

QEORGE W. YORK, Editor 



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39th YEAR, 



CHICAGO, ILL, OCTOBER 12, 1899. 



No, 41, 



Apiary of Mr. S. T. Pettit, of Ontario, Canada. 



BY A REPORTER FOR THE FARMER S ADVOCATE. 



THE illustration on this page represents Mr. S. T. 

 Pettit's bee-yard, in Elgin county, Ont. , as it appeared 

 on Aug. 9, the day of our visit. The hives are not all 

 shown, as the camera could not be situated so as to take in 

 the whole yard to good advantage. Enough is shown, how- 

 ever, to indicate the general order of the yard, the honey- 

 house and the work-shop where hives, supplies, etc., are 



swarms per colony this year than in any year since 1895, 

 which is accounted for bj- the unfavorable weather, espe- 

 cially during the clover bloom. 



His entire honey crop from the 80 colonies, spring 

 count, is about 5,000 pounds, 800 of which is comb honey. 

 As there has been no honey coming in since the middle of 

 July, the chances are the colonies will all require to be fed 

 before winter. As will be noticed, the hives appear with 

 estracting-supers, which are divided from the brood-cham- 

 ber with queen-bars or queen-excluders. 



The building to the right in the background is the 

 honey-house, where extracting, etc., is done, and honey is 

 stored until shipt. The other building is a work-shop, 

 where Mr. Pettit makes all his hives and parts. Beneath 

 this building is a stone cellar, where the bees are wintered. 

 It is kept dark, well ventilated, and at a uniform tempera- 

 ture. The ventilating system is of Mr. Pettit's own inven- 

 tion, and is very unique. At the center of the end of the 

 building facing the bee-yard is an outside stairway leading 

 to the cellar-door. The door fits tightly, but has a number 



Apiary of Mr. S. T. Pettit, oj Elgin Co., Out.. Canada. — (From tlie Farmer's . Itii-ocate.) 



made. In round numbers the yard contains 100 colonies, 

 being an increase of 20 since they were brought out of the 

 cellar in spring. 



Mr. Pettit makes a specialty of comb honey, and his 

 bee-yard would look more natural showing the hives with 

 comb-honey supers, but these were all removed at the end 

 of the honey-flow about the middle of July. In fact, com- 

 paratively little comb honey' was produced this season, 

 owing to the paucity of new swarms, which Mr. Pettit uses 

 for comb-honey production. Mr. Pettit received less new 



of 2-inch holes covered with wire-screen. Covering the 

 stairs on a level with the ground is a pair of doors which lie 

 flat when closed, and it is thru one of these that the venti- 

 lator is placed. It consists of an 8x8 inch square box 20 

 inches long. This fits perpendicularly in the door, and has 

 a slide passing thru it, which can be opened or closed, as 

 appears necessary by the temperature of the cellar. The 

 top end is covered with wire-screen. Now, in order to ex- 

 clude the light, an inverted box rests loosely on the top, and 

 at the bottom end a similar box hangs bottom down. Both 



