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THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



September 29, 



City Bee-Keeping Pleasurable and Profitable. 



BY JOHN R. SCHMIDT. 



The thought of keepioK bees in a city naturally makes 

 one think it is only an experiment, and that no profit can be 

 derived from it. It has been proven, nevertheless, that it is no 

 longer an experiment, but can be made a source of pleasure 

 and profit. Just as poultry-keeping is taken up by some city 

 people as a source of recreation and a means of relieving 

 their minds from the business cares, bee-keeping is also rap- 

 idly finding favor among a large class of people who find 



A City Roof- Apiary. 



pleasure in spending their holidays and idle time among their 

 bees. 



What a source of pleasure and recreation it is, after re- 

 turning from the busy city at the close of a hot summer's day, 

 and as one passes among the white hives, sees the bees stand- 

 ing thickly at the entrances busily engaged in evaporating 

 the new honey which they have gathered during the day. 

 What could please the bee-keeper more than to find, on turn- 

 ing back the cover of one of the supers, there exposed to 

 view so many completed sections filled with snow-white comb 

 honey, which he knows will find a ready sale at 1.5 to 20 cents 

 a pound? This Is the pleasure and profit which a city bee- 

 keeper derives from his bees, and the chief source of making 

 city bee-keeping so popular. 



THE LOCATION. 



Almost all bee-keepers of Cincinnati are located In the 

 Ohio valley on the outskirts of the city and on the hilltops, 

 but some of the enthusiastic bee-keepers actually keep bees 

 on housetops in the very heart of the city. A photograph of 

 this curious way of keeping bees is here shown. It was taken 

 from the roof of Chas. P. Muth & Son's store, and this apiary 

 once numbered 40 colonies, but at present there is only one 

 full colony. 



Mr. Muth said : " These bees yielded a surplus of about 

 60'pounds of comb honey during a good season, and always 

 wintered without any loss." This apiary is located on a tin roof 

 about a hundred feet from the ground, and Is protected from 

 the^^hotsun by a small roof which Is not shown in the photo- 



graph. The bees can only forage in one direction, and to 

 reach this they are compelled to cross many housetops. 



There are some apiaries which contain about 50 colonies a 

 few miles from the city, but these cannot be clast among our 

 city apiaries, so I will not describe them. 



The apiaries located in the valley and on the hills are 

 small, the number of colonies rarely exceeding 12 ; these 

 small apiaries are quite numerous, there being about 75 colo- 

 nies within one mile of my apiary. 



The hive almost universally used by the bee-keepers here 

 Is the 10-frame Langstroth, the 8-frame hive having been 

 tested by some, and found to be too small, as the bees almost 

 invariably swarm during the latter part of April, just when 

 the strength of the colony should be kept together as they are 

 about to enter a period of about three weeks during which no 

 honey can be gathered. 



The hives are arranged In a long row generally running 

 parallel with some fence or wall, and have from one to three 

 feet of space between each hive ; but this all depends upon 

 the amount of space which can be given the bees, as often 

 they are crowded together with no space 

 between the hives, all manipulations be- 

 ing done from the rear. The picture will 

 convey the Idea. (See next page). 



SOURCES FROM WHICH BEES GET HONEY. 



The first honey brought in by the bees 

 Is from the fruit-bloom ; this stimulates 

 them to active brood-rearing, and where 

 small hives are used the bees often 

 swarm. Then comes a period during 

 which the bees gather no honey at all, 

 which lasts about three weeks, then 

 white clover begins to bloom, followed 

 closely by the sweet clover, which is the 

 chief honey-plant in this locality, and 

 the only one from which surplus honey 

 is derived. 



The colonies are by this time very 

 strong, having been stimulated by the 

 frult-bloom, and now prevented from 

 swarming by the lack of honey coming 

 In between the fruit-bloom and the main 

 flow. When the season Is fairly started, 

 the bees are given an abundance of room, 

 and the way they go to work In the su- 

 pers is astonishing. They gather about 

 65 pounds of comb honey per colony 

 during a good season, and several times 

 I have had a few colonies which doubled 

 the amount. All of this honey Is gath- 

 ered during the short period of about 

 four weeks, after which there is just 

 enough honey coming in to fill the hives 

 nicely for winter. 

 Comb honey is the chief product of the city apiarists. It 

 can be produced as one of the very best articles, or one of the 

 very worst, just by the length of time it is left ou the hive. If 

 the bees are closely watcht, and the sections taken out as soon 

 as they are finisht, the combs have the most beautiful, snow- 

 white appearance, but if they are left on until the end of the 

 season, the combs almost rival the appearance of some old 

 brood-combs. 



Extracted honey is produced by some, but the honey In this 

 form is generally dark, and does not lind as ready sale as that 

 In the comb. The only advantage of producing the honey in 

 this form is the increase in the surplus, and that the bees can 

 be kept from swarming by transferring all the combs except 

 the one with the queen to the upper story, and filling the 

 lower story with empty combs or foundation. This is a very 

 good plan when one Is compelled to be absent from home all 

 day, which is generally the case with many city bee-keepers. 

 This plan certainly does avoid having many swarms which 

 would otherwise stray away before they could be hived. 



The city bee-keeper has no trouble in selling his surplus 

 honey. The people are suspicious of all honey sold at the 

 groceries, and often come to me and say : " I like your honey 

 because I know it is pure, and It tastes different from that 

 which I get at the store." I suppose they like it, and know it 

 is pure because they see me remove it from the hives. This Is 

 one of the best ways to advertise your^honey when you live In 

 a densely populated section. I find it works every time. 



Extracted and comb honey sells for the same price. Some 

 would rather pay more for the extracted honey, but I am 

 satisfied to sell it at the same as the comb. 



The bees are all wintered on the summer stands, and have 

 very little protection, which consists chiefly In a piece of bur- 



