THE BEE-KEEPERS' REVIEW 



to brood-rearing- — possibly a little 

 more — but a larger number of colonies 

 may not find even enoug^h honej' for 

 such stimulation. The consequence is, 

 that such colonies are not in the best 

 condition when the main honey-flow 

 commences, and the averag^e honey- 

 crop will be smaller than with the 

 same honey-flow and a smaller num- 

 ber of colonies. To a certain degree, 

 this can be overcome by stimulative 

 feeding and spreading of the brood in 

 the spring, but these cost something, 

 and take some time and labor, and we 

 wish to produce the honej' with as 

 little work as possible. The same 

 thing is true in the fall. A slow 

 honey-flow in the fall stimulates breed- 

 ing, we get more young bees for 

 wintering, and they are in better con- 

 dition for breeding up in the spring. 

 The fall-flow secures a sufficient quan- 

 tity of winter-food. It is now a simple 

 question of dollars and cents whether 

 it is more profitable to let the bees 

 alone, and keep lOO colonies only in 

 one place, and the same number in 

 several other places, or to keep a 

 larger number in one apiary and do 

 spring and fall feeding, spreading of 

 the brood, and several other kinds of 

 ' 'play work. ' ' I have found it more pro- 

 fitable to start out-apiaries, and I 

 keep my bees now in five yards. 



LOCATING OUT-APIARIES. 



It is said that bees fly three or four 

 miles to gather honey. I have observed 

 that, under some circumstances, they 

 may fly, probably, even more than five 

 miles. This was when a hail-storm 

 destroj'ed the mesquite bloom in my 

 neighborhood. I could observe the di- 

 rection in which the bees flew, and 

 there was not a single mesquite blos- 

 som left inside of five miles; neverthe- 

 less, my bees gathered quite a reason- 

 able crop of iTiesquite honey. But if 

 something can be gathered near the 

 apiary, they generally do not Ay much 

 over a mile; so the out-yards should be 

 distanced one from the other at least 



two miles in an air line. Of course, I 

 can't always find a desirable place at 

 exactlj^ the right distance; especially a 

 desirable land owner, from whom we 

 would not expect trouble of some kind. 

 If I can make an agreement with a 

 land owner to start an apiary, I select 

 a well-sheltered and shaded spot in 

 the pasture, and surround it with a 

 good cattle-proof fence. Such a place 

 should not be too near to a house or a 

 field, but there ought to be a place 

 nearby where the bees can get water 

 without molesting farm animals. If 

 these animals are watered in a trough, 

 and the bees are taking water there 

 too, the animals soon get used to the 

 bees and do not care much about them 

 after a while; but if theow7ier is afraid 

 of the bees, we would, nevertheless, 

 soon get into trouble with him. Gen- 

 erally, I get permission for keeping an 

 apiary if I promise to furnish honey 

 for the use of the farmer and his 

 family; and they have never asked for 

 more than five or ten gallons of ex- 

 tracted honey. 



DIVISIBLE BROOD-CHAMBER HIVES. 



The kind of hive to be used depends 

 much upon the management. Mine is, 

 in some respects, different from all 

 others sold and recommended by 

 manufacturers. It is a divisible brood- 

 chamber hive; all chambers being alike 

 and interchangeable. The spacing of 

 the frames is done by notches cut in 

 the rabbets. I have used this hive for 

 15 years; having tried all other hives 

 and frames, and found none, as yet, 

 which I would prefer to this arrange- 

 ment. Hives, frames and other sup- 

 plies I make during the winter; having 

 for this purpose a circular saw run by 

 a gasoline engine. If I count $3 wages 

 per day for my work, these hives cost 

 me about half as much as I could buy 

 them for. I can say this outfit is a 

 well paying investment. 



The management is planned in such 

 a wa3s that the most honey can be 

 secured with as little labor as possible. 



