THE BEE-IfEEPERS' REVIEW 



205 



iisini:;- 200 pounds of sug-ar and 14 g-al- 

 lons of water to a mixinpr. After stir- 

 ring- this well for about 10 minutes, I 

 run out into pails, and feed it, using 

 old comb, dry ji^rass, or excelsior, as 

 floats. For quick work I think ex- 

 celsior is best Towards evenin<,s 

 after removint,'- the upper stories from 

 the bees, I pack away all the combs 

 which are already cleared of their 

 honey, and leave the remainder so they 

 will be protected from the weather, yet 

 open to the bees. 



I have no trouble in feeding- up my 

 bees and puttini,^ them in condition for 

 winter, and also attending- to my ship- 

 ping- trade, myself, without any out- 

 side help. I have shipping- boxes made 

 to run through this period, in the slack 

 times of Aug-ust, before my hired 

 man leaves, which is at the close of 

 August. 



I commence putting- my bees in their 

 winter quarters towards the end of 

 November. 



Prkston, Minn., Feb. 2.S, '05. 



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?e^ Him Cunlbsic 



G. E. WOODWARD. 



IN the last four years I have estab- 

 i lished over twenty apiaries, vary- 

 ing in numbers from 200 to 525 colonies. 



My home-apiary, that Mr. A. I. Root 

 wrote up in Gleanings for 1903, page 

 294, cost $333.34. This included a 

 honey house. I built this apiary up 

 from 200, three-frame nuclei. The 

 first year I took 34 barrels of honey, 

 averaging about 100 gallons each. 

 The second year I increased from 200 

 swarms to 370, sold $250 worth of 

 3-frame nuclei, and took 44 barrels of 

 honey. I^ast year was the poorest 

 season in 30 years, and the apiary did 

 not come up to where it should. 



My combs are all built from full 

 sheets of foundation, the frames are all 

 wired, and the hives all factory-made, 

 10-frame dove tailed hives, well painted 

 with the best white zinc. 



THE DANGRK OF OVERSTOCKING GIVEN 

 TOO MUCH WEIGHT. 



I established out-apiaries about four 

 to six miles apart. I wish to digress 



here just a little: There are many bee- 

 keepers who go "up in the air" the 

 moment some one says a word about 

 keeping 300 or 400 colonies of bees at 

 one place, so please permit me to say 

 here that there is always more honey 

 goes back into the earth than there is 

 taken by the bees. So many think, 

 whenever they fail to get a good crop 

 of honey, that their location is over- 

 stocked, when the facts of the case are 

 they did not have the proper strength 

 of colonies, or else the honey was not 

 in the field to get. 



With 300 colonies in the home-apiary, 

 the bee-keeper can easil^^ start 200 

 three frame nuclei, and, from these, 

 build an out-apiary up in fine shape 

 for the coming- season. 



By all means secure just as good a 

 queen as money will purchase; then 

 rear your own queens. All success in 

 bee culture centers at this one point. 

 Always keep your eye open to the im- 

 provement of your bees. Do not breed 



