THE BEE-KEEPERS' REVIEW 



89 



where she came from, and carry the 

 hive somewhere to a new stand; then 

 go back and get the other hive of brood 

 and set it on top, or close beside the 

 one just carried away. 



Now we have on the old stand a 

 young- swarm that has all of the flying- 

 bees from both old ones, and it will 

 make an immense amount of honey if 

 there is a honey flow and it is properly 

 cared for. On the new stand we have 

 two hives of brood, and neither one 

 can swarm, because neither has any 

 field bees nor will have for ten days. 

 Do not allow the queenless one to de- 

 velop any queen cells; and in 14 to 18 

 days shake all the bees from the queen- 

 less colony in with the colony that has 

 the queen, carry the empty hive away, 

 and use the combs somewhere else. 

 They will contain a little brood that is 

 not yet hatched, but it will do no harm 

 if you want to use it anywhere. 



With this system we must always 

 know that we are not disturbing- foul 

 combs. It will be noticed that both the 

 colonies have swarmed, yet there has 

 been no increase. Both colonies should 

 g-ive a splendid account of themselves 

 in storing- honey, and if you fail the 

 first trial, the fault is in yourself and 

 not the system. 



SPECIALTY IN BEE-KEEPING. 



Some of the Advantages as set Forth by 



the Editor of the Rural 



Bee-Keeper. 



For a long time I have plead for 

 specialty, and tried to show bee-keep- 

 ers what they were losing by fussing 

 along with a few bees, instead of 

 spreading out and devoting their whole 

 time and attention to the business. 

 For some reason the other bee jour- 

 nals have been backward in the advo- 

 cacy of what, it seems to me, ought to 

 be apparent to the most superficial 

 observer, but, at last, one of them, the 

 Rural Bee-Keeper, has joined in the 

 good work by printing an editorial 

 from which I make the following ex- 

 tracts : 



If bee-keepers will produce ten times 

 the honey now secured there will be a 

 more satisfactory market. They may 



not get more per pound, but they will 

 get more money. 



I wish to confirm my opinion as to the 

 market for honey being improved by 

 producing more honey, by drawing a 

 few comparisons from life. Take the 

 potato for instance. I can remember, 20 

 to 25 years ago, when potatoes were 

 not worth digging. One reason was 

 that that the hoe was too slow a tool to 

 dig with; then came the potato fork 

 and finally the 4-horse digger that rolls 

 out 5 to 8 acres a day. With the potato 

 digger came the starch factory. We 

 had first one, then two, in our town. 

 Our acreage ran up to 3,000, tributary 

 to River Falls. We sold them for 15 

 cents, but with proper soil and culti- 

 vation we produced 300 bushels to the 

 acre, so $45 an acre was not so bad a 

 crop; then there was a failure in the 

 potato crop in some localities, and our 

 crop dropped to an average of 100 

 bushels to the acre; then the price went 

 up to 40, 50 and 60 cents a bushel, a 

 trifle better than chinch-bug wheat. 



One more comparison, the dairy cow. 

 Every farmer has kept a few cows, and 

 and taken a jar or two a week of but- 

 ter to town and traded it off for gro- 

 ceries. Today the average farmer 

 milks 10 to 20 cows, and the cows keep 

 him. The cream separator has done 

 its work; it lightens the work and 

 makes it possible to do more with the 

 same labor. The average bee-keeper 

 keeps a few bees. The time has come 

 when a bee-keeper can care for 500 to 

 1,000 colonies of bees with very little 

 help. 



Hutchinson says the best thing to go 

 with bee-keeping, to make up a living, 

 is more bees, and if we can take our 

 potato and our cow experience for any- 

 thing, he is right. Keep more bees. 

 This year there has been, I understand, 

 four full cars of honey loaded in Pierce 

 and St. Croix counties; cash was paid 

 at the car door for every pound. There 

 was but one buyer and he had it com- 

 paratively his own way. Produce 40 

 cars of honey in these two counties, 

 and there will be competition among 

 buyers, because buyers can afford to 

 come and bid for a lot of choice honey. 



M. A. Gill, of Longmont, Colo., is 

 one of the most successful honej' pro- 

 ducers in America today. With the 

 aid of his wife and one helper, he cared 

 for 1,000 colonies of bees last season. 

 His crop was two car loads of comb 

 honey. Mr. Gill says that when he 

 produces a crop of honey, he then wants 

 to sell it to some fellow who wants to 



