178 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



[Feb., 



that swarmed, will require twenty-one old colo- 

 nies, and twenty-one new swarms, nearly. 

 Forty-two colonies old and new, will require for 

 breeding: and wintering, 2,520 lbs. They give in j 

 surplus G29 lbs. They consume four-fifths of the 

 product of the field, and give the bee-keeper one- 

 fifth in surplus Five colonies that give no 

 swarm, give 629 lbs. in surplus. Five times 

 sixty is 300 lbs. Less than one-third of the pro- 

 duct of the field is consumed by the bees, .ind 

 629 lbs., or more than two-thirds of the product 

 of the field, is given in surplus to the keeper. 



I confess, Mr. Editor, I prefer two-thirds of 

 the product of the honey in the flowers spread 

 around me, to one-thirteenth of it. Those who 

 are satisfied with one-thirteenth can continue 

 the old systen and small hives. Let it not be 

 supposed that 125 colonies of non-swarmers 

 could find summer and winter's supply for them- 

 selves, and give an average of 126 lbs. each, in a 

 field where 125 swarms are sustained, and secure 

 ten pounds each. 125 non-swarmers would re- 

 quire a field furnishing 28,250 lbs. of honey,and 

 125 swarmers but 8,126 lbs. Sixty-three old 

 colonies and sixty-two new swarms, in small 

 hives, would require only 8,126 lbs. Forty-three 

 colonies of non-swarmers would gather the field, 

 giving 5,546 lbs. in surplus, instead of 626 lbs., 

 supposing they did as well as my five have done 

 this year. But alarm at the expense deters 

 many in the pursuit. Let us look at this subject 

 one moment. Ten swarmers at ten pounds each 

 will give one hundred pounds of surplus. The 

 ten colonies will cost, at $5 each . . . $50 00 



10 hives at |1 each 10 00 



Amount of outlay $00 00 



Interest on $60 § 4 20 



Hives lasting ten years, one-twentieth . 50 

 Bees may avei-age four years in swarm- 

 ing hives, per hive, 12 50 



Cost of 100 lbs. in swarming hives . $17 20 

 Cost per pound 17.2 cents. 

 In addition to all, the care of ten colonies of 

 bees. 

 One non-swarming hive will cost without 



boxes $6 00 



One colony of bees 5 00 



Amount of outlay $11 00 



One-twentieth cost of hive .... $00 liO 

 One-fourth cost of swarm .... 1 25 



Interest on outlay 77 



Cost of 126 lbs. of honey, in non-swarm- 

 ing hive $2 32 



Cost per pound 1 cent 8^ mills, nearly ; or we 

 may say two cents per pound, against 17 cents 

 in the swarmer hive. 



5. The care taken and expense incurred in 

 the use of the two classes of hives is worthy of 

 consideration. The expense of twelve swarmer 

 hives must exceed that of one non-swarmer hive, 

 and one swarm of bees. The expense must 

 nearly equal twelve to one. If we reckon the 

 expense of time and new hives, it would pro- 



bably be twenty to one. A farmer with a hive 

 of bees in a shaded retired place, that would 

 require little care and attention, except to put 

 the surplus boxes in place in April and remove 

 them when filled, supplying empty boxes in place 

 of the full ones, securing from 100 to 200 pounds 

 of surplus annually, would find this very differ- 

 ent from managing his swarmers until they 

 increased to overstocking his field, and a large 

 portion, and sometimes all of them, perish from 

 starvation. But I did not commence to write a 

 volume. 



I will add, my success has been partiah When 

 I reach a point wliere, by the construction of 

 my hive I can perfectly contiol their increase, 

 having them swarm or not, as I wish, without 

 confining the queen, or searching for and cutting 

 out queen cells, or practising any violence upon 

 the colony, and secure an average all thi'ough of 

 125 lbs. of surplus, if some of them have to go as 

 high as three hundred pounds, I think I will call 

 it satisfactory, if only partial success. 



If any one wishes for further information. I 

 will send a circular on receipt of their address 

 and post ofiice stamp. 



Jasper Hazen. 



Albany, N. T. 



[For the American Bee Journal.] 



Few Year, 1871. 



Dear Bee .Journal :— It is customary for 

 bee-keepers to relate in the Journal their experi- 

 ence, success or failui-e ; yet I do not see that 

 there is any foolishness in stating what I pro- 

 pose to do in the year 1871. Possibly some one 

 may give nae a useful hint, or better light and 

 knowledge, and that is what we are after. The 

 year 1870 has given me a start with frame hives, 

 of which I have four different kinds. Three of 

 them I will reject, and stick to the one described 

 in my last article on page 84 of the current vol- 

 ume. The frame represented on said page has a 

 fault ; the iron pin must be used as a nail to 

 nail the two sticks together near the top. 



Some years ago I intended to make an apiary, 

 100 feet long in a straight row ; but some experi- 

 enced bee-keeper dissuaded me, saying it was 

 against progress. Accordingly, I placed my 

 hives, forty-five in number, in the open air, in 

 such a manner that they represented a minia- 

 ture village, with a large Quinby hive in the 

 middle, with a box hive thereon, and a small 

 nucleus hive on top. chui'ch steeple fashion. One- 

 half of them are common bee gums, the other 

 half are frame hives. My honey machine stands 

 in a room in the house, and the bee yard is very 

 near, so that distance produces no inconvenience 

 in the honey operations. I begin by taking off 

 the honey board, then loosen the frames, taking 

 them out one by one, shaking off the bees, re- 

 placing three or four empty ones instead. All 

 this is the work of a very few minutes. In the 

 beginning all goes smoothly ; but after some 

 days, the robbers become so troublesome, that 

 the matter grows to be quite serious. I think 

 this is the best robbing school ever invented. 



