THE BEE-KEEPERS' REVIEW. 



37 



defend their hives. It has been said of them, 

 that they are excessive swarmers. To that 

 I will say, that, being so much more prolific 

 than the other races, they must do something 

 to relieve the pressure: and if they are pinch- 

 ed for room to breed and store honey, they 

 will naturally find relief by swarming: iDut if 

 they have store room, and the queen is not 

 limited for room, all works well with them. 

 I have had many swarms of Carniolans build 

 up numerous enough to occupy a three story 

 hive, and work like beavers the whole season. 

 They were too numerous to winter in a com- 

 mon hive, and I divided them with swarms 

 that were weaker. At present the Carniolans 

 are not as popular as the Italians, but I pre- 

 dict it will not take them as long to work 

 their way into general favor as it did the 

 Italians. 



Some may say that I write this as a dead- 

 head advertisement. Not so, I am entirely 

 out of the bee l)usiiiess, having sold all my 

 bees last September, antl accepted a position 

 in my father's mill as sawyer, filer and 

 stone dresser. 



South Deekfield, Mass., Feb. 20, 1889. 



Beginning With too Little Experience— Too 

 Easily Discouraged. 



K. r. HOLTEEMAN. 



fMADE the mistake of engaging exten- 

 sively in bee-keeping (seventy-nine col- 

 onies, sirring count ) with the exi)erience 

 of only one season as a guide. I now 

 would advise having at least two season's ex- 

 perience, three would be better, with some 

 successful bee-keeper, before attempting, all 

 alone, to manage much of an apiary. 



The season in which T starterl in bee-keep- 

 ing, proved a poor one. I had bought bees 

 in box hives, at $,").00 per colony, transferred 

 them, and then discovered that I had made 

 a mistake in the selection of a hive. I be- 

 came discouraged, and finally sold out. 

 This was a mistake, as the next season prov- 

 ed a good one: and, had I kept the bees, pre- 

 pared them for winter, and wintered them, 

 they would have richly repaid me for all the 

 losses of the poor season. 



I have learned, if it can be avoided, it is 

 better not to go into bee-keeping after an 

 unusually good season: also that it is a mis- 

 take to leave the business after a bad season. 



Bbantfoed, Canada, Jan. 18, 1889. 



Size and Proportion of Hives. 



C. B. ALDKICH. 



IWENTY-THREE years ago I com- 

 menced keeT)ing bees in the Langs- 

 troth hive. I began with 12 colonies, 

 and in six years they had increased to 

 100 colonies. At this time I bought five col- 

 onies in a different style of hive. The bees 

 in these hives were treated, and wintered, 

 the same as the others: and the next season 

 they swarmed in May and June, and I secur- 

 ed seventy-five i)ounds of surplus honey per 

 Colony (spring count) from them: while 

 those in the Langstroth hive did not swarm 



until a month later, and furnished but little 

 surplus. This set me to thinking, and I de- 

 cided that it was the size and shape of the 

 hive that made the difl'erence. With this 

 idea in view, I constructed the hive I now 

 use; and, as I have more than iM) of them in 

 use, and have tried them to my satisfaction, 

 getting all my swarms, and the most of the 

 surplus in June, I feel warranted in giving 

 this hive the preference. 



The hive with which I have achieved such 

 results is fourteen inches square, and twelve 

 inches deep, inside. It has a loose bottom 

 board: and, to allow tiering-up, each hive is 

 made to fit upon any other hive. I will not 

 mention the minor details of construction, 

 believing that size and proportion are all- 

 important. 



A hive large enough to hold siifiicient win- 

 ter stores, is the hive to use, so far as size is 

 concerned; then, when the honey harvest 

 commences, it is unnecessary to contract the 

 brood-nest to force the bees into the supers. 



MoEBiSTOWN, Minn., Dec. 24, 1888. 



Our northern friend is the only one of our 

 correspondents who has advocated a deep 

 frame. This is one reason for giving place 

 to his communication: another reason is 

 that his experience so clearly shows the in- 

 fluence that the hive has upon apicultural 

 success or failure. 



Inferior Hives; "Too Many Irons;" Selling 



Honey ; Late Increase ; Entering 



an Occupied Field. 



J. H. MABTIN. 



j 1ST AKES in bee - keeping. ' ' 

 !J^ Well, here we are. And such 

 a theme ! Could I but retrace 

 the steps of my life, and re- 

 count all of the mistakes, 

 " It would harrow up thy soul. 

 Freeze thy young blood. 

 Make thy two eyes, like stars, 

 Start from their spheres. 

 Thy knotted and combined locks to part, 

 Anil each jiartirular hair to stand on end, 

 Like the (|uills of the fretful porcupine.'' 



But no, I will not "harrow tip thy soul;" I 

 will simply deal with my recent, apicultural 

 errors. 



My first mistake was the adoption of a 

 hive requiring much manipulation, and in 

 which my efforts at wintering bees were 

 more or less unsuccessful. To remedy this, 

 I am now changing as rapidly as possible to 

 a style of hive with which I have had better 

 success in every way. "First be sure you 

 are right, then go ahead." 



It is a mistake to have other business that 

 interferes with bee-keeping. If the apiarist 

 has only fifty or one hundred colonies in a 

 single apiary, some other pursuit may be 

 managed in connection with bee-keeping, 

 but with 200 or more colonies, and these 

 kept in more than one apiary, the bee-keeper 

 has all he can attend to without burdening 

 himself with additional cares, "A burnt 



