We can plainly see that the future 

 honey producers of America will be 

 men who make it their special business ; 

 they should not be encumbered with so 

 much other business that their first 

 swarms have to hang on a bush all 

 night or their neighbors be called to 

 hive them, and they must have the best 

 location their section affords. 



I think there is scarcely a township 

 in the United States but has from 2 to 

 6 fair locations. Such may be divided 

 into three or four classes. The best 

 location is one that faces the south and 

 east, with a plenty of water, not too 

 much, but always there ; it is not enough 

 that there is plenty within % or % of a 

 mile, it should be within 10 rods. If 

 there are hills, have them on the north 

 and west to break the wind from those 

 quarters. There should be a plenty of 

 pollen and honey-producing plants to 

 rear a large stock of bees through 

 the months of April, May and June. 

 Then a plenty of basswood, white clover, 

 raspberry and buckwheat, to obtain the 

 surplus from. 



The next best location is one that will 

 rear all the bees necessary to gather a 

 large yield, and but little basswood, 

 white clover, raspberry, and about 

 buckwheat enough for each family to 

 have a mess of pan cakes. 4 A poor lo- 

 cation is one on the top of some high 

 hill or half way down on the north side 

 of it, with no water short of % a mile, 

 or 40 feet under the ground, and plenty 

 of wind from all points of the compass. 

 It will, perhaps, have but little white 

 clover, no basswood or buckwheat short 

 of 2 or. 3 miles; where the bees wear 

 themselves out, in trying to live and 

 keep up their race. 



There are many fields from which 

 bees would reach a rich harvest, that 

 would not be a suitable place for an 

 apiary. Last June I crossed a pasture 

 field on the top of a high hill, which 

 was covered with the thickest white 

 clover I ever saw ; it was so thick and 

 white that it looked like a field of buck- 

 wheat in full bloom, }-i a mile away, but 

 I should not want my bees on the top of 

 that hill ; I would rather have them 

 within % a mile in the valley below. 



In choosing locations we should be as 

 particular as we would in locating a 

 tannery or a mill, so the heavy burdens 

 will work down hill, or around it Bees 

 should not have to fly up hill on the last 

 end of their journey home ; it is too 

 hard work. A location sheltered from 

 the north and west wind, facing the 

 south or east, has more advantages than 

 some are willing to allow. It not only 

 keeps off the cold wind, but the sun in 

 the spring warms up the hive and 



enables the bees to be out taking exer- 

 cise and cleaning out the hives, and 

 carrying in rye Hour before natural 

 pollen comes. 



We often hear the inquiry not only 

 through the press, but men who pass 

 by, ask : Does it pay to keep bees ? 

 Would bees do as well where I live, as 

 they do where you live V I answer : 

 It depends upon the location and the 

 fitness of the person for the profession. 



We cannot change the nature of the 

 honey bee ; the industrious habit that 

 they have possessed for thousands of 

 years of visiting every opening flower 

 and gathering all the nectar secreted 

 there, they still possess, but we have 

 learned by experiments that we can as- 

 sist them in storing honey enough for 

 their own use as well as ours, by fur- 

 nishing a suitable habitation and loca- 

 tion. 



Addison, N. Y., Jan. 21, 1880. 



For the American Bee Journal. 



Chaff Hives, and Packing for Winter. 



MRS. D. C. SPENCER. 



As my convictions in favor of chaff 

 hives, and out-of-door wintering, were 

 somewhat strengthened by what 1 

 learned at the National Bee-Keepers 1 

 Convention at Chicago, I returned home 

 determined to see what could be done 

 to accomplish these results. Having 50 

 colonies in Langstroth hives, that I 

 wished to winter thus, I devised means 

 of changing them into chaff hives. I 

 first made chaff division boards with 

 I'd inch space for chaff ; the side to go 

 next to the bees, was made of boards 

 used for backs of picture frames. &c. 

 The other side, of felt carpet paper, to 

 be placed each side, inside the hive. I 

 next made a chaff front piece to be 

 placed in the porticos above the 

 entrance, having a chaff space 1% 

 inches thick. The outside of these 

 were made of % inch boards, the other 

 of felt paper. Then I made a ••lean- 

 to" of similar material, covering the 

 rear end of the hive, all intended for 

 permanent fixtures, protecting from 

 cold and heat. 



I use an open honey-board }o inch 

 thick, having several % inch spaces 

 running crosswise of the frames, and 

 on this a heavy cotton cloth. The 

 apiary being platted as directed by Mr. 

 Root in ABC, the hives in alternate 

 spaces, 6 feet apart each way. They 

 were on summer stands made of 2x4 

 scantling, with slanting alighting boards 

 a la Cook. 



Before packing, I placed the hives 



