32 



THE AMERICAN APICULTURIST. 



the best you can. The light crop 

 this season will free the country of 

 all the old and the new crop, prices 

 will be good for a while until bee 

 men get frightened again at their 

 stocks of honey whereof it will 

 crowd and crush to the city mar- 

 kets until the price goes way be- 

 low the cost of production ; then 

 comes the sickly howl from bee- 

 keepers who say " beekeeping 

 don't pay " and up goes the sign- 

 board : " A whole apiary for sale, 

 as / want to go west." 



To dispose of honey at the best 

 prices I put a peddling wagon on 

 the road and supi)ly the town and 

 even country witliin easy reach. 

 By this means large quantities of 

 honey are sold under my own su- 

 pervision. Our average sales per 

 day dnring the selling season are 

 about 500 pounds. The beekeep- 

 ers should sell their own product, 

 and avoid as far as possible deal- 

 ings with commission men. 



Holliday's Cove, West Va. 



For the American Apiciiltiirist. 



PREPARE FOR THE 

 PIARVE8T. 



J. M. Hamuaugh. 



The bees are at rest. AVe march 

 through the silent corridors of their 

 subterranean abiding place, with 

 nought to remind us of the throng- 

 within, save an occasional stray 

 bee, wandering from the fold, to 

 die as it were, unmolested by sym- 

 patlietic companions. The light we 

 hold in our hand reflects its diui 

 rays upon their silent homes, which 

 would im[)ress our senses more 

 witli being in the presence of a 

 graveyard, than in the midst of 

 a vast army of the most industri- 

 ous of all God's created beings. 

 We march a little farther, we listen 

 with abated breath, we hear a low 



murmur, we bend our ear to ascer- 

 tain the cause, and conclude it to 

 be a colony changing their posi- 

 tion to receive their stores in clus- 

 ter. We peer through a glass 

 wicket of an observatory^, and 

 view a colony in a true state of hi- 

 bernation a la W, F. Clarke. We 

 then consult the thermometer and 

 find the mercury at 44 degrees, 

 conclude that all things are well, 

 and then proceed to ascend the 

 stair-steps, leading into our kitch- 

 en. When at tlie top, we close the 

 trap-door, and in a short time we 

 are found at our desk, giving vent 

 to the following chain of thoughts. 

 Let each and everyone, who has 

 the interest of bee culture at heart, 

 look well to those essential requi- 

 sites that will meet the emergen- 

 cies of the moment, and with no 

 loss of time let our little laborers 

 improve every shining moment. 

 Should you be the possessor of 

 only a few colonies of bees, and 

 mind engrossed in farm or other 

 matters, you should be the more 

 eager to prepare everything in 

 readiness during the idle winter 

 months that no time need be con- 

 sumed from other pursuits during 

 the busy season. It is not neces- 

 sary to prepare a large quantity of 

 extra hives for the reception of 

 swarms, should you prefer honey 

 instead, more especially should 

 your bees be in ten-frame Simplic- 

 ity or larger sized frame-hives. 

 You can control the swarming im- 

 pulse to a great extent by proper 

 manipulation, should you have 

 everything at hand and commence 

 in time. Of course a few extra hives, 

 or lower bodies, should always be 

 at hand in case of emergency. 

 Then should you be running your 

 bees to comb honey, all upper bod- 

 ies should be overhauled and care- 

 fully placed away, as well as 

 section cases, drone-anil-queen ex- 

 cluders, skeleton and plain honey 

 boards ; in fact, any- and everything 



