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THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



Oct. 21, 



Begiutiing in Bee-Keepiug — Good Advice. 



BY C. P. DADANT. 



Question. — " Mr. Dadant, would you please tell us 

 whether it is advisable for a beginner to buy bees in the fall, 

 and winter IheiD ? and with how many colonies had one best 

 make a start ? We have an out-building which faces east, 

 and is well protected from the wind. Would the bees do well 

 in such a place? — Clara M. Borstel." 



Answer. — We would not advise a besinner to buy bees in 

 the fall, for two reasons. The first is, that wintering is prob- 

 ably the most dilTicult part of bee-keeping, and it is hardly 

 advisable to buy them just before they have to face the win- 

 ter ; for a beginner would hardly be able to judge of the 

 strength and wealth of a colony. It would therefore be 

 much easier then for a dishonest seller to sell you worthless 

 colonies than in spring, for the bees that go through the 

 winter safely and appear at all strong in the spring, are 

 about sure of a good prospect. In the fall the breeding has 

 stopt, and it is more difficult to ascertain whether they have a 

 good queen, and it takes quite a little experience to be able to 

 know positively that they have enough honey. 



The second reason for advising you not to buy bees in the 

 fall is, that there is much more risk In transporting them at 

 that season than in the spring. The combs, being often quite 

 heavy with honey, are more likely to break in transit. Then 

 the bees are probably all old enough to be acquainted with 

 the location, and more of them will be lost when putting them 

 on a new stand — especially if but little distant from their 

 former location — than would be lost in spring. 



The proper time to buy and transport bees is about fruit- 

 bloom. At that time they are breeding plentifully, there are 

 young bees hatching daily, and the loss of the bees which may 

 go astray will soon be made up by the constantly-hatching 

 brood. 



Then, in the spring, the hives are lighter, the combs con- 

 taining much brood and but little honey. There is therefore 

 much less risk of breakage. 



The beginner who buys bees in the spring usually takes a 

 daily interest in them. In fact, if he or she does not think 

 more about his or her bees thau about anything else, they 

 had best leave bee-keeping alone. It Is a passion, a fever ; 

 and the expression, " bees on the brain " — to speak of a per- 

 son who loves the pursuit — is only a forcible way of express- 

 ing the facts. In the spring you will have numberless chances 

 to enjoy your bees, and your daily or weekly visits will not 

 injure them, especially if you properly attend to their needs, 

 while in the fall you would only be injuring them by disturb- 

 ing them too often. 



To follow the above advice — in regard to when to buy 

 bees— should not, however, be taken as an absolute necessity. 

 You may have a chance to buy bees from some one who must 

 move away, or who needs the money, and may tind quite a 

 bargain In thus securing them ; but you should not buy them 

 without at least taking the advice of some person who is ac- 

 customed to handling bees, and can examine them and inform 

 you as to their prospects and condition. With a little care 

 they may bo moved even in the cold of winter without neces- 

 sarily injuring them to any extent. 



As to the number of colonies a beginner should buy at first 

 must depend upon the size of his purse ; but In no case would 

 we advise any one to make a purchase of a large apiary unless 

 already acquainted with the pursuit. Of all the branches of 

 farming bee-culture is that which requires the most detailed 

 and specific experience, and all beginners will be apt to make 

 blunders which, on a large scale, would prove expensive. If 

 you begin with from two to ten colonies, you will learn their 

 management in the course of acouple of seasons, and will then 

 ascertain whether you have_the adaptability that is needed. 

 You win also make some inventions as wo all have done, and 



will find out, as we have, that those inventions have been 

 made and again discarded by others before you. How many 

 thousands have invented moth-traps — how many have pat- 

 ented them — to find out after much waste of time, that a 

 moth-trap was never of any use, no matter how nicely it workt! 



Is an out-building with an east exposure fit to shelter 

 your bees ? Yes, if it is an open shed so the hives maybe 

 placed in it and have their entrance unobstructed. No, if it 

 is a closed building and you only expect to keep them In it 

 through the winter. A house-apiary, as these buildings are 

 called, is suitable only if it shelters the hive from the storms 

 and still allows their free flight, and permits at the same time 

 all the manipulations desired to be performed by the apiarist. 

 House-apiaries, though very good, if the hives are not 

 crowded together in them have never been very popular be- 

 cause of the great amount of ground they must occupy and 

 the expense which they entail. But an amateur who keeps 

 bees for pleasure as much as for profit may find the-n suitable. 

 They are oftener used in the cities where garden-spots are 

 not available, and shed-room is plentiful. 



If you like to keep bees let not a bad season discourage 

 you. " If at first you don't succeed, try, try again." There 

 are times when the business is discouraging, indeed, but good 

 seasons soon make up for all the " bad luck.'' We have been 

 in the habit of figuring on an average yield per colony of 50 

 pounds annually. This, at five cents per pound, would make 

 a return of .$2.50 per colony. For the past six years our 

 average had been much lowered by a succession of bad sea- 

 sons, but the year 1S97 has bravely raised It again to about 

 the old mark. 



In the s'pring of this year we bought an apiary of 75 col- 

 onies from a friend who has gone West. We did not want his 

 bees, as we have already more business and more bees than 

 we can attend to properly, but the price was so low (S2.25 

 per colony) that we concluded to accept, especially as we 

 were actually doing him a favor, for his neighbors had not 

 offered him more than 75 cents to .Sl.OO per colony, and the 

 bees had to be sold. We placed them In the hands of a young 

 man who had had several years experience, and the season 

 has been so favorable that we have received for our share of 

 the crop 2,900 pounds of honey. The reader may now figure 

 what our investment has brought us, while those bees now 

 are yet as valuable as they were before the crop. 



Hancock Co., 111. 



A. California Bee-Hive Described. 



BY CTRUS C. ALDRICH. 



The following Is a partial description of the engraving of 

 a bee-hive patented April 7, 1896 : 



The cover and door of the hive Is not shown, as it Is not 

 material. The cover is made to telescope down on the hive, 

 while the bottom of the cover rests on the houey-boards. The 

 door shuts the hive at the rear, and is held in place by the 

 Van Deusen fastener. The frames are held in position In the 

 hive by means of screw hooks (No. 110), which hang on the 

 bar on the top of the hive, holes for the hooks being pierced in 

 the bar, and are also spaced for the frames. 



A strip of wood 5,'1() of an inch thick and % wide Is 

 fastened on the inside of the front of the hive near the top ; a 

 similar strip Is fastened on the Inside of the door near the top, 

 so that when the frames are in place the strips rest on each 

 end of the frames, and when the door is lockt the frames are 

 held rigidly in place. Any frame can be taken out independ- 

 ent of any other, by turning tho frame on each side to the 

 right and left, which gives the desired space to remove the 

 frame. 



The hive is made to tier up any number in hight, and Is 

 especially adapted for comb or extracted honey. 



