132 



THE AMERICAN APICULTURIST. 



It is better to have the land slope 

 to the south and east if possible and 

 it should be well protected from the 

 cold north and west winds. Perhaps 

 you can rent or lease a place adapt- 

 ed to your needs. The surround- 

 ing country should be well supplied 

 with bee pasturage in the shape of 

 orchards, clover, basswood (if pos- 

 sible), wild flowers or many others 

 that we might name but which are 

 described in most of the works on 

 apiculture. 



Where one is located in the city 

 or village and means to keep only a 

 few colonies this advice is unneces- 

 sary, but with all others it is imper- 

 ative that they locate in a good 

 honey-producing district. 



It is also best to learn if there are 

 many bees kept where you wish to 

 locate ; as, while there is no law to 

 prevent your establishing an apiary 

 by the side of your neighbor, yet the 

 latter has rights which it is proper 

 and just to respect. This again will 

 not matter without you intend to 

 build up a large apiary. 



One may secure a large yield of 

 honey and yet find a poor market for 

 it ; hence it is always best to take into 

 consideration the advantages for es- 

 tablishing a good home market. It 

 will pay far better than shipping to 

 large markets and giving all your 

 profits to commission men. 



There are so many items of inter- 

 est which should serve as an intro- 

 duction to these papers that we 

 hardly know where to stop and must 

 be necessarily brief and even leave 

 many of them until we write again. 

 In purchasing bees it is best if you 

 want but from one to five colonies to 



purchase them of some reliable dealer 

 and always select a standard frame, 

 and it will pay you well to look into 

 the merits of the various frames be- • 

 fore making your purchase. 



While for some reasons we prefer 

 a frame about loX 15, yet as the 

 "Langstroth Standard" is now so 

 largely in use and is no objection as 

 regards wintering the bees, we deem 

 it best to adopt it in our own apiaries. 



Circumstances must in a great 

 measure control these matters, but 

 whatever style is adopted it should be 

 adhered to, else much trouble and 

 expense will result. 



We deem the tenement hive the 

 best for all purposes. True, the first 

 cost is somewhat greater, but in the 

 end it pays. 



The hives should be constructed 

 in as simple a manner as possible, 

 and while if one wants but a few he 

 can make them after obtaining his 

 colony of bees and estimating the 

 size of the brood chamber ; yet it is 

 much better if he wants five or more 

 hives to purchase them in the flat. 



While we prefer for working bees 

 a cross between the Italian and Holy- 

 lands (from Syria), yet as a rule we 

 would recommend the Italian as the 

 bcsi for the average beekeeper. Ex- 

 perience will teach one which is the 

 best race. 



We shall endeavor to give illustra- 

 tions of different styles of hives in our 

 next paper but have been too busy 

 to attend to it this month. 



Our first advice is "Make haste 

 slowly," but '"stick to it" until you 

 have either mastered the business or 

 found that you were better adapted 

 to some other vocation. 



