158 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. [Pub. Doc. 



a hive tool should be constantly at hand. This can be purchased at 

 a small cost. An inflexible putty knife is excellent. 



Other almost indispensable apparatus can be listed and studied 

 from catalogues. For fastening foundation to the wires in the 

 frames, see wire embedders. For securing foundation in the surplus 

 honey boxes or sections, study foundation fasteners, some of the 

 recent, inexpensive types proving admirable. A few queen cages, 

 for introducing, are serviceable, but may be constructed at home. 

 A German bee brush, eome perforated zinc, feeders, Alley drone 

 traps, honey boards and Porter bee escapes will be useful. 



Getting the Bees. 



Getting the bees is easy, but there are several necessary precautions. 



Commence on a small scale for the first year and increase in pro- 

 portion to experience. Increase, swarms will come fast enough; 

 sometimes it is a serious problem to know how to prevent building 

 up too large an apiary. Usually beginners find it desirable to have 

 not more than three to five colonies. With a beginning in May, 

 which is a suitable time of the year, frequently the apiary will have 

 doubled by fall, giving in addition a surplus of honey. 



The primary precaution, at jirescnt, in buying bees is that they be 

 healthy or free from brood dise:ise, a subject referred to under 

 " Hygiene of the Apiary." The question immediately arises, " How 

 am I to tell that the bees are not diseased f " It may be possible 

 upon inquiry to purchase colonies which have been inspected and 

 l^ronouiiccd healthy. Sometimes an experienced beekeeper can be 

 procured to pass judgment. Furthermore, in case of doubt, if a 

 sample of the brood be sent to the Bureau of Entomology, Wash- 

 ington, D. C, or to the writer, an examination will gladly be made. 



A relatively safe way to secure bees is to take a clean and equipped 

 hive to a beekeeper, instructing him to introduce a large, early swarm. 

 This is an inexpensive means of securing a good, vigorous colony. 



Colonies may sometimes be caught in the woods by setting out 

 empty hives. Various baits are used. A hive pre\aously occupied 

 by bees is attractive to swarms, but this method of securing colonies 

 as now practiced is objectionable, and should be discontinued. In- 

 asmuch as empty combs and sometimes honey are used as bait, there 

 arises great danger of sjireading infection through robbing. Bee- 

 keepers are, therefore, warned against a jiossibly unlawful act. 



In purchasing a hive of bees it will be most advantageous to se- 

 cure them in the movable-frame type of hive, which the prospective 

 buyer should previously have selected as his standard. A beginner is 

 advised not to purchase colonies in boxes, kegs or old-fashioned box 

 hives, which requires practice in order to transfer the colony to a 

 frame hive. This, Avhile it affords excellent experience, is a handicap 

 and is usually expensive. 



