1895. 



THE AMERICAN BEE-KEEPER. 



93 



lieve it is the latter. Another ques- 

 tion arises, will the less labor involved 

 in the future encourage more to em- 

 bark in the business, or will the de- 

 creased yield induce more to go out 

 of it ? Bee-keeping at the present time 

 compares favorably with othur indus- 

 tries, and how to succeed is becoming 

 better known, so that I think the pro- 

 duction will more than keep pace with 

 the extended markets. 



To sum up, I believe that bee-keep- 

 ing in the future will differ from the 

 past as follows : 



1st. Improved methods and appli- 

 ances will lessen the cost of produc- 

 tion more than it may be increased by 

 a decrease in the yield per colony. 



2nd. That the production will more 

 than keep pace with the extended 

 markets for it, 



3rd. The supply being greater than 

 the demand, the selling price will be 

 lower. 



(From Gleanings.) 



WHEN TO TRANSFtE BEES- 



Question. — Having quite a number 

 of colonies of bees in box hives which 

 I wish to transfer, I should like to 

 know when this can be done to the 

 best advantage. Can I do it as soon 

 as spring opens ? or had 1 better wait 

 till the bees are securing honey from 

 the fields? 



Answer. — The transferring of bees 

 from box hives, or " gums" or from 

 one style of frame hive to another, 

 can be successfully done at any time 

 of the year when bees can fly, if the 

 operator understands just the needs 

 of the case; and I always look with 

 pride on that man or woman who has 

 ability enough to accomplish any 



thing successfully which it is neces- 

 sary to do at a certain time, no 

 matter whether said time is the most 

 propitious or the most unpropitious. 

 The one who can set out a row of 

 fruit plants, and make all live in a 

 time of extreme drouth in midsum- 

 mer, or the person who can success- 

 fully transfer a colony of bees in 

 early spring, when robber-bees are 

 prowling around, is to be admired; 

 yet unless there is some urgent reason 

 why a certain thing should be done 

 at a certain time, it is always best to 

 wait about doing any thing till that 

 time when every thing is the most 

 conducive toward a successful out- 

 come. As I consider it, there are 

 two seasons of the year when bees 

 can be transferred to the best advan- 

 tage, the first being during fruit- 

 bloom, and the other 21 days after a 

 prime swarm has issued. During the 

 first part of fruit-bloom the scramble 

 after new honey is such that one is 

 not liable to be annoyed with robber- 

 bees, and at this time there is very 

 little honey in the combs to cut 

 through and make a sticky mess of 

 everything which is used during the 

 operation. Again, as the bees are 

 getting their first honey they are eager 

 for something to do inside the hive at 

 night, hence will repair all the muti- 

 lations of comb, fasten the same in 

 the frames, etc., much more readily 

 than at any other time. With all the 

 above being true, fruit bloom brings 

 the most auspicious time for transfer- 

 ing bees, but it has this drawback : 

 As a rule, the bees have got under 

 good headway rearing brood, and we 

 shall find the combs half or two-thirds 

 filled with the same, so that, in cut- 

 ting them to fit our frames, much 



