228 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



lowest ratio, in three years more there would be 

 four hundred; and in three more, sixteen hun- 

 dred ; which, to most bee-keepers, would be an 

 alarming extent. It is true I have made no al- 

 lowance for "mishaps" in wintering or otlier- 

 wise ; but I have taken the lowest ratio, and it is 

 well known that the Italian bees, in anything 

 like a favorable season or district, will send out 

 two or three natural swarms, and the first swarms 

 are very apt to send out others. Our territory 

 thus becomes overstocked, and instead of our 

 bees gathering large quantities of surplus honey, 

 our pasturage only affords enough to take our 

 strongest coloniestlirough the winter, leaving the 

 weaker ones to be doubled up, or to perish. 



To say nothing of overstocking tlie territory, 

 there are but coinparatively few bee-keepers who 

 make it an only and especial business. Most of 

 them are farmers, mechanics, &c., who cannot 

 devote their whole time to their bees, or even so 

 much of it as is necessary to attend to over forty 

 or fifty colonies, especiallj' at swarming time, 

 which usually occurs at a very busy season of 

 the year. And suppose they should succeed in 

 saving all the swarms, after having gone to the 

 expense of procuring hives for them, what are 

 they going to do with them ? They already Iiave 

 as manj' as they can conveniently spare the nec- 

 essary time for profitable management. There 

 aie but few places where the annual increase of 

 an apiary can be sold. I have seen places where 

 you could scarcely give the swarms away, if you 

 required an empty hive to be furnished. So we 

 are compelled to resort to the brimstone pit, if we 

 would keep our numbers within bounds. I know 

 some intelligent bee-keepers who practice this, 

 and contend that, under the circumstances, it is 

 the most profitable way that they can be disposed 

 of. A few persons can make a large number of 

 colonies profitable, Avhen they are raising Italian 

 queens for sale, and have a demand for them. 

 But there is not one in a thousand of the host of 

 bee-keepers who wish to keej) more than from ten 

 to fiftj^ colonies, to suppl}'- their families with the 

 delicious sweet and furnish some surplus for sale, 

 to assist in paying for the family groceries, and for 

 the purpose of affording recreation for their leisure 

 hours. 



In order to do this satisfactorily, we want a 

 s.' stem of management, bj'^ which swarming can 

 be controlled and prevented, and the increase of 

 numbei's be made to store surplus honey in the 

 most suitable condition for market ; instead of 

 storing it in an additional number of hives, for 

 the support and wintering of an increased num- 

 lier of colonies. AVhen this shall be accom- 

 plished, and the system fully developed and 

 reduced to practice, it will stand third of the re- 

 cent great improvements in apiculture— the 

 movable combs and the hone}^ emptying machine 

 occupying the first and second positions. And I 

 doubt whether the honey-emptier should be 

 l^laced before it, for say what we will in its favor, 

 th'3 strained honey will not find so ready a sale, 

 at as good prices, as honey in the combs. 



Several experienced apiaiians have been giving 

 their attention and labor to obtain these results, 

 and with some success. Mr. Jasper Hazen has 

 been experimenting for some years and calling 



attention to this subject ; and from his statements 

 he appears to have been quite successful in re- 

 sults. He says that he has been able to secure 

 from fifty to two hundred pounds of box honey 

 to the hive, and from recent experiments believes 

 that he can secure an average of from 150 to 

 200 pounds per hive, annually, which certainly 

 seems very satisfactory. He shows by a calcula- 

 tion the advantage and greater profit of keeping 

 a fewer number of non-swarming colonies; and 

 if the basis of liis calculations is correct his "fig- 

 ures cannot lie." Nor have I any reason to 

 doubt the basis of his calculations, nor his state- 

 ments in regard to the results of his system of 

 management, as some one has done. Although 

 he is a stranger to me, I go for treating all men 

 with such courtesy as to credit their statements 

 until they are proven incorrect. He has mani- 

 fested no disposition to "keep his light under a 

 bushel," but has repeatedly published accounts 

 of his system and its operation ; and that system 

 is not at all confined in its application to his par- 

 ticular hive. It may be used in connection with 

 various other styles of hives. While I confess 

 that I have failed to prevent, or even to retard 

 swarming by simply giving plenty of surplus box 

 room (at least it seemed to mo plenty), there are 

 too many contingent circumstances to be taken 

 into c<msideration, for me to say that, because I 

 have failed to secure such result, therefore hisstate- 

 ments in regard to his oinn are incorrect. I have 

 a case in mind. now, of last season's experience. 

 A strong colony of Italians, in a standard Lang- 

 stroth hive, was furnished early with six 51b. 

 boxes — some of them containing empty combs. 

 They stored some honey in the comb while the 

 apple trees were in bloom, but on the 2d of June 

 tliey swarmed — leaving the boxes empty, having 

 removed from them all the honey they had pre- 

 viously stored therein. And they did not stop at 

 one swarm. But I have not experimen.tcd to 

 any extent, to test the system. I have onl}' used 

 hives of the ordinary size. Should I succeed in 

 achieving such results as Mr. H. reports, I shall 

 be better satisfied with it, than anything I have 

 yet seen in bee-keeping. 



That veteran and successful apiarian— Mr. M. 

 Quinby — who has always favored progress and 

 improvement, whether of hi^s own origination or 

 of others, having felt the necessity and the 

 importance of such a system, gives the gist of the 

 desired improvements, in the following concise 

 language:— "7 ^onnt to control swarming, and 

 PREVENT it, not by giving extra room and then 

 guessing t7int they loill not swarm. I toant to be 

 certain.'''' Yes, that is just what many more of us 

 want ! He intimates that he has secured such 

 results for himself, with his new hive and new 

 management, and has reduced it to a system ; 

 which, as 1 have before said, is an improvement 

 in bee-keeping which, in my humble judgment, 

 deserves to stand second only to the introduction 

 of the movable combs. I hope Mr. Quinby will 

 more, fully develop this system, by giving a de- 

 tailed account of its operations, and his success 

 with it the past season. Someone else will soon 

 be putting in claims for its discovery, and claim 

 a patent right for it ; or they will improve 

 upon it before they know what it is. This is a 



