1372.] 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



113 



Ration will increase with the progress of bee- 

 keeping. 



In speaking of patent hives, T have used seve- 

 ral kinds, and from ray experience and observa- 

 tion, I find there is no hive better than the 

 Langstroth, or Novice's simplification of it, and 

 to those who are seeking for simplicity in con- 

 struction, ease in manipulation, that description 

 is alone worth a year's subscription to the Jour- 

 nal. Should the beekeeper desire to obtain his 

 surplus honey in the comb, sets of small frames 

 can be suspended in the upper story. 



With a very simple entrance, one can admit 

 the bees parallel with the combs, or broadside 

 or li vice versa," thus reaping all of the advan- 

 tages of Adair's system of giving plenty of 

 room near the entrance. So here we have a 

 genuine revolvable-reversible hive, invented by 

 Novice. 



I shall not as;ree with Novice in relation to 

 brood in deep frames ; my frames are 14 inches 

 in depth, and are invariably rilled to the very 

 lowest cell with brood, the upper edge being 

 filled with honey. 



In common with hundreds of beekeepers in 

 all parts of the country, I lost several swarms — 

 13 out of 25, and the remainder doubled them- 

 selves down to 5, and if any one ever felt like 

 getting into a hole and hiding, I did, for several 

 days last spring. New-fangled hives and book 

 '•larnin" was the cause; but a comparison of 

 notes showed as great a loss in box hives as in 

 any other. 



"When I looked over my deserted hives and 

 saw the pile of beautiful worker combs, my 

 heart was wrung with unutterable anguish at 

 the idea of melting them up for a few pounds of 

 wax. 



I luckily found 7 swarms for sale for .$30, and 

 took possession of them. I now have 25, and 

 will make $200 from them, and would have 

 doubled that, if bass wood had done the fair 

 thing. 



I attribute a portion of my loss last winter to 

 a too free use of the extractor ; this season I 

 have adopted a rule not to empty any comb in 

 which there is brood ; as a consequence, all of 

 my swarms have plenty of honey and some to 

 spare. In the foregoing, I have reported a dark 

 side to the avocation of bee-keeping, but though 

 cast down, we are not disheartened, and hope to 

 go into winter quarters 30 swarms strong. 



Scientific. 



[For the American Bee Journal.] 



Success in Bee-keeping. 



Mr. Editor : — The experiments and observa- 

 tion of twelve years in bee-keeping, prepare me 

 to assert confidently that every farmer with 100 

 acres of land, may secure annually, from 100 

 pounds to 200 pounds of honey in boxes of con- 

 venient size, for use or market, if he has a fair 

 amount of white clover in his fields, and raises 

 a few acres of buckwheat. 



This, on the supposition, that the orchard and 

 early spring flowers give opportunity for an 

 early start of the workers in the spring. 



Expense. — The first season will require an ex- 

 pense of $4 or $5 for a hive and sample box, 

 or $7 or $8 for a hive and boxes to contain 200 

 pounds of surplus honey, and from $5 to $10, 

 for a colony of bees. That is from $10 to $18 

 the first season, and nothing but a little care and 

 attention after; securing, at 25 cts. per pound, 

 from $25 to $50 in surplus annually, for ten, 

 twenty, and some colonies have exceeded thirty 

 years, without any change of colony or comb. 



Every town six miles square, contains 230 and 

 4 10 hundredth acre lots. One colony upon each 

 hundred acre lot would give in surplus, at this 

 rate, from 23,000 to 4G,000 pounds of honey per 

 annum, at 25 cts. per pound, would be $5,7-50 

 to $11,500 per annum. 



This income might be secured ; in some towns 

 more, and in some less, according to the season, 

 or the amount of honey-producing flowers. 



But 23n farms of 100 acres each, with 2-0 far- 

 mers, one upon each hundred acres, will hardly 

 be found in one town. One farmer has 20, 

 another 100, and another 300 or 409 acres. Many 

 farmers take no interest in bee-keeping. Then 

 let us make another suggestion. Let a judicious, 

 active man. or a number of such men associate, 

 and by agreement among themselves and the 

 proprietors of the soil, place 3G apiaries, with 

 four, five, or six colonies, or more, in each 

 apiary, according to the abundance of honey 

 producing flowers upon each square mile ; this 

 will bring each apiary about one mile distant 

 from the other, giving them half-a-mile's flight 

 in each direction, and sufficiently distant from 

 each other to prevent robbing, and to gather the 

 honey secreted by the flowers. If the danger 

 of swarming is obviated, as I think it may be, 

 a visit to each apiary once a week, to note their 

 progress, is ail that is required, until the time for 

 the removal of the boxes, and with the box room 

 for 200 pounds of surplus, probably but one re- 

 moval will be required for the season. Two 

 weeks' time in the spring and two in the fall 

 may be all that would be required for the whole 

 number of apiaries. Eleven thousand, five thou- 

 sand, or even one thousand dollars will pay for 

 t'n at. 



But this is after all is put in operation ; how 

 shall we begin ? 



1. Procure a hive with a breeding and win- 

 tering apartment of about 2.". 00 cubic inches, 

 and surplus honey boxes that will hold from 

 100 to 200 pounds. 



2. Procure as many colonies of bees as you 

 wish to commence the trial with, equalling your 

 number of new hives. Get large colonies early 

 in the season. Place your bees where you wish 

 your new hives to stand. 



*. When a swarm issues, hive it in your new 

 hive, and remove the old hive from its stand, 

 placing the new swarm upon the old stand. 



4. Cut out all the worker brood comb from the 

 old hive. Place it in a box and set it close by 

 the entrance to the new hive. The bees will 

 hatch out all the brood. They will enter the 

 new hive as fast as hatched out, and thus make 

 a very large colony the first season, probably 

 giving from 100 to 200 pounds of box honey the 

 first season. 



