1872.] 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



177 



for tlie sake of espying a chance to steal a little, 

 and a continual fend wonld be going on. 



Bees, too, seem to know that there are too 

 many of them, if a large number is kept in one 

 location. When I had less than a hundred colo- 

 nies in one location, I obtained in ordinary good 

 seasons a swarm from nearly every hive. When 

 I had a hundred or more, the swarming propen- 

 sity decreased. Of three hundred and four (304) 

 colonies, wintered out and kept in one location, 

 I received only about fifty natural swarms, 

 although I had not sought to prevent swarming. 

 This season T had in my southern apiary, from 

 one hundred and five colonies only sixiy-eight 

 swarms ; and those colonies and swarms, with 

 ten artificial swarms, gave four thousand (4,000) 

 pounds box honey, and twenty-eight hundred 

 (3800) pounds of extracted honey. After my 

 spring's sale, 1 had in my northern apiary, only 

 forty-three colonies (not forty-eight, as my 

 daughter reported by mistake ), and with the 

 exception of a dozen colonies of second quality 

 only — four of them queenless in the spring. 

 They produced fifteen hundred (l.">00) pounds 

 of box and thirty-seven hundred (3700) pounds 

 of extracted honey, and increased to eighty-six 

 good colonics. Their average yield of honey 

 was nearly one hundred and twenty-one (121) 

 pounds per hive, while that of the stocks in my 

 southern apiary, nearly all of which Were in 

 prime condition in the spring, was only about 

 sixty-four (04) pounds per hive— being little 

 more than half as much. I have not overlooked 

 the fact that they gave about three pounds more 

 of box honey per hive ; but their average weight 

 per hive, when wintered in this fall, was nearly 

 five pounds less than that of the stocks in my 

 northern apiary. It seems therefore that a hun- 

 dred colonies, in one location, are a larger 

 number of stocks than should be commenced 

 with in the spring. 



There is no question with me any longer, 

 that the smaller the number of stocks kept in 

 one location, the greater will be the yield of 

 honey from a single colony. But the question 

 Ls not, how can a beekeeper secure the largest 

 yield of honey from a small number of stocks, 

 but how can he secure tlie largest income by 

 keeping bees? In answer to this question I will 

 say, by keejiing and managing well a large 

 number of stocks scattered in different apiaries, 

 none of which should contain more than one 

 hundred colonies in the spring. If he could 

 arrange so as not to start with more than fifty 

 in one location in the spring, it wonld probably 

 be all the better. If placed three miles ajiait 

 there will be no danger of overstocking, in ordi- 

 nary seasons. A boy or girl twelve or fifteen 

 years old can watch such an aj^iary in swarm- 

 ing time, and outside of it an active apiarian 

 could superintend a dozen such apiaries. Of 

 course he can only do this if the bees are worked 

 for box honey, and everything is prepared and 

 in readiness when wanted. But if the bees are 

 kei^t to secure extracted honey, a comj^etent 

 person must take charge of each apiary during 

 the honey season. If double hives are prepared 

 before the beginning of the honey season, a good 

 keeper might work about sixty hives, if he had 



his stocks in a condition that they would not 

 trouble him much with swarming, while busied 

 with extracting honey. 



A. Grimm. 

 Jefferson, Wis., Nov. 29, 1871. 



[For tbe Americau Bee Juurnal.] 



Non-Flying Fertilization. 



Mr. Editor :— To undeceive those who have 

 been misled, and to guide those aright who are 

 in search of the true track, we subjoin a minute 

 and accurate description of our arrangements 

 and method to secure the fertilization of queen 

 bees in confinement. 



1. W^e build the fertilizing room, which is in 

 dimensions six feet by eight, and eight feet Jiigh 

 to the square. This room is studded, as though 

 we were going to weatherboard it. We put in 

 a frame, two feet by tliree, at one corner for a 

 door. We make a tight floor, and beside plank 

 up the sides and ends two feet high, commencing 

 at the bottom. We now get eighteen yards of 

 common brown cotton cloth (not too open), cut it 

 in two pieces of nine yards each, sewing the two 

 together lengthwise. These two widths of the 

 cloth will cover the remaining open sj^ace not 

 planked iip, with the exception of the top and 

 door. It is best to stretch the cloth on the 

 inner side, putting in a tack now and then, until 

 it is tightly stretched all around. It will take 

 two persons to accomplish this in order to have 

 it done right. After getting it stretched tight, 

 lay a strip of wood or a lath over the cloth on 

 each studding and nail it down. This will pre- 

 vent the wind from tearing the cloth loose. 

 Also tack the cloth to the edge of the plank all 

 around, placing a strip over the edges as over 

 the studding. Having done this inuch, we 

 finish the roof by getting us a ^\q or studding 

 ten feet long, which we set upright in the centre 

 of our room, nailing it fast to the floor, and 

 bracing it by nailiiig to it four braces, four or 

 five feet from the floor, nailing the foot of each 

 brace to the floor. We now get sixteen yards of 

 common dark calico, have it cut into six bias 

 pieces and sew them up, when they will be in 

 tent shape. We leave an opening at tlie top for 

 our pole, having a gum strap fastened in said 

 opening, that it may fit tighlly around the pole, 

 coming clown on a pin which we have put 

 through, two or three inches from the top. We 

 now tack the bottom edges of the calico to the 

 inside of our frame, covering or overlapping the 

 tip edge of the cotton cloth. We now have a 

 house whose roof is made of calico in tent shape. 

 We next make a tight fitting door of plauk, 

 leaving an opening near the top, twelve or fif- 

 teen inches square. This opening we cover 

 with a piece of No. 12 or No. 16 wire cloth. In 

 the far end from the door, and near the top of 

 the room, we arrange a shelf upoii which we 

 place old honey combs, the cells of the upper 

 side of which we fill with sweetened water and 

 honey. We are now through with 'the fertili- 

 zing room ; but have just reached that part of 

 the programme which is to be strictly foUoioed, or 



