80 PURCHASE OF BEES. 



CHAPTER VI. 

 PURCHASE OF BEES. 



EVERY one who meditates the establishment of 

 an apiary, should be able to distinguish a good 

 from a bad hive of bees, that he may detect impo- 

 sition, if it should be attempted, when he is pur- 

 chasing his first swarms or stocks. Bees are 

 commonly purchased in the spring or in the au- 

 tumn. The value of a hive of bees, purchased 

 in the spring, if it be a recent swarm, may be 

 ascertained by its weight, which should not be 

 less than four or five pounds, on the day of swarm- 

 ing. But the weight alone, of a stock hive, is not 

 a criterion of its worth ; several other circum- 

 stances are to be considered, for the worst stock 

 hives often weigh the heaviest. Still if a stock 

 hive be a swarm of the current year, which is al- 

 ways desirable, weight may be regarded in a 

 great degree, as a criterion of value, its quan- 

 tity of heterogeneous matters being probably in- 

 considerable. Such a hive, purchased in the au- 

 tumn, should not weigh less than from twenty-five 

 to thirty pounds, and should contain about half a 

 bushel of bees. 



There are surer grounds, however, upon which 

 its value may be determined. 



