190 



THE AMERICAN APICULTURIST. 



united are first smoked and then shaken 

 down in front ' 'hi.sglety pigglety," so as 

 to bewilder and mix them thoroughly, 

 in which condition they run into tlieir 

 new quarters. Not two or three colo- 

 nies merely are put in thus, but eight 

 or ten of them, all the hive will hold. 

 Bees thus treated I find to winter splen- 

 didly, to preserve a queen, and to be 

 ready to divide in the spring when 

 others are " petering out " with spring 

 dwindling. 



G. Usually not, as there is a little 

 danger that brood-rearing may com- 

 mence in the sections. 



ANSWEUS BY PROF. A. J. COOK. 



1. I think we should have ten cents 

 for extracted honey and twenty cents 

 for comb. I think we can live with' 

 honev at eight cents and sixteen cents, 

 but these last prices are too low. 



2. This should depend ou the mar- 

 ket. If he can find ready sale for ex- 

 tracted honey at more than half the 

 price he can get for comb, then I think 

 he may well confine his eflbrts largely 

 to the production of extracted honey. 



3. I think our bee journals ably 

 supported by conventions, and bee- 

 keepers can do this best. 



4. We clip queens' wings and the 

 bees go back with no further trouble. 

 It is only necessary to catch and cage 

 the queen. 



5. We find that by shaking all the 

 bees into a new hive which stands mid- 

 way between old hives — these latter 

 must be close together — alternating 

 the frames, or as many as required, 

 smoking liberally and doing all just at 

 nightfall nearly always succeeds well. 



6. We would give foundation in 

 brood frames and if in height of honey 

 season add sections at once. The bees 

 wil be in them within three or four days 

 often strong. This is reason enough. 



Lansing, Mich., July, 1884. 



ANSWERS BY J. E. POND, .JU. 



1. I never have figured up the cost 

 of my apiary closely ; I have used it 

 solely for experimental purposes, and 

 as a means of recreative exercise ; con- 

 sequently the price atwiiich I could af- 



ford to sell would be no criterion, as 

 my honey has probably cost me consid- 

 erably more per pound, than the retail 

 price It ordinarily demands. 



2. It would depend wholly upon his 

 location, and the demands of the mar- 

 ket, and as the market varies from year 

 to year, no foretelling can accurately 

 be done. In this case as in many others 

 connected not only with apiculture, but 

 with business of many other kinds, 

 each producer must be a law unto him- 

 self, and do the best he can : his judg- 

 ment will sometimes run astray. 



3. Owing to the fact that dealers 

 will always look to their own interests 

 and keep the market quotations at the 

 lowest possible figure, beekeepers 

 should in self-defence form themselves 

 into an association for mutual protec- 

 tion. By so doing they will put them- 

 selves into a position such, that they 

 can control the market themselves, and 

 not allow it to be controlled as in the 

 past by a class whose interests are di- 

 rectly and diametrically opposed to 

 them. Our beekeepers might, if they 

 would unite, become a power in the 

 land, but so long as they work each ou 

 " his own hook," they will be at the 

 mercy of the middle-men. 



4. Shake the bees into a large box, 

 set them into a cool dark cellar and 

 they will soon separate themselves. 

 This is the plan 1 have used on two or 

 three occasions with success. 



5. Bring the hives close together, 

 then remove one-half the frames from 

 each colony, shaking the bees in front, 

 then change the frames from the hive 

 to be disused entirely into the one to 

 remain, by alternating the frames of 

 comb and adhering bees, with the 

 frames in the other hive. The bees 

 outside should be shaken in front of the 

 hive and allowed to crawl in. One of 

 the queens should be caged and taken 

 away ; the other may be allowed to re- 

 main without caging. This process so 

 mixes up, disunites, and disconcerts the 

 bees of eacli colony that they accept the 

 situation and unite peaceably. 



G I do not. My locality is one in 

 which the honey yield is very slow, 

 and if sections are put on at once, brood 

 would be placed in them before enough 

 honey could be gathered to supply the 

 actual Avants of the brood chamber. I 

 usually wait until the bees get well at 

 work in the frames, before putting ou 

 sections. 



