gnawing all over their surface. " There goes 

 the 100 per cent, story, just as I thought ! ' : 

 exclaimed the disappointed man. " There 

 is no certainty is bee-raising, I see, and my 

 money is lost ; and if there is, I have no 

 luck in that way ! " 



I need not tell you, gentlemen, what the 

 cause of failure was, for you saw it at the 

 start. But to such as are not posted, if such 

 are here, 1 would say, get the best at the 

 start, which the market affords. Don't pay 

 a fancy price, but be willing to pay a fair 

 price to a reliable bee-raiser, and such a 



Erice, too, as will enable him to breed the 

 est. Put him upon his honor, and tell him 

 to give you a first-class colony in a good 

 hive. Never buy a scurvy, woods-bred, 

 long-snouted pig, at an auction for a dollar, 

 to breed from, when you can get a Poland- 

 China, Berkshire, or Chester-White for $10; 

 if you do, you cheat yourself abominably ! 



In the next place, by all means set your 

 colony, when you bring it home, where it is 

 to stand, and stand forever. Don't move it 

 at your peril, until you have fully learned 

 how and when you can do so without loss. 

 All this man's bees from the wood-shed loft 

 went back to the old place, and perished as 

 fast as they came out on the first warm day, 

 until they dwindled to about nothing. There 

 they were destroyed, and his neighbor's 

 bees came and cleaned out the honey for 

 him in the spring, when he thought the 

 bees were gathering honey by the gallon 

 for their owner. Don't move your hive, 

 then, at your peril, even to the extent of a 

 few yards, without the advice and direction 

 of a bee-master. 



In the next place, if your bees are win- 

 tered out of a warm repository, leave them 

 on their summer stands, and see that the 

 sun shines upon the hive at least a part of 

 the day, every sun-shiny day, all winter. 

 This, too, is imperative, unless the hive is 

 well protected from frost. Do these things, 

 and you will have luck with your bees. 



Why, every woman could tell you that, if 

 you picked up the old setting hen, nest and 

 all, and moved them ten yards away. The 

 hen would go back to her old place, and her 

 nest and eggs would be forsaken ; and you 

 would have poor -'luck" in raising chick- 

 ens. So, if you treat your bees in such an 

 unnatural manner you will have "bad luck" 

 with them, too. 



Another cause for bad luck in bee-keep- 

 ing is the mania for patent hives, with be- 

 ginners. Last fall I sold a neighbor three 

 first-class Italian colonies, and gave him 

 directions for wintering them. They were 

 in the very best condition ; plenty of 

 honey, and populous in numbers, and lo- 

 cated in Langstroth's hives of the very best 

 material and finish. I called round at his 

 residence about the 10th of March, and, lo 

 and behold ! the bees were all out upon 

 their summer stands, and every one trans- 

 ferred into "bran new Mitchell hives"— 

 the patent of whicb he had hastened to buy 

 during the former part of the winter. I 

 took off the cover of one and lifted out a 

 frame. I found each frame divided into six 

 compartments, and these were filled pro- 

 miscuously with drone-comb, store-comb, 

 and brood-comb, just as the shape of the 

 broken pieces would best fit together. 



I asked, "Why did you transfer your bees 

 into these hives ? " " 0, because I wanted 

 to dispense with boxes or small frames on 

 top of the hive, and have all the honey 

 stored inside of the main hive, for they will 

 gather so much more honey this way, and it 

 is so much easier to take it out when the 

 frames are filled." I offered to buy his old 

 Langstroth hives, but he had cut them up or 

 thrown them aside as useless lumber. He 

 had been dividing his colonies to form 

 nuclei for raising queens, for two or three 

 weeks ; and he said to a friend, as I was 

 told last Saturday, that he thought he 

 should make two or three colonies by divid- 

 ing some time next week The profits, and 

 expense, and labor have been slightly from, 

 rather than to the owner thus far, but the 

 Mitchell patent when it begins, pours floods 

 of honey into the lap of the owner ; but I 

 fear it will be in the sweet tears of sympa- 

 thy from his loving wife, as she condoles 

 with him over his sad disappointments and 

 losses in bee-keeping. 



But a child, or a beginner, will and must 

 put his hand into the flame, just to see how 

 the smart of a burn feels, and no warning 

 or advise, I suppose, can keep him from it. 

 So, probably, every beginner in bee-keep- 

 ing, must run his course of patent rights, 

 just as the child takes the mumps, the 

 measles, and the whooping-cough. Get a 

 good hive (the Langstroth is the best), and 

 stick to that form, when once decided upon. 

 Thus your hives being all alike, the frames 

 will be interchangeable. 



Don't imagine that two or ten colonies 

 will make one rich, or that they will greatly 

 add to the annual income. You cannot get 

 rich on two sheep, two hogs, or two hens; 

 nor would you, if they should give as much 

 net profit as bees. Even the eggs of two 

 hens are a great convenience. Ten dollars' 

 worth of honey to eat or to sell, is worth 

 caring about ; and the mother, wife, or 

 daughter can superintend this department, 

 and not only have the honey, but the pas- 

 time and pleasure of this out-door exercise, 

 so promotive of health and comfort. 



Get a work on bee culture; "Langstroth 

 on the Honey Bee," " Quinby's Mysteries of 

 Bee-Keeping," "Newman's Bee Culture," 

 or " Cook's New Manual of the Apiary," 

 will either of them give the beginner all the 

 direction he needs, if he will rigidly follow 

 them. Then post up, and never touch the 

 bees without first consulting your Manual. 



But I am reminded that I am addressing a 

 convention of bee-keepers, and not begin- 

 ners ; and you are here to receive and im- 

 part some hints or truths, whereby a person 

 ean get the most honey and the most money 

 out of his bees. Three things are neces- 

 sary to the accomplishment of this result: 



I. The culture of the highest possible 

 grade of bees, considered — 



1. As to size and strength, in order to 

 avail themselves of the red clover harvest, 

 so abundant in this country. 



2. As to their industry, as honey gatherers. 



3. As to their being in the highest degree 

 prolific. 



4. As to their being docile in disposition. 



5. And what would mark them as distinct 

 in variety, viz: a bright yellow color. 



I claim to have been the first one, who, 



