120 



THE AMEBIC AN BEE-KEEPER 



July 



loaded them on a wagon and drove to 

 the bee-house, where they were scon ar- 

 ranged in position. The next day hap- 

 pened to be a pleasant one; the bees 

 came out in great numbers and evidently 

 became somewhat confused as to which 

 were their right hives. Three hives 

 were deserted, the bees having joined 

 some of the others. But the other 

 seventeen built up nicely, and in May I 

 divided three of the stronger ones and 

 made the full complement of twenty. 

 Some time in the latter part of May I 

 removed the division boards and filled 

 the hives with frames of comb founda- 

 tion. There was not a single swarm 

 issued from this house; this was the 

 very thing I was striving to accomplish. 

 The bees are always comfortable, being 

 shaded from the hot sun, and they seem 

 to have sufficient room ontwenty frames 

 in one body. It is very comfortable for 

 the operator, too. I took from this 

 house, in September, six hundred and 

 fifty pounds of very nice honey, which 

 averaged at retail 14c. per pound, mak- 

 ing a total of ^91. The yield in my 

 home yatd was much below the average, 

 so the year 1900 can be classed as some- 

 what of a poor year for honey. Now, as 

 I have enough surplus combs built, I 

 think I can expect an average crop of 

 one thousand pounds a year from this 

 house; no further expense only rent and 

 cartage in bringing home the honey. I 

 visited this house during summer once 

 every week or two, being a nice little spin 

 on the wheel. I intend putting out some 

 more colonies this spring as thirty or 

 forty colonies will probably find pastur- 

 age enough and can be just as: easily 

 looked after when visiting the out-yard. 

 Englewood, N. J.; April 13, 1901.' 



[Mr. Herman sent also a very pleas- 

 ing pictiire of the interior of this house- 

 apiary : but we regret to say it was too 

 weak for reproduction. A smaller stop 

 and full minute more . exposure would 

 have given a picture that would have in- 

 terested and greatly pleased our readers. 

 -En.] -^ 



"Man is rich, not because of what he 

 owns, but because of what he enjoys.'; 



A July Day. 



With songs of birds and hum of bees, 

 And odorous iireath of swinging flowers. 



With fluttering herbs and swaying trees. 

 Begin the early morning hours. 



The warm tide of the Southern air 

 Swims round, with gentle rise and fall. 



And, burning through the golden glare. 

 The sun looks broadly over all. 



So fair and fresh the landscape stands. 



So vital, so beyond decay. 

 It looks as though God's shaping hands 



Had just been raised and drawn away. 



The holy baptism of the rain 

 Yet lingers like a special grace; 



For I can see an aureole plain 

 About the world's transfigured face. 



— George Henry Boker. 



He who lets the world or his own portion 

 of it choose his plan of life for him, has no 

 need of any other faculty than the ape- 

 like one of imitation. He who chooses his 

 plan for himself employs all his faculties. 

 —.John Stuart Mills. 



IMPROVEMENT OF STOCK. 



BY G. M. I)OOLITTI,E. 



ALL apiarists who have an eye to' 

 the betterment of their condition, 

 along the line of a better honey 

 yield, know that some colonies in thr 

 apiary give better results than do others. 

 Thus we often hear bee-keepers say, "If 

 all the colonies had been as good as was 

 No. 13" (number 45, or some other num- 

 ber as the case may be). •' I should have 

 had several hundred, if not thousand, 

 more pounds of honey than I secured 

 this year.'" Well, the question is, Why 

 not have all the colonies in the apiary 

 as good as No. 12? We may not accom- 

 plish all we would like to in one year, 

 but by superseding all the poorer queens 

 in the apiary by those raised from Nd. 

 1:2, we certainly shall be advancing our 

 apiary up the scale toward number 

 twelve's yield. This is what I have been 

 working for during the past thirty years 

 and it gives me pleasure to say that my 

 colonies average very much more nearly 

 alike in their yields, and the average 

 yield per colony is much higher in pro- 



