THE BEE-KEEPERS' REVIEW 



139 



LARGE HIVES AND PROLIFIC QUEENS. 



Large hives and a prolific race of 

 bees, are very essential to the out-, 

 apiary man, and nothing- less than a 

 ten-frame Langstroth should be used. 

 Plenty of honey should be left on the 

 hives at all times, plenty of room pro- 

 vided for the queen, and we must have 

 a large hive, and, further, a prolific 

 race of bees. The out- apiary man has 

 no time to patch up crooked combs, or 

 combs partly drone, neither is it pos- 

 sible for him to always keep his hives 

 perfectly level, therefore the use of full 

 sheets of foundation are not only ad- 

 visable but almost an absolute neces- 

 sity. Right here, let me enter a plea 

 for good and well-made hives. Unless 

 the bee-keeper is fortunately situated, 

 is an expert mechanic, and has suit- 

 able tools, he better pay from 50 to 100 

 per cent, more, if necessary, for his 

 hives, rather than try to make them 

 himself. For me, I want nothing but 

 the best in my yards. Good, well-fitting 

 hives are far cheaper in the long run, 

 and always permit of easy and rapid 

 manipulation; a very important factor 

 with the out-apiary man. 



MAKING INCREASE. 



I have already related how I keep 

 down increase by drawing from the 

 bees, or by shaking them, the object 

 being to hold the bees together during 

 the hone}' flow ; now, if we want in- 

 crease at the time of shaking, if we 

 follow that plan, we can set the two 

 bodies of brood on separate stands, 

 and give each a queen, or a ripe cell, 

 and we have made 50 per cent, increase, 

 that is very easily secured, though at 

 the loss of some honey. If we have 

 made some nuclei previous to shaking, 

 some of the brood cein be very advan- 

 tageously given to strengthen the 

 nuclei thus started. My favorite plan 

 of increase is to have a set of combs 

 built out during the last summer honey 

 flow, one set for everj^ colony of in- 

 crease I wish to make, and then, im- 



mediately after the flow ceases, draw 

 some brood and bees in exchange for 

 the combs from all the colonies, mak- 

 ing such increase as I think I can 

 profitably, giving such increase 

 young queens, previously reared; and 

 I will say here that with the use of 

 "baby nuclei," (a term given them by 

 me, and accepted by friend Laws) the 

 apiarist can always have young queens 

 when he wants them. 



HIRED HELP AND LETTING BEES ON 

 SHARES. 



Hired help is the most important 

 thing for the man to consider who 

 wishes to start a systemof out-apiaries, 

 and the man is indeed fortunate who 

 secures the right kind of help. There 

 is much for the employer and the em- 

 plo5'ee to learn, and each should do. 

 his part to make things pleasant. As 

 a rule, if the owner can pick up bright 

 intelligent young men, and teach them 

 the business, he will get better results 

 than he will to advertise and take 

 what he can get. The question may 

 come up, why not put bees out on 

 shares? I will say that I believe this 

 is really the best policy, where you 

 can get a good man. Furnish him a 

 complete outfit, and, say, 500 colonies 

 of bees; you furnishing everything, 

 including additional help, and charge 

 all expenses to his lot of bees, and 

 credit with all returns on honey and 

 wax, and. at the same time, pay him a 

 small salary; then, at the end of the 

 year, pay him a certain per cent, of 

 the net profits; thus making him inter- 

 ested in the profits of the business. In 

 a good year he has a handsome reward 

 for his labors; while in a poor year he 

 has a living. If a man wishes to 

 run over 1,000 colonies of bees, or they 

 are two widely scattered, my advice is 

 to give this plan a trial. 



Now, Mr. Editor, among the things 

 that I know now that I did not know 

 when I began running out-apiaries, 

 I will say that I have found large hives 



