1884 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTUKE. 



STAHTING AN APIARY. 



SOME SUOGESTIONS IN THE MATTER BY OUR FRIEND 

 J. E. POND, JH. 



ff^ HE question is often asked, "How shall I start 

 ^ an apiaiT?" and this, too, irrespective of 

 ■i whether the party is qualified, either by na- 

 ture or education, to become a bee-keeper. 

 That there is a peculiar fascination in the | 

 pursuit of bee-keeping-, every person who has en- 

 g-aged therein can attest. This fascination, howev- 

 er, is somewhat dispelled in the minds of many 

 when, instead of cai-ing- for a few colonies, they are 

 obliged to care for many. He who cares for half a 

 dozen colonies, as a means of recreative e.xercise, 

 may well believe that the business is most delight- 

 ful; but with one hundred or more colonies on his 

 hands, in the swarming or extracting season, with 

 the thermometer among the nineties, he will begin 

 to think that the work is a little bit hard; and, un- 

 less he is fitted by nature for the business, he will 

 find his enthusiasm oozing: out with the perspira- 

 tion caused by hard work and intense heat. To 

 those who are really desix-ous of starting an apiary, 

 I will say there is but one way to do so, with a pros- 

 pect of attaining fair success, and now is the time 

 to begin preparations to that end. 



The first thing to be done (and this thing is imper- 

 atively necessary) is to get some of the best works 

 on apiculture, and carefully study them during the 

 coming winter evenings. Among- these works I 

 can recommend the A B C of Bee Culture, by A. I. 

 Root; Cook's Manual of the Apiary, and the Hive 

 and Honey-Bee, by Rev. L. L. Langstroth. A care- 

 ful perusal of these works will occupy the spare 

 hours of the time from now till spring, and will 

 give the student a theoretical knowledge of the oc- 

 cupation, so that, in the early spring, he will be 

 ready to start the practical part of the business in 

 an understanding manner. 



Let me say right here, that the study of the above 

 works is indispensable; it will be of little use or 

 value to barely skim them over; they should be 

 read so carefully and thoroughly that every promi- 

 nent point is indellibly graven upon the tablet of 

 memory. Without this preparatory study, an at- 

 tempt to practice in the apiary will be like a mari- 

 ner taking a long sea-voyage without chart or com- 

 pass, for these works are both chart and compass to 

 the beginner in apiculture; and a knowledge of 

 their contents will teach him the correct course, 

 and show him where the hidden rocks and quick- 

 sands lie. 



In early spring, after obtaining the theory of bee- 

 keeping by study, a colony or two of hives may be 

 purchased; but let me say, " Don't start in too big." 

 The practice can be better gained by the beginner 

 with two or three colonies, than with more; and if 

 it is found, after a ti'ial, that the labors in the apia- 

 ry are too severe, or of a different nature from 

 what was expected, no great loss will accrue in 

 abandoning the pursuit. In purchasing colonies, 

 be sure to get them in frame hives. Many advise 

 getting bees in box hives, for the practice in trans- 

 ferring; but I advise differently. Transferring can 

 be done any time; but the beginner who starts in 

 with a job of transferring on his hands will, I fear, 

 get sick of the business, and abandon it in disgust 

 before he gets half through transferring his first 

 hive. In pui-chasing bees it will be advisable either 

 to obtain them of some known dealer of good re- 



pute, or else get some friend who is acquainted 

 with bees to select them. After selecting your 

 bees, and getting them home, the first practical 

 start is made; now apply practically the theory 

 gained by study; devote your spare time to them, 

 and ere another year rolls round you will know 

 whether bee-keeping is your forte or not. 

 Foxboro, Mass., July 28, 1884. J. E. Poxd, Jh. 



iW I Ml 



BEES IN INDIA. 

 our missionary friend.s in a quandary. 



UITE an exciting event took place in our usu- 

 ally quiet home yesterday, and obliges me to 

 send for an A R C book. We were at dinner ; 

 ihe thermometer was up in the hundreds, and 

 we were having a rather hard time trying to 

 keep cool. My own thoughts were deep in my ser- 

 mon, which I was preparing for the evening ser- 

 vice in our chapel. Just then a great humming 

 filled the room. At first we did not know whether 

 our visitoi's were hornets or bees; but soon we 

 found that a large swarm of bees had chosen the 

 top of a clothes almira, on the back veranda, for 

 their home, and were i-apidly filing in through the 

 crack between the doors (for every thing has 

 cracks now it is so hot), and settling in their new 

 home. 



Everybody was excited, for we have so little to 

 break the routine of mission life that we are ready 

 to get excited at almost any thing. Little Ruth and 

 Nellie were delighted, and one of them exclaimed, 

 " Now we can have bees just as they do in Gle.\n- 

 INGS." You see, they had been studying your mag- 

 azine. As itr was Sunday evening, we contented 

 ourselves with bidding our visitors welcome; but 

 this morning we have had a counsel of war, or, 

 rathei", of peace, and have concluded to try to make 

 them a house. So we have been studying Glean- 

 ings, to learn how to make a hive; and though we 

 see lots of pictures of the outiiide of hives, yet we 

 don't see the i)i!<idc, and that tells us we ought to 

 have the A B C book, if we entertain our visitors 

 properly. However, I remember seeing a hive 

 when a boy, but it was an old-fashioned one, and I 

 distinctly remember that, if we ever wanted 

 honey, we had to kill the bees with brimstone 

 smoke. I can remember to this day how sorry I 

 used to feel for the poor bees. I think, however, I 

 shall have to get one of the old-fashioned hives 

 made, because I don't know how to make any other 

 kind; and when the A B C book comes, if our visit- 

 ors conclude to stay with us we will give them one 

 of the best palaces to live in we can learn how to 

 make. You would be pleased to see our carpenter. 

 He hasn't very many clothes on, to begin with. He 

 sits down on the ground under a tree, or uncjer the 

 house, and holds the boards with his f0€)t, and 

 planes or saws them. I think I shall take some old 

 packing-cases, which have come from America, for 

 the hive. As it is very hot here I am sure we must 

 have a draft of air through the hive, so I will have 

 doors on the top to let the air through. I think I 

 will put a bit of glass in the back of the hive, so 

 that, if the little strangers stay with us, Ruth and 

 Nellie can see them work. 



Now, that is my bee-castle, which my Burman 

 carpenter calls a " Pya-aing." I find that in some 

 parts of the country these bees are domesticated, 

 and that large earthern chalties, with holes punched 



