EEIIFEIS' 



I'OL m, 



FLINT, MICHIGAS, OCTOBER 10, li 



NO. 10. 



Out Apiaries. — Localities Differ Greatly. — 

 Apiaries Should be Eeadily Movable. — 

 Raise Extracted Honey. — Trans- 

 portation of Importance ; Use 

 a Bicycle. 



J. A. GEEEN. 



JNTIL the season just past, my expe- 

 rience with out apiaries was mostly 

 ^^ of an experimental nature. I had at 

 several times estal)lished small out 

 apiaries. Sometimes I bought bees during 

 the summer and allowed them to remain 

 where they v/ere until fall. Oftener small 

 apiaries were established and maintained at 

 laree proportionate trouble and expense 

 merely to get some light on the vexed ques- 

 tions of overstocking, the profitable limit of 

 bee flight, how near apiaries might be to 

 one another, etc. 



The past reason I have been through the 

 mill pretty thoroughly. During the summer 

 my bees were in three apiaries of IHO, 120 

 and 30 colonies, spring count. No. o was 

 run for extracted honey, the others mainly 

 for comb. In the fall they were.divided into 

 six apiaries of from 20 to 1!)0 colonies each. 

 One of the points that has been most forcibly 

 brought to my notice is the great difference 

 in locations. Apiary No. 2, six miles from 

 No. 1, and a little over seven from No. ;>, did 

 not do as well at any time during the season 

 and in the fall was doing nothing while the 

 others were gathering considerable honey. 

 I then put out No. 4, six miles on the other 

 side of No. 1, and four and a half from No. 

 3, where the bees did far better than any of 

 the rest. 



I think that bee keepers might often dou- 

 ble their crop with comparatively little 

 trouble by putting their bees where the 

 honey is. If the mountain will not come 

 to Mahomet, why then Mahomet must go to 

 the mountain. To make money with out 

 apiaries it is not enough to measure oft" the 

 proper distance from the home ai^iary 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 cauuot escape 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. 



As to the management of the out apiaries, 

 the production of extracted honey is, by far, 

 easier managed than that of comb. I do 

 not think it practical to try to run an apiary 

 for comb honey without some one in con- 

 stant attendance during the swarming sea- 

 son. This reciuires reliable help, which is 

 not always easy to secure. That this help 

 may not be unprofitable, a large number of 

 bees must be kept in one place. Apiaries 

 run for extracted honey do not require con- 

 stant attendance, and they may be so small 

 that there will be no danger of overstocking 

 without materially inweasing working ex- 

 penses. 



As to what is the proper number of colon- 

 ies to keep in one place I do not feel sure, 

 but I am beginning to believe that taking 

 the seasons as they run, I woukJ feel much 

 safer not to ha^e over fifty in a place. I 

 believe four miles is far enough apart. I 

 would rather have fewer colonies in an 

 apiary and have the apiaries nearer together. 



The problem of transportation is the most 

 difficult to manage. Bees, supplies and 

 honey must be handled, and, besides this, 

 a great deal of traveling is necessary, even 

 if a man is kept permanently at the out 

 apiary. My principal apiaries are in towns 

 connected by railroads, which I often find 

 very useful. They are also connected by 

 good graveled roads. These things are well 

 worth looking after, as under the best cir- 

 cumstances the time spent on the road is a 

 serious matter in the busy season. In addi- 

 tion to horses I keep a bicycle, and save a 

 great deal of time l)y its use. It will not 

 carry much of a load besides the rider, but 

 except for this drawback the bicycle is ]iar 

 eji'cellence the means of transportation for a 

 busy bee keeper. It is fast, always ready, 

 requires little care, stings don't make it run 

 away, and the pleasant exercise is just the 

 thing to relieve the worry of bee keeping. 



For handling bees and hives a rack should 

 be made on whicli they may he placed so 

 there can be no sliding about and each hive 

 will be independent of the others. My rack 

 will hold forty-four hives, each in its place, 

 and any less number just as well. I also 

 have a smaller rack, holding eight, for use 

 with one horse, on a "democrat " buggy. 



The outfit of tools needed at an apiary is 

 not large. It will l)e found best to make the 

 home apiary the place of manufacture and 

 storage depot as far as posT^ble. 



