168 



THE AMERICAN APICULTURIST. 



extracted lioney, and as he sees 

 the tide swaying toward the side 

 of the one he shoukl go a little 

 heavier in the opposite direction, 

 but not enough as to throw aside 

 all his iixtures along the line the 

 tide is moving. We have many 

 farmers in this locality- -who when 

 mutton and wool aie low sell out 

 their sheep for a song and go into 

 the so-seeming, more profitable 

 business of beef and butter, pay- 

 ing a high price for cows in high 

 tide, for everything in the cattle 

 line. In a few years times change, 

 and cattle are at low tide ; beef 

 and butter are sold for a song, 

 Avhile mutton and wool are now 

 bringing a good price again. 

 These farmers now for a second 

 time become discontented and 

 change their cows for sheep, only at 

 a great loss again. So they keep 

 on doing in a sort of will-o'-the- 

 wisp chase losing mone}' at every 

 change. Others keep both sheep 

 and cows, never running out of 

 either, but in time of good prices 

 with the flock raise .a little more 

 from the sheep, and these again 

 increase the herd when high prices 

 are paid for the production along 

 that line. In this way a steady 

 growth is maintained, while by the 

 other plan a downward tendency is 

 a sure result. 



As I have worked for years for 

 both comb and extracted honey 

 and believing that the present 

 time is favorable to the produc- 

 tion of more extracted honej^ and 

 best comb, perhaps I cannot do 

 better than to tell the readers of 

 the American Apicdltukist how I 

 proceed to accomplish what seems 

 to me to be the best results. The 

 first thing necessar}' in the suc- 

 cessful production of extracted 

 honey is a good queen to produce 

 hosts of workers to gather the 

 harvest. In fact, whether all real- 

 ize it or not, the whole of bee- 

 keeping centres in the queen. 



Without the queen it would be im- 

 possible to produce a pound of 

 extracted honey, hence it be- 

 comes apparent that the better 

 the queen is the more honey we 

 obtain. When all come to realize 

 the great value of really good 

 queens we shall have taken a long 

 stride toward successful honey pro- 

 duction. But good queens are 

 only of value when we surround 

 tliem with favorable circumstances, 

 thus getting large numbers of 

 eggs laid at the right time and 

 causing each egg to be nourished 

 to a perfect bee, so that we can 

 have the bees in our colonies by 

 the tens of thousands at the right 

 time. Failing in this, 'the Howers 

 will bloom in vain as far as filling 

 our surplus combs with honey 

 ready for the extractor, is con- 

 cerned. 



But " what are favorable cir- 

 cumstandes" is asked, to which I 

 repl}', an abundance of food and 

 warmth. The abundance of food 

 is quite easily secured in this day 

 of bee feeders, and especially so, 

 if the apiarist has set aside the 

 previous season, as he should, 

 combs solid with honey which are 

 ready to be set in the liive at any 

 tiuie. But the warmth is not so 

 easily secured, especially when our 

 honey harvest comes early from 

 white clover which requires the 

 getting of a large quantity of eggs 

 laid early in the season in order to 

 have the bees in time. Several 

 years ago I tried artificial heat to 

 help forward things, but after 

 numerous experiments which re- 

 sulted only in harm I gave it np. 



About this time (1878, I think 

 it was) J. II. Townley, a then 

 noted beekeeper of Michigan, 

 came out with his chatt" packing, 

 claiming that there was heat 

 enough generated by an ordinary 

 colony of bees to promote safe, 

 early breeding if said heat was 

 not lost by radiation. He claimed, 



