250 



Tmm MBdERICISrf BM© JOiPKlfMt. 



To show the importance of this mat- 

 ter of saving on transportation, allow 

 me to give the following case, which 

 actually occurred : 



In 1887, a supply dealer sent two 

 bee-hives to a new customer ; the next 

 July he received an order for supplies 

 amounting to 75 cents, to be sent by 

 express, which cost 60 cents ; on Jul}' 

 14, the same customer ordered 11.00 

 worth of goods by express, which also 

 was (50 cents ; and again on Oct. 6 

 another order of 11.71, by express, as 

 before, with the same charge for trau.s- 

 portation. Here we have $3.46 worth 

 of supplies, on which the customer paid 

 $1.80 express charges ; all of which 

 might have been saved, as all these 

 supplies might have been sent with 

 the hives, by freight, for the same 

 ■amount that the hives were sent for. 

 That customer has learned something 

 by experience. I learned that he will 

 know better another year what he 

 wants, and will order all of his goods 

 ^as nearly as possible) at one time. 



There is another way in which we 

 •can save on the first cost, and that is, 

 by buying of that dealer who offers 

 goods at the lowest rate ; but this is 

 not always the best way to do — it is 

 •often a " penny wise and pound fool- 

 ish " transaction. 



This brings us to consider £he sec- 

 ond way in which we can save exjjense, 

 and that is, by getting the most value 

 for our money. It is true, that a sup- 

 ply dealer may, for a short time, and 

 for some special rea.son, olier goods at 

 less than cost, but a business cannot 

 be conducted for any considerable time 

 in this way ; and "if a dealer offers 

 goods considerably lower than others 

 in the same business, we may be rea- 

 sonably sure of one or two things — 

 eitlier the dealer is manufacturing 

 cheaper than his competitors, or he is 

 furnishing a cheaper grade of goods. 

 My advice in this line is, buy the best 

 goods that can be found ; and get them 

 as cheap as you can. 



The best goods are the most profit- 

 able, for several reasons, viz : In the 

 matter of hives and supplies which we 

 use year after year, the stock out of 

 wliich they are made must be good, so 

 that they may last a long time ; sec- 

 tions, and like goods, should be of 

 good quality, to bo attractive, and 

 draw cu.stom in the market. All sup- 

 plies should be accurately and nicely 

 made, so that tlie several parts may be 

 put together \Wthout waste of time ; 

 and if everything i.s accurately made, 

 the bee-keeper will save much time in 

 all the manipulations of the apiary, for 

 " Time is money." 



Much money is wasted in tlie pur- 

 chase of supplies, by changing often 

 from one style to another. It is true,tliat 

 if our pursuit is to advance, some one 



must experiment with new and differ- 

 ent arrangements ; but as experiment- 

 ing is an expensive business, if we are 

 trying to save all we can on supplies, 

 we should leave the experimenting to 

 others. 



Use tlie Standard' Sizes in Bee- 

 Supplies. 



The last thought to which I shall 

 call your attention is, to use standard 

 sizes in all your bee-supplies ; by which 

 I mean, sizes which are kept in stock 

 by dealers generally ; for by this means 

 you will be better able to take advan- 

 tage of business competition ; you will 

 be able to get the supplies at any sea- 

 son of the year, without loss of time ; 

 and, as a general thing, you will be 

 able to buy proportionately cheaper 

 than you couUl odd-sized goods, which 

 must be made to order. 



There are probably many other ways 

 to save on the expense of supplies for 

 the apiai'y, and if we gather and profit 

 by the various thoughts advanced by 

 experienced bee-men, it will be quite a 

 somxe of profit in our business. 



HIVES. 



The Size of Hives Be§t Suited 

 to the Apiarist. 



Written tor the American Bee Journal 

 BY J. B. POND. 



The question of " how small a hive" 

 should be," is now being agitated, but 

 I judge that the advocates of small 

 hives would Ije looked upon with more 

 favor, if the fact that some reading be- 

 tween the lines could be done. One 

 thing is certain, the hive that is "just 

 the thing " for the expert producer of 

 honey, will not give good results in 

 the hands of the novice, or even the 

 general bee-keeper, as a larger hive. 



Tests, as ordinarily made, are of 

 little value. Figures wont lie, if footed 

 riglitly, but thej' may be so placed as 

 to prove almost anything in a statisti- 

 cal way ; so with hive-tests — they may 

 be made for the purpose of proving a 

 theory, and apparently prove it ; but 

 when tested in another way, prove 

 something else. 



As yet but little real advance has 

 been made in hives since the " Lang- 

 stroth " was first made public ; and as 

 yet no better general results have been 

 made than with the ordinary Lang- 

 stroth hive. Mr. B. F. Carroll secured 

 his big yield with this hive, and I 

 doubt if he could have obtained it with 

 a smaller one. 



There may be times and places 

 where a smaller hive would work well, 

 but the extra cost of a ten-frame hive 

 over an eight-frame one is so small, 

 that the loss to a single colony, when 



the larger hive is needed, would more 

 than out-weigli the extra cost of a 

 dozen hives. 



In the answers to queries, I find that 

 the great majority favor a ten-frame 

 hive. This agrees with my own ex- 

 perience, and I believe that experience 

 generally will coincide therewith. 



An ordinary ten-frame Langstroth 

 hive, 14} inches wide, is none too large 

 for a fair colony, especially when the 

 colony is expected to store its own 

 winter supplies. Only experts can 

 succeed in cleaning out the brood- 

 chamber of honey, and filling up for 

 winter by feeding, and they fail as 

 often as they succeed. 



Now the ordinary bee-keeper is on 

 a different footing, and it is he for 

 whom I am writing ; and I advise, as 

 the result of my own experience, 

 backed up by the experience of bee- 

 keepers generally, that better results 

 will be obtained from a ten-frame 

 Langstroth hive, or its equivalent, 

 than from any smaller one, no matter 

 how many horizontal splits it may be 

 cut into. 



North Attleboro, Mass. 



WINTERING. 



Experience ^vith Toads — Prior- 

 ity of Location. 



Written for theAmei'lcan Bee Journal 



BY CHARLES WALKER. 



I am putting the bees out of the 

 cellar, and I find that I have lost 7 or 

 8 colonies so far, from 105 wintered in 

 the cellar. The trouble was that I 

 could not keep the temperature low 

 enough, the mercury frequently going 

 up to 55° or 60^. April, so far, has 

 been full of " squaw" winters ; to-day, 

 however, has been pleasant, with south 

 wind, and house-cleaning has been the 

 order generally with the bees. Many 

 are taking the first flight. 



Toads in the Apiary. 



Regarding toads, I have noticed that 

 since I have kept bees, the increase of 

 toads has been nearly as rapid as that 

 of the apiary. Soon after sundown I 

 have seen them come out from under 

 the honey-house, and make a bee-line 

 for the water-trough, that is always 

 kept full for the bees. I have counted 

 30 or 40 of those toads, and have been 

 suspicious of them, as thej- are named 

 as enemies of bees. I have been on 

 the watch for their depredations, but 

 as yet I have never caught them. I 

 have treated them as a sort of pets, 

 and watched them play on that old 

 trough ; but what they did after I re- 

 tired, is a question that I shall try this 



