276 



THE AMERICAN APICULTUEIST. 



disturbance will be made. As I said 

 in my first article, the time to pur- 

 chase bees is in the spriag rather 

 than the fall, for while they can be 

 purchased more. cheaply now, the 

 extra cost in the spring is not so 

 great as to overbalance the chance 

 of loss during the winter, especially 

 with the actual beginner. 



Hives should be purchased in the 

 fall, however, and some portion of 

 the time during the winter devoted to 

 examining them, removing and re- 

 placing frames, sections, and surplus 

 honey receptacles ; by this means 

 manual dexterity will be gained, and 

 such dexterity is greatly to be desired. 



It is a mooted question whether 

 surplus comb honey or extracted 

 pays the best. This is an individual 

 question, and each must determine for 

 himself. Much will depend upon 

 the locality, and much also upon the 

 operator. If surplus comb honey is 

 decided upon, then a study should be 

 made of the various methods in 

 vogue of storing the same, and here 

 there is so great a variation of opin- 

 ion, that it is hard to decide which 

 is the best ; but as all are largely used 

 and with success, any choice then 

 will ordinarily show goQd results. 



In the gathering of extracted 

 honey, the weight of evidence is on 

 the side of two or more story hives, 

 each story of course being a dupli- 

 cate of every other. Probably the 

 beginner will succeed better the first 

 year in working for extracted honey, 

 as swarming is brought more under 

 control by so doing, and of course 

 much trouble is thus avoided. It is 

 difficult to advise any given person 

 in regard to apiculture, because so 



much depends upon the person 

 himself, his disposition, strength of 

 mind, power of fortifying himself 

 against losses that are always liable 

 to occur, and patience to work with 

 insects that have so formidable a 

 weapon of offence and defence ; and 

 also to bear up under difficulties that 

 happen even in the best regulated 

 apiaries. A careful course of study 

 on all the points indicated in this 

 article will be of value in forming 

 an opinion and making a choice ; 

 and about all that can be done in 

 the limited space allowed me, is to 

 guide my readers to the right path, 

 rather than to attempt to make that 

 path for them. 



The golden rule of beekeeping is 

 one that should ever be borne in mind, 

 for unless it is kept constantly in view, 

 and closely followed, nothing but dis- 

 aster will result. It is the rule of O^^o, 

 viz. : — "Keep your stocks strong." 



Beekeeping is made up of two 

 parts, viz., theory and practice, and 

 they should go hand in hand to- 

 gether ; not however like a party 

 whom I once knew, who bought sev- 

 eral works on beekeeping and never 

 looked at them excepting when 

 something turned up out of the usual 

 course of things ; and many an acci- 

 dent happened, or loss occurred to 

 him, for the reason that he would 

 not look up a point till obliged so to 

 do by something unusual taking 

 place among his bees. Study, and 

 careful study too should be prelimi- 

 nary, and the theory being well 

 learned from the books, then one is 

 ready and able too, to apply princi- 

 ples to actual practice. 



Foxboro, Mass. 



