THE AMERICAN BEE-KEEPER. 



101 



Starting in Bee-Keeping. 



BY M. H. DEWITT. 



It has always been a mystery to me 

 why professional men who have con- 

 siderable leisure, and especially those 

 who have the time and live in rather 

 adverse circumstances, do riot Occupy 

 their spare moments in the pursuit of 

 bee culture. When carried on ac- 

 cording to the better and more phil- 

 osophical methods of wintering it is 

 not a risky nor perilous undertaking, 

 and I know of no better opportunity 

 for a young man or boy than to invest 

 the small sums of money he is able to 

 earn occasionally in bees. With a lit- 

 tle diligence a few colonies may be 

 increased to a large apiary in a short 

 time, and thereby can be added one 

 more paying branch of business to 

 the farm or town, and cause consider- 

 able money to conic into the vicinity 

 for the export product of the apiary. 

 In every location where bees are not 

 kept there annually go to waste tons 

 of honey, which is equivalent to dol- 

 lars and cents. There are but very 

 few well populated sections where a 

 large apiary cannot be supported with 

 profit. The old box hive full of cross 

 bees and crooked combs is not very 

 inviting to one about to engage in 

 bee-keeping, as it takes an expert to 

 put them in shape. We would not 

 advise you to buy bees of any one who 

 -Iocs not make them profitable, even if 

 they are offered at a low price, as the 

 bees and the price are generally suit- 

 ed to each other. The first requisite 

 is a good, new bee hive which can be 

 shipped by freight. The next in order 

 is a pound of bees, a queen and one or 

 two frames of brood the same size as 

 the frames in the hive to be used — 

 these to come by express ; also comb 



foundation enough to fill the frames 

 in the brood chamber after the bees 

 and brood are put in. Apiarists are 

 not often willing to divide the bee 

 pasture by supplying their near neigh- 

 bors with bees and fortius reason they 

 must usually be purchased from a dis- 

 tance. Small packages of bees ship 

 safely and cheaply. You can buy 

 boxes for this purpose of any supply 

 dealer. May and June are the proper 

 time for buying and selling. You will 

 often find vicinities where bees are 

 plenty and cheap, and by having a lot 

 of shipping boxes on the wagon, they 

 can often increase their business trad- 

 ing hives for bees. They may be put 

 in the boxes, weighed and nailed up, 

 and hauled in a spring wagon a week 

 if necessary, until a customer is found 

 for bees and hive. A good first swarm 

 weighs from four to five pounds, but 

 three pounds of bees shaken from the 

 brood combs are worth just as much, 

 because the latter will contain but few 

 old bees. A frame of brood 12x12 is 

 equal to a pound of bees ; and one 

 pound of bees and two frames of brood 

 are as good a start as a first swarm, 

 and much safer, as the brood will keep 

 them from absconding. I would say 

 to beginners who order bees by ex- 

 press : On arrival of the small box, it 

 should be opened and the brood combs 

 hung in the hive ready for them. The 

 bee- should then be shook out of the 

 box into the hive and sheets of foun- 

 dation placed at the sides of the brood 

 combs. Close the hive and the bees 

 will go to work very soon carrying in 

 honey and pollen. In a day or two 

 the cells on the sheets of foundation 

 will be lengthened and the queen will 

 be depositing eggs. Such colonies are 

 not usually cross and may beexamiu- 



