the above account. — 

 All labor and expense on beds of experi- 

 mental plants, amounting to nearly $40, all 

 labor on other experiments which were 

 being conducted through the season, all 

 labor in improving grounds, amounting to 

 about $10, are noticed on the expense side 

 of the above account, and not at all on the 

 side of receipts; so that the above estimates 

 of $11 and $14, as the net receipts per col- 

 ony, is rather too low than too high. Our 

 net proceeds for the year is about 50 per 

 cent, of our entire capital at the beginning 

 of the yeai". 



We have taken 321 lbs. of comb honey, 

 and 6673^ lbs. of extracted honey. The 

 former has all been sold or contracted at an 

 average of 30 cts. per pound; the latter at 

 an average of 15 cents. 



CONSTRUCTION OF HIVES. 



Early in the season we procured a Barnes 

 foot-power saw, an an expense of $35, with 

 which we have made all our hives, frames, 

 etc. This is not only very desirable, but it,, 

 or some similar machine should be consid- 

 ered indispensable by any apiarist who 

 keeps more than 20 colonies of bees, and 

 desires the best success. If it is desired to 

 unite the sides of the hive with a beveled 

 joint, this permits it; and not only this, but 

 the joint is perfect. The same is true as to 

 the joint between the different stories of a 

 hive. In preparation of frames, too, in fact 

 in all the carpentry of the apiary, this 

 makes it easy for any one, with a reasona- 



