AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



493 



is worth the time, trouble and money 

 they cost to have Italian queens, because 

 they are so easy to find on the combs. 



Some may think, on reading this, that 

 I disparage bee-books and bee-periodi- 

 cals, but I do not feci that way, for I 

 shall get more bee-books and bee-periodi- 

 cals as fast as I can afford to. I would 

 like dozens of them. 



I am fe'eding sugar syrup now, and 

 intend to give 15 pounds to each colony. 



Melrose, Wis., Sept. 14, 1891. 



Location and Care ofOnt-Apiaries. 



W. Z. HUTCHINSON. 



When a man starts an out-apiary, it is 

 because' he thinks his home-yard over- 

 stocked, and that he will get enough 

 more honey by the division to pay for 

 the extra labor incurred. Overstocking 

 is one of the most puzzling questions 

 connected with bee-culture. We all 

 know that a locality can be overstocked, 

 but localities, seasons, and bee-pastur- 

 age are so variable that it is impossible 

 to lay down any set rules in regard to 

 the number of colonies needed to over- 

 stock a locality. It must not be for- 

 gotten that the yield per colony — yes, 

 and in the aggregate — may be diminished 

 to a considerable extent by overstocking 

 ere the establishment of an out-apiary 

 would be a profitable move. 



I have had no experience with out- 

 apiaries, but I believe that the majority 

 of inexperienced bee-keepers have er- 

 roneous ideas in regard to the difficulties 

 and expense attending the establishment 

 and management of an out-apiary. 

 Land must be bought or hired, some 

 sort of a building or shelter secured, 

 and a conveyance of some kind will be 

 needed for carrying bees, tools, supplies, 

 etc. Then there is the preparation of a 

 cellar for wintering the bees, or else 

 they must be carted home in the Fall 

 and back in the Spring, or else pro- 

 tected upon the summer stands. 



But when a man begins to number his 

 colonies by the hundreds, he knows that 

 sometMng must be done. Even if out- 

 apiaries are not so profitable as home 

 apiaries, they are not usually run at a 

 loss, while the removal of the surplus 

 bees at the home yard, allows them to 

 make better returns. 



When keeping bees upon the out- 

 apiary plan, there must of necessity be 

 much moving about of hives from one 

 apiary to another. An out-apiary is 

 seldom supposed to be permanently 



located. If some locality furnishes but 

 little honey, it is wise to abandon it and 

 put the bees in some better locality. It 

 certainly would be wise to take consid- 

 erable pains to ascertain the character 

 of a locality before going to much ex- 

 pense in fitting up in Spring time. As 

 J. A. Green said, in the October Review, 

 for 1890 : 



"To make money with out-apiaries, it 

 is not enough to measure off the proper 

 distance from the home apiary, in any 

 direction, and plant an apiary there, 

 thinking the bees will do just as well as 

 anywhere else. Modern apiculture 

 must do more than that. I cannot es- 

 cape from the conviction that to make 

 the most of an apiary, it must be capable 

 of being easily and quickly moved at any 

 time during the working season." 



When it is finally decided to start an 

 out-apiary, how far away should it be 

 located ? We have been repeatedly told 

 that, ordinarily, three miles mark the 

 limit of a bee's foraging grounds ; hence, 

 if apiaries were placed six miles apart, 

 there would be no encroachment. But 

 it must be remembered that the pasture 

 ground of each apiary is somewhat cir- 

 cular in form, and that they might be 

 moved towards each other to a consid- 

 erable extent without one encroaching 

 upon the other very much. 



Dr. Miller has given a very happy 

 illustration. Lay two silver dollars side 

 by side ; lift the edge of one and slide it 

 over the other. Notice how far it may 

 be pushed over without covering a very 

 large portion of the under dollar. Not- 

 withstanding all this, those who have 

 had experience in the matter are not 

 inclined to put out-apiaries nearer to- 

 gether than four miles, and prefer to 

 have them five, or even six miles apart. 

 When the team is "hitched up," and on 

 the road, a mile or two more travel does 

 not take so very much time, and the 

 increased yield may more than make it 

 up. We cannot always secure the exact 

 spot desired for the establishment of an 

 out-apiary, and it would probably be 

 well to go a little farther than is really 

 necessary than to crowd some other 

 apiary. 



Having decided upon a site for an out- 

 apiary, the next consideration is its 

 management. Shall comb-honey be 

 produced, or shall the honey be taken 

 in the extracted form ? Shall the apiary 

 be managed upon the visiting plan, or 

 shall a man be kept there all the time 

 during the swarming season ? I believe 

 that, in the majority of cases, extracted- 

 honey is produced in out-apiaries, as by 

 this plan swarming can be so nearly 



