Nov. 15, 1911 



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At Borodino, New York 



THE BEST HIVE. 



A correspondent writes, "Not long ago I 

 heard a man advertising a hive which he 

 claimed was superior to any other in general 

 use. He tried to persuade me that, if I 

 %Vould purchase the right to make this hive 

 and use it, the results from my bees would 

 be doubled. I have wondered since whether 

 you old specialists use a particular make of 

 hive, and from so doing secure your large 

 yields. What would you advise in the 

 matter?" 



I would say at the outset, that, while a 

 good hive is important, the man who man- 

 ages affairs well has much more to do with 

 success or failure in bee-keeping. At pres- 

 ent there is about one man in one hundred 

 who is trying, by some hook or crook, other 

 than producing wealth for himself, to get 

 into his possession a certain amount of the 

 wealth produced by the other ninety-nine, 

 and this "best hive in the world " man can 

 be numbered among these. He would make 

 it appear that one using his hive will have 

 honey to sell and give away. 



The purchaser is told that all he has to do 

 is to leave these hives with some farmer 

 bee-keeper who will hive swarms in them 

 at SI. 00 each, after which the hive and bees 

 can be taken home and deposited in some 

 out-of-the-way place, where the bees will 

 not sting the children. The wily agent 

 adds that the bees will take care of them- 

 selves until fall, when enough surplus will 

 be found for the family use for a year, or, if 

 not used at home, honey that will sell for 

 more than enough to pay for both hive and 

 swarm. Is it any wonder that there are so 

 many failures in bee-keeping, when so 

 many are persuaded to start in this manner? 

 No, no! It is not in the best hive, but, 

 rather, the bee-keeper behind the hive, who 

 leaves no " stone unturned " for the attain- 

 ment of success. I doubt whether there is 

 any thing better, all things considered, than 

 the hive of Langstroth dimensions. That 

 this hive and frames of Langstroth dimen- 

 sions are used by the majority of our most 

 practical bee-keepers is a great recomenda- 

 tion in their favor. 



Successful apiculture includes work with 

 and a love for bees; for the person with 

 brains enough to secure a thorough knowl- 

 edge of his location will put the hive to its 

 test by insuring for the colony inside the 

 proper conditions for securing a maximum 

 number of bees at the time the flora of that 

 particular location yields a surplus secretion 

 of nectar. A good hive in the hands of 

 such shows to the world that there is both 

 pleasure and profit in the bee business, 

 even at the present low prices of honey, 

 compared with most of the other commodi- 

 ties of life. Such a person will have his 

 bees in readiness for the honey harvest 

 when it comes, and will do every thing at 

 just the right time to secure the best resuUs. 



One of the questions which often comes 

 to me is this: ' What advantages have the 

 hives of the present over the box hives used 

 by our fathers?" Many, in everyway, in 

 the hands of a skillful apiarist, who uses all 

 of the improvements to secure the best re- 

 sults; but none at all with the person who 

 takes no advantage of the benefits which 

 the movable frame, the extractor, sections, 

 etc., bring within his reach. Whatare the 

 movable frames good for if they are never 

 taken from the hive? if the bee-keeper 

 never looks for the queen to know whether 

 she keeps the combs well supplied with eggs 

 at the right time, so that the progeny may 

 take advantage of the harvest? if the wel- 

 fare of the colonies by the way of seeing 

 that they have stores for winter and early 

 spring is never considered? if swarms are 

 allowed to issue in the good old way? if 

 by the superseding of inferior queens with 

 those from the most improved stock that 

 can be obtained is overlooked? And yet I 

 find many persons using movable-frame 

 hives who do not open them once a year, 

 who wonder why they do not succeed as 

 well as the specialist who takes advantage 

 of all of these things. 



From the above I do not want it under- 

 stood that a bee-keeper should continually 

 overhaul his hives, in season and out of 

 season. What I mean is, that when a gain 

 is to be made by looking inside a hive, do 

 it, and at just the time it is needed. Look 

 after the stores in the spring before any 

 colony restricts brood-rearing through short- 

 ness of food supply. Where any colony is 

 discovered with a queen that does not keep 

 up her brood to the necessary standard for 

 a harvest from white clover or basswood, 

 mark that hive; and as soon as the harvest 

 is over, supersede her with one from the 

 very best colony. Don't try to supersede 

 her at a time when it will make a break in 

 the work of the field bees, when the harvest 

 is on, for continuous brood from an average 

 or even poor queen is better than a break of 

 a week or so with no brood at all. Put on 

 the sections at just the right time, accord- 

 ing to the honey harvest and the strength 

 of the colony. Make swarms at the proper 

 time, or work for their i^revention through 

 knowledge of the time when each colony is 

 ready. All of these details are more con- 

 ducive to success than is the hive — the hive 

 being the medium through which one is 

 able to bring the bees to that point where 

 they will produce the best results. 



INTENSIVE FARMING. 



They used to have a farming rule 

 Of forty acres and a mule. 



Results were won by later men 

 With forty square feet and a hen. 



And nowadays success we see 

 With forty inches and a bee. 



— Wa-w. 



