1919 



AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL 



333 



ried it to a hospital colony. In this 

 way he took away all the honey, and 

 since the bees had the brood for a 

 short time after shaking, there was 

 less danger of swarming out. The 

 brood from all colonies treated was 

 stacked up several stories high to 

 hatch out. The picture shows one 

 of these piles. In about three weeks 

 all the brood will have emerged and 

 there will be bees enough to make a 

 booming colony. In the background 

 can be seen a hive four stories high. 

 This is the result of shaking one of 

 these hospital colonies. On opening 

 it we found that four stories of foun- 

 dation had been drawn in three days 

 and filled with honey. Foulbrood in- 

 sures expert beekeepers, as other- 

 wise it is impossible to continue the 

 business, and make it profitable. The 

 fly in the ointment is the sideliner 

 who does not have to make his few 

 colonies pay, and when they die 

 catches another stray swarm and 

 starts again. There are _ always 

 enough of such in the vicinity of 

 every large city to perpetuate the 

 disease. 



When I visit the big producers I 

 am always interested to see how 

 they cut out unnecessary labor and 

 equipment. The bigger the concern 

 in every line of business, the more 

 important it becomes to eliminate 

 every unnecessary item of either in- 

 vestment or labor. Too much 

 "overhead" has ruined many a good 

 business. With a series of outyards 

 there are numerous problems not met 

 with the one apiary man. There is 

 always the possibility of a move be- 

 ing necessary. Hive-stands and 

 honey-houses are desirable at every 

 apiary, yet they are not easy to 

 move. Most beekeepers make shift 

 with bricks or pieces of board at 

 outyards. Such stands require con- 

 stant fussing to keep the hives in 

 position. The members of this firm 

 have a special hive-stand that is 

 cheap, durable, light and easy to 

 move. They cut a good grade of 

 composition roofing into strips four 

 feet long. Under each strip are 

 placed two strips of board in the 

 right position to support both the 



front and back of the hives. Over the 

 boards is placed the roofing, each 

 piece making a stand for two colo- 

 nies of bees. Such a stand serves as 

 well as concrete for keeping down 

 weeds and grass and costs but a 

 small sum. If the apiary is to be 

 moved, a hundred of them makes but 

 a small pile in the wagon or truck. 



They also build good houses, as 

 will be seen by the picture. This 

 building is typical of those being 

 built at each of their yards. It is 

 16x24, providing sufficient room for 

 extracting, or storing of supers and 

 supplies. It is built of good material 

 and the frame is built in 8-foot sec- 

 tions. It is thus possible to take it 

 down and move it at slight expense. 

 Where the 8-foot sections come to- 

 gether there are two studs or rafters, 

 as the case may be. These are fas- 

 tened together with bolts. In taking 

 down the building, the bolts are re- 

 moved and the siding cut down with 

 a saw. The same applies to the floor. 

 In the new location the sections are 



replaced in the position occupied 

 prior to the move. In this way it is 

 possible to enjoy the advantage of a 

 roomy and comfortable building, 

 without feeling that it will be a loss 

 in case it becomes necessary to move 

 the apiary. 



None of the members of this firm 

 likes to see poor beekeeping in the 

 vicinity. As is usually the case, a 

 number of farmers have apiaries 

 near by which are more or less neg- 

 lected. Where a man has bees 

 enough to justify them, they care for 

 these apiaries on a share basis, the 

 farmer furnishing necessary equip- 

 ment to put the bees into first-class 

 condition. In one case they paid the 

 farmer $2,500 in three years as his 

 share of the output of an apiary 

 which numbered 50 colonies to begin 

 with. It is needless to state that this 

 particular farmer has acquired a dif- 

 ferent attitude toward the possibili- 

 ties of beekeeping. 



One of our illustrations shows as 

 neat and attractive an apiary as is 

 to be found in the entire State of 

 Iowa. It was formerly one of the 

 company yards, but has lately been 

 sold to a young man, James Wilson 

 by name, who was for a long time 

 an employe of the concern. The 

 same apiary is shown on our cover, 

 as it appears from the top of the 

 nearby bluff. 



The Western Honey Producers' 

 Association has grown up from a 

 small beginning. It was founded on 

 the idea that production and market- 

 ing could profitably be combined in 

 the same organization. While there 

 has been the usual struggle, common 

 to establishing any new business en- 

 terprise, if one is to judge from the 

 appearance of their fine new build- 

 ing, to which a third story will 

 shortly be added to care for the 

 growing business, of the many api- 

 aries with hives piled two to four 

 stories high and rapidly filling with 

 honey, the concern will shortly grow 

 into one of the really big enterprises 





