228 



THE AMERICAN APICULTURIST. 



such a heavy colony and, with many 

 difificulties and no little danger, Aveigh 

 it and then guess at the amount to 

 deduct for the hive itself. 



Further, if I wish to prevent a 

 colony from swarming altogether or 

 the second time, I must give them 

 another story at the proper time ; 

 that is as soon as they have the last 

 story a little over half or at most three 

 quarters full which I can see with my 

 hive at any time, but with the straw 

 hive one must, with great trouble 

 and danger and displeasure to the 

 bees, tilt over the hive to see, and 

 should it be seventy to eighty pounds 

 in weight such is almost impossible. 

 And should a straw hive have only 

 three stories on and one were to turn 

 it over, it would be easy for a story 

 to fall off unless the hive was built in 

 an expensive manner. Yes, in many 

 cases it is absolutely necessary to be 

 able to see and examine the inner 

 economy of every story, especially 

 in making nuclei, so as to know where 

 to divide ; it is necessary to examine 

 the old as well as the nuclei (the up- 

 per stories to be lifted off as well as the 

 lower which are to remain) for brood 

 and such like. The cleanliness and 

 smoothness of the glass and the 

 planed board are acceptable and pleas- 

 ant to the bees ; they save thereby 

 not only much time and labor which 

 have to be expended on straw hives 

 in biting and tearing off loose pieces 

 and carrying them out, which time 

 could better be expended in procur- 

 ing their best and most necessary 

 harvest; they also have no danger 

 from moths which we all know not 

 only gnaw themselves into a hive but 

 which secrete themselves in the straw 



and then are not so easily dislodged 

 by the bees. 



RodJieim, Gei'inany, July, Ij8j. 

 \_To be continued.'] 



EDITORIAL. 



The season of 1885 will be re- 

 membered as one of the best the bee- 

 keeper has experienced. As a rule, 

 large crops of honey have been gath- 

 ered, and the increase in colonies has 

 been satisfactory. At the beginning 

 of the season the prospect for the 

 beekeeper was a gloomy one. We 

 had just passed through one of the 

 most disastrous winters to bees yet 

 experienced, and thousands of bee- 

 keepers were ready to give up the 

 business in disgust. Now our apia- 

 ries are in fine running order again, 

 and we can take fresh courage, as we 

 are sure to be well repaid for all the 

 trouble and time devoted to our pets. 



Like all other business, beekeeping 

 has its " ups and downs " but no one 

 should be discouraged by meeting 

 with an occasional drawback ; we 

 must expect to experience disaster 

 and ill luck sometimes. Neither 

 should we expect or look for a large 

 crop of honey every year. Last 

 season Californian beekeepers sent 

 an immense crop of honey to mar- 

 ket ; this year they have but little, if 

 any, to send. Last year bees did 

 poorly in Vermont ; this year they 

 have done extra well. Do not get 

 discouraged, push on as if nothing 

 but prosperity was certain to crown 

 your efforts. If disaster comes, re- 

 pair the damage as quickly as possi- 

 ble and push right on the same as 

 though nothing of consequence had 

 happened. 



