THE AMERICAN APICULTURIST. 



57 



Our aim aiul object in spring 

 iiianngonient arc to get all the bees 

 we can ready lor a working force 

 when the honey harvest conies ; but, 

 when the harvest begins, a ditterent 

 system of practice will be required, 

 of which I may have something to 

 say hereafter. 



Seymour, Wis. 



For the American Apiculturist. 

 By G. W. Demauee. 



LOCATING THE APIARY BEST HIVE 



BEST BEES FOK ALL PURPOSES 



WINTERING BKES SPRING MAN- 

 AGEMENT EMPTY SECTIONS 



HOME MARKET, ETC. 



Nearly all, if not all, the older 

 beekeepers have labored under the 

 disadvantage of having commenced 

 the pursuit of beekeeping at the 

 place where the}^ were located at 

 the time they received the first 

 stroke of the " bee fever." This 

 made the business of beekeeping 

 very uncertain with many of them, 

 to say the least. Let me illustrate 

 this point. ^ly location has a 

 good white clover range for bees, 

 and this is the main source for 

 surplus in all the older states ; but 

 my location is surrounded by a 

 closely cultivated district, and a 

 nice state of husbandry. All 

 weeds are cut from the pasture 

 lands and waste places, and my 

 bees are deprived of fall pasture 

 except from heartsease (smart- 

 weed) which flourishes only in wet 

 seasons. Hence I must feed my 

 bees in the full more or less and 

 this is a heavy draw on the profit 

 side of the account kept with the 

 bees. Some years ago I advised 

 a friend of mine to start an apiary 

 at his place — he lived but seven 

 miles from me — as he had about 

 the same white clover range that 

 I had and the hills about him were 

 covered with the little white and 



purple asters which would supply 

 his bees with winter stores. He 

 took my advice, and time is prov- 

 ing that liis location is twenty per 

 cent better than mine on account 

 of the waste lands about him which 

 abound with fall honey-producing 

 flora. Let us pause here and take 

 the "hint" that the difference in 

 a good and a poor location may 

 make all the difference between 

 success and failure. 



THE HIVE best FOR ALL PURPOSES. 



My views on this subject are not 

 radical. Tlie bee-literature of the 

 past clearly shows that men have 

 succeeded well, and equally well, 

 who have used hives that ditfer as 

 much in construction, as any of 

 the new hives differ from the old 

 ones, and from each other. These 

 facts are a broad "hint" to the 

 honey producer, that the difference 

 in hives is not so great as many 

 profess to believe. Any good 

 movable-frame hive, by the appli- 

 cation of a little ingenuity wil 

 give satisfactory results. I will 

 not consume space by discussing 

 this point here, as a description of 

 my favorite hive may be found on 

 pages 14 and 15 January issue of 

 the Apiculturist. If the hive is 

 light, and substantial, and capable 

 of being " tiered " to the best ad- 

 vantage, without giving too much 

 room at one time, no other hive, 

 no matter how costly or complicat- 

 ed, will beat it. The "tiering up" 

 system is essential to the largest 

 yield of the best quality of honey, 

 and I believe the best way is to 

 tier above the brood department of 

 the hive. 



THE BEST BEES FOR ALL PURPOSES. 



It is generally conceded that 

 Italian bees are the best bees for 

 all purposes. But as it requires 

 time and money to keep the race 

 pure in any vicinity where there 

 are black bees we are induced to 

 say that Italians and the first cross 



