THE BEE-KEEPERS' REVIEW 



365 



amagrag Omi^-ApSarSeg iim tine N®^w 



N. L. STEVENS. 



|N considerinj,'- the question as to 

 -■■ whether one shall branch out in 

 bee-keeping-, and establish out apia- 

 ries, ti.ere are several imporant factors 

 to be considered which are all more or 

 less contributory to one's success or 

 failure. 



IMPORTANCE OF VARIOUS FACTORS IN 

 MANAGING OUT-APFARIFS. 



Named in theorderof their importance 

 they are, perhaps, the man, the loca- 

 tion, the methods employed, the neces- 

 sary capital, and the market. Given 

 the first four, and failure would be 

 quite possible without a g-ood market; 

 and herein I think lies the dang-er of 

 increasing the business too far; for, as 

 all markets are necessarily regulated 

 by supply and demand, I think there 

 is danger, if a good season were gen- 

 eral throughout the whole country, of 

 a big slump in prices; which might 

 mean disaster to one who had gone too 

 far beyond his means; and make the 

 business unprofitable to those of more 

 ample resources. In this connection it 

 mig-ht be well to say, that it behooves 

 us all to develop our home markets, 

 disposing of as much of our product in 

 this way as possible, and thus keeping 

 a share of it from competing in the 

 general market. 



It will not pay to start an out-apiary 

 unless one has more bees than can prof- 

 itably be kept in the home apiary, as 

 they can be cared for much more 

 cheaplj' at home. 



CONDITIONS UNDKR WHICH LARGE NUM- 

 BERS OF BEES MAY BE KEPT IN 

 ONE APIARY. 



Of course, each person must deter- 

 mine for himself the number ot colonies 



which his location will profitably sup- 

 port, as that is a question which de- 

 pends upon the honey resources and 

 management. 



I am strongly of the opinion that in 

 localities where the resources from 

 which the main crop is secured are 

 almost unlimited, a large number of 

 colonies could be profitably kept in one 

 yard, providing they were fed a little 

 each day during the period when no 

 honey was coming in from the field, to 

 keep the colonies in proper condition to 

 take advantage of the flow when it did 

 come. 



POINTS TO BE CONSIDERED IN SELECT- 

 ING THE SITE FOR AN OUT- 

 APIARY. 



Having determined to start an out- 

 apiary, there are several things to be 

 considered in making the selection of a 

 site. It should be favorably located in 

 relation to the honey producing flora, 

 so situated as to be protected from the 

 prevailing winds, and not contiguous 

 to cultivated fields, at least, in this 

 buckwheat country, as the bees in 

 large apiaries become very cross dur- 

 ing the period while buckwheat is in 

 bloom, and sometimes prove an annoy- 

 ance in working fields some distance 

 from the apiary. I think three miles 

 between apiaries practically sufficient. 

 I have a house and tools at each apiary 

 and consider them indispensible. I 

 want the building bee-tight with an 

 escape in the window to let out strag- 

 glers. 



I constructed one of the take-down 

 type, the past season, 9x12x7 ft. high at 

 one end and 9 ft. at the other, built of 

 matched pine at a cost of about $30 for 

 material. 



