374 



THE BEE-KEEPERS' REVIEW 



board themselves;" that * 'small child- 

 ren' and "invalids" are not eminently 

 adapted to honey production. Experi- 

 ence has taught me that if there is any 

 business in this vv^orld that demands 

 industry, skill and tact, to insure suc- 

 cess, it is this of ours. B3' attending- 

 conventions, visiting bee-keepers, and 

 entertaining many who visit me, I have 

 learned that successful apiarists, as a 

 class, are more than ordinarily wide 

 awake and intelligent. 



The beginner almost invariably 

 wants to know how many pounds of 

 surplus honey he may expect from a 

 hive in good season. Wh}' don't he 

 ask how many pounds in a bad one ? 

 Really, why don't he say how much 

 is honey worth on the markets of the 

 world ? Is it likely to hold up to that 

 figure ? How much do you think it 

 costs to produce honey per ton ? Do 

 you know of any good, unoccupied 

 fields ? About how many pounds of 

 surplus do you think such a field would 

 yield annually, on an average ? What 

 would be the best number of colonies 

 to keep to secure it ? and a whole lot 

 of such questions as these. 



Now, honor bright, would not these 

 questions be more likely to be correctly 

 answered by some experienced pro- 

 ducer than any one else ? If 1 should 

 hear a young man asking questions 

 like these, I would feel sure that he 

 had served at least a year with some 

 experienced apiarist, and not in vain 

 either. 



I believe that no business is less 

 adapted to becoming a si''e-issiie or 

 adjunct to some other, than tiiis of 

 ours. On the other hcmd, I think it 

 will become a sncciaity with the suc- 

 cessful one=:, and these men will be 

 men of energy, intelligence and tact. 



Til da3S()f dabbling along witii two 

 G!" f>jiii- Colonies; picking up bee wis- 

 dom; ihrowing away one and makinj^ 

 nnother style of hive each year, are 

 nearly over. 



>^e\enteen yeais ago I began bee- 

 1 et ping in this way. Tlie production 

 < f honey has increa.sed many foLi since 

 th;it time, ,11 d t e i>rofits of the same 

 liave^i ecitly dt'Cieased. Had they been 

 no greater thin than now, I think 

 iny attempts ;it ;ijjiculture would have 

 proven a. failure. I am positive that 

 had I then apprenticed myself to some 

 such successful apiarist as Adam 

 Grimm, who, it is said, cleared $10,000 

 in one year from his large apiaries, I 

 would, ere this, have no further need 

 for bees, nor their product. 



WINTERING BEES. 



Mr. Cheshire's Views on Hives, Protection, 

 Ventilation, etc, 



A more scientific work upon bee 

 culture than Cheshire's, has probably 

 never been written. Just now, as 

 winter is coming on, it may be worth 

 while to consider some of his views on 

 the subject of wintering. I would 

 gladly copy his entire chapter on 

 wintering, but lack of space prevents. 

 The best I can do is to quote some of 

 the more important paragraphs, which 

 are as follows: 



Honey as a food enters into the liv- 

 ing fabric before it furnishes material 

 for oxidation, yet it remains true that 

 loss of heat is exactly equivalent to 

 loss of honey. This points to making 

 the surrounding of the cluster as non- 

 conductive as possible, not only t'lus 

 saving stores, but the vital enrrg:es <.f 

 the workers, which mu^*: u herwise 

 also be consumed in 1: rpi r.g up tem- 

 perature. The hi'-c wals first require 

 attention. The volume of opinion in 

 favor of highly no. i-c inductive hive- 

 sides v.oul i jHit the cjU'Stion beyond 

 the necessity of discussion, were there 

 not somo who constantly seem to imply 

 that bees need little protection, and 

 that probably thin hives are the best. 

 It should l)e instantly conceded that 

 thin sides are practically as good as 

 the most non-conductive if too much 

 space is given, or if the top covering is 

 deficient. It is useless to fasten the 

 window if the door is oflF its hinges. 

 Mr. Raitt's pithy sa^-ing, "The best 

 protection for bees is bees," is perhaps 

 the most incisively expressed arginnent 

 we have in favor of abundant protec- 

 tion, lyittle lots winter badly, but 

 cover tiiem by bees that will absolutely 

 prevent their heat escaping, and you 

 give them the best possible protection. 

 But do not the protectors need help? 

 Yes; by mcjre bees if we can provide 

 them, by tiie best non-conductors avail- 

 able if we cannot. 



rhe evidence that strong stocks come 

 through all right in thin hives proves 

 little, and is no test. The plan that 

 will enable the very weak to winter 

 well on small stores must be the most 

 helpful to those that are strong; and 

 experience shows me that there is no 



