53 



THE AMERICAN BEE-KEEPER. 



March 



kept dry, but wet, dripping combs 

 and hives, they are not able to stand, 

 where cold is added to it. Thus, in 

 accordauee with the views expressed 

 above, I paint all of my double walled 

 or chaff hives, and leave all of the 

 single walled hives unpainted. 



COLONIES, HOW TO SELECT. 



A correspondent writes that he de- 

 sires to buy some bees soon and wish- 

 es to know how to select good ones, so 

 I thought a word or two on this sub- 

 ject might not be amiss to the readers 

 of the American Bee-Keeper. A 

 majority of persons, especially begin- 

 ners, are apt to think that if a hive is 

 heavy with honey and there are live 

 bees in it, such are the ones to pur- 

 chase, without regard to what kind of 

 comb there is in the frames or size of 

 colony . This is a mistaken idea. I 

 will give the readers just what I do in 

 selecting colonies myself. As there 

 are those at the present time who per- 

 sist in keeping bees in box hives, and 

 as bees in such hives can be purchased 

 for less money than they can in frame 

 hives — besides the frame hive might 

 not be to my liking — I usually select 

 box hives where I can find them, and 

 then transfer to such hives as I use. 

 Colonies may be selected any cool day 

 in March or April by turning the 

 hives over carefully so as not to arouse 

 the bees. Examine the combs care- 

 fully and see that they are all straight 

 and nearly all worker combs, and there 

 should be bees in at least five spaces 

 between the combs, and six or seven 

 spaces filled with bees would be all the 

 better, with from ten to fifteen pounds 

 of honey. If possible, I select such 

 colonies as cast a swarm the previous 

 season, or an after-swarm, as such will 



have a young, prolific queen. If the 

 time of selection is a cool morning, 

 with the sun shining brightly, you 

 will have no trouble in seeing down 

 into the hive by turning the mouth 

 toward the sun in such a manner that 

 the rays will strike the combs, bees, 

 etc., lighting^all up nicely. In this 

 way there is no guess work about the 

 matter, and if we are to succeed no 

 guess work must be allowed. Now 

 about the price. Three dollars is about 

 the price usually asked for bees in 

 such hives during the month of April, 

 but I have seen colonies sold at auc- 

 tion for from six to eight dollars that 

 were worth but little more than the 

 honey which was in the hiye ; and I 

 have seen colonies sold for $1.50 that 

 were better worth $10 than others 

 would be as a gift. The same holds 

 good regarding any of the hives in use. 

 A person had better pay five or six 

 dollars for a hive that has the frames 

 filled with straight worker combs, well 

 stocked with bees, than have a hive 

 with combs built crosswise of the 

 frames, with two-thirds of that drone 

 comb, and an old, poor queen, but 

 plenty of honey, given to him for 

 nothing. If you send to parties at a 

 distance for bees, whatever the price 

 may be, require of them that the col- 

 onies shall be in the condition given 

 above for a good colony. If you can 

 purchase colonies in frame hives that 

 suit you, you can well aford to pay 

 from one to two dollars more for each 

 than you do for those in box hives, but, 

 as a rule, if you must transfer, you can 

 do it best from box hives, for in them 

 the combs are more likely to be larger, 

 so as to cut to better advantage than 

 they are in frame hives. 

 Borodino, N. Y. 



