c 



u 



364 



HAVING 

 p urchased 

 a suitable 

 outfit, p r e f er- 

 ably for the pro- 

 duction of ex- 

 tracted honey as 

 outlined in Les- 

 son No. 3, the 



next problem that confronts the beginner 

 is how and where to get the bees. There 

 are six different plans that may be men- 

 tioned : (1.) Buying" a colony in an old 

 box hive. (2.) Obtaining a colony from a 

 bee-tree. (;{.) Buying bees by the pound. 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CUI-TURE 



BEGINNERS' Lessons 



1 



H. H. Root 



lU 



May, 1917 



in a poke. lie 

 does n't know 

 what he is get- 

 ting, and, for 

 that matter, 

 neither does any 

 one else. The 

 combs are likely 

 LESSON NO. 4.— now TO START WITH BEES fo be Crocked, 



with frequently too large a percentage of 

 drone-cells. Nothing can be told about the 

 queen, for she cannot be found until the 

 colony is transferred into another hive. 

 The transferring itself is a comparatively 

 simple matter for one who has had some 



Fig. 1. — The outside of a box li:\e gives 

 little indication of what is going on inside, 

 colony is like a pig in a poke. 



Tlie 



(4.) Buying a nucleus of a colony on coraI)s. 

 (5.) Buying a full colony on combs. (6.) 

 Buying a swarm. While there are circum- 

 stances when any of these plans are satis- 

 factory, not all of them are to be recom- 

 mended for a beginner. 



(1.) If a beginner buys a colony in an 

 old-fashioned box lii\e lie is buying a pig 



Fig. 3. — Transferring bees from a box hive, 

 especially if yon try to use the old combs, is some 

 job — too complicated for the average beginner. 



exj)erience, but a beginner ought to avoid 

 tackling a job like this. 



(2.) Cutting a bee-tree and transferring 

 the colony therefrom is also considerable of 

 an undertaking — a lot of fun if there is 

 an old hand along to tell how, but not much 

 fun if tackled alone by a beginner. 



(3.) Buying bees in a combless package 



Fig. 2. — The combs are likely to be (rooked, built 

 together, and attached only to bars or sticks — there- 

 fore immovable. 



Fig. 4. — Cutting down a bee-tree and transferring 

 the colony to a hive is fun — provided you have some 

 one along to boss the job. 



