118 



TEE AMERICAN BEE KEEPER. 



May 



growl if you could not, but as you can 

 not you are willing to show a magnan- 

 imous spirit and give those trees ten or 

 more years tu produce their first bushel 

 of fruit. Now won't you give your 

 bees one year to get entrenched so that 

 every winter wind will not dislodge 

 them or blow the life out of them ? 

 They would be fully as safe I think as 

 your apple trees. Then an apiary 

 would be as solid an investment as 

 your trees, and should be raised by the 

 acre and eveuly distributed through 

 every orchard on every farm. Then 

 people could have honey , and those 

 people who get sick because they 

 think twice in succession without rest- 

 ing, would smile a sad smile, and say 

 that the day of sugar honey and " cuu- 

 ningality " is passed, and that farmers 

 were surely contriving to protect their 

 own interests, and perhaps would soon 

 be making sugar out of honey, thus 

 destroying the sugar cane industry. 



Well, now, to come back to my sub- 

 ject ; did you ever notice in box hives 

 how far apart the combs are that give 

 the bees their natural clustering place 

 or nest ? That is why they winter well, 

 and if they winter well your success 

 is assured because the winter problem 

 is all that stands in the way of success 

 with the majority of bee keepers. 



If you have plenty of large breeding 

 Colonies you have about as safe an in- 

 vestment for an income as a man can 

 have unless you invest in real estate. 



Well, as fall approaches you won't 

 be bothered with robber bees, so you 

 can stop worrying for once in your 

 life about the robbing problem, for 

 the robbing bee would be pretty well 

 jaded after getting through with the 

 guards of such hives, and would be apt 

 warn his friends to keep away ; yet it 



is well enough to watch them some. 

 Late in the fall take the blocks off the 

 holes on top of the hives, and dig out 

 the glue so as to be sure the holes are 

 open for ventilation. This I believe 

 to be the most important part, for no 

 matter how large a hive is the mois- 

 ture must be carried off. 



Do not disturb the bees in winter 

 by digging at the hive entrance to 

 keep it open. As a general thing you 

 can, and it is better to let them alone, 

 and I believe it would be better to do 

 so. If I should say be careful not to 

 let the entrance get clogged with ice, 

 some might be after them every day 

 with broom, shovel, tongs, hammers, 

 knives, etc. In the spring let them 

 alone also, except to cover the holes in 

 the top of the hive. When they swarm 

 you will admit that a bee keeper is a 

 poor stick that could not get from 

 eight to fifteen or twenty dollars worth 

 of honey from the swarms of each 

 breeder by putting them in as small 

 hives as they can stay in and pressing 

 them for all they are worth, and do 

 with them as you please afterwards. 

 The old breeders can go on the even 

 tenor of their way year after year, and 

 you will rejoice not only in the hope 

 but the certainty of your success in 

 bee keeping. 



Ovid, Peun'a. 



— ■ ■■ ^ 



Bees and Chickens. 



BY CHAS H. THIES. 



In the March number of the Ameri- 

 can Bee Keeper Mrs. Oliver Cole asks 

 to hear from those who have tried 

 keeping bees and chickens in the same 

 yard. I have had several years ex- 

 perience in keeping bees and poultry 

 in the same yard, and have never had 



