THE BEE-KEEPERS' REVIEW. 



179 



the attempt to carry on two distinct occupa- 

 tions for the money there is in them gener- 

 ally results in one or the other being ne- 

 glected or half done, and the man who at- 

 tempts it usually makes less money than he 

 would if he had turned the whole of his 

 energies to one of them. 

 Dayton, 111., Oct. 31, 1889. 



"Why the "Rambler" is a Spscialist. 



■^^ WILL try and treat the above subject 

 OJ) with due decorum and soberness, for I 

 J^ have found that soberness is rapidly 

 generated at the close of a disastrous 

 honey season. But ic the face of now and 

 then a disastrous season, I am ready to ad- 

 vise the person who really loves the pursuit 

 to make a specialty of it. 



When I first commenced bee-keeping I 

 owned a farm of one hundred acres. My 

 colonies then numbered from 50 to 100. 

 With 1(X) colonies I found that nearly all of 

 my time from the first of May until August 

 was spent in the apiary. My place upon the 

 farm had to be supplied with hired help, and 

 I found that every year from April until 

 July the farm was drawing cash from the 

 apiary, and, many times, had it not been for 

 the apiary, many things' for the faim would 

 have been purchased on credit. When the 

 produce was harvested, of course the scales 

 were turned the other way, but instead of 

 spending the money upon the apiary, the 

 amount was i>ut into my pocket. The apiary 

 was sustaining itself better than the farm. 

 While the farm was calling all the while for 

 expenses in the shape of repairs, tools, etc., 

 the apiary called for but few dollars in ex- 

 penses. 



Owing to various circumstances I sold the 

 farm and resolved to make bee-keeping and 

 fruit evaporating a specialty. I purchased 

 an apiary of .W colonies in an adjoining 

 town and resolved to increase it to 100. 

 This, with 100 in the home yard, and the 

 fruit business, would give me plenty to do. 



Well, how did it work? I make a wry face 

 every time I think of it. My partner and I 

 ran the evaporator from September until 

 December. It had to be run night and day. 

 As a result the bees were neglected in the 

 out-apiary and nearly every swarm died. 

 Our venture upon evaporated fruit was also 

 a losing one; prices went down and our pro- 

 duct was sold for less than cost. Since our 

 Waterloo upon this "mixed business" I have 

 devoted myself strictly to bee-keeping, with 

 the exceptioi', if it may be called an excep- 

 tion, of occasionally peddling honey during 

 the winter months. 



In making bee-keeping a specialty I have 

 considered the following iioints: First, which 

 shall I produce, comb or extracted honey ? 

 My experience thus far puts me in the ranks 

 of the extractors. / think I can manage 

 more bees in more apiaries and make as 

 good profits as by any other method. Sec- 

 ond, how many bees shall I manage and in 

 how many apiaries? Duriim the past sum- 

 mer I have managed two hundred colonies 

 in two apiaries, securing nearly 10,000 lbs. 



of honey, with not over ten days help. I 

 believe I can manage 400 colonies in four 

 apiaries with but one man a portion of the 

 time from May until August. When the re- 

 quisite number of colonies are established 

 with complete sets of empty combs for 

 storifying, there is but little winter's work 

 to do; and the bee-keeper can then devote 

 himself to some other business, but he 

 should be careful not to get into anything 

 that will prevent an instant turning to the 

 main pursuit. 



Comb honey production, with the above 

 number of colonies, would keep the apiarist 

 busy all winter in preparing for the next 

 season. 



With good food, I should say that the busi- 

 ness is no more risky than many other pur- 

 suits. Too many neglect this very important 

 branch of apiculture at present. Nearly all 

 of the Rambler's colonies are supplied with 

 full cases of clover honey, but thousands of 

 colonies in the eastern states are filled to 

 overflowing with hoiifi/ deir, which in many 

 localities has already commenced to sour. 

 But, even the loss of half of my bees during 

 the winter would have but little terror for 

 me if I could get bees by the pound from the 

 South at a reasonable price, say from 7.5c. to 

 $1, according to cxuantity, and delivered by 

 the first of May. In the foregoing I have 

 taken it as a certainty that the apiaiust shall 

 make at least part of his supplies. This 

 keeps his hands quite busy and all of it can 

 be done if no more than a Barnes saw is 

 used. 



Respectfully submitted by 



The Rambleb. 



More Money and less Risk by Combining 

 Bee-Keeping With Farming and ' ' Sup- 

 plies." Hire Help if Necessary. 



M. H. HUNT. 



EE-KEEPING, with me, has never 

 been a specialty ; although it has had, 

 with the manufacture of supplies, the 

 greater share of my attention. The 

 farm has not been so well managed, perhaps, 

 as it would have been with my undivided 

 care. Still, I know I have made more money 

 by combining these industries than I would 

 have done by any one of them alone. Take, 

 for instance, the past three seasons ; had I 

 depended upon the honey crop, I am sure I 

 should have lost a good lot of my enthusi- 

 asm. 



At certain seasons of the year bees require 

 close attention, and some may say how about 

 the farm, etc. ? Years ago I came to the 

 conclusion that I could not get ahead very 

 fast with what labor I could do myself. 

 ^\ith this idea in view, I have always em- 

 ployed help when it could be used profitably; 

 and that is most of the time, as there is al- 

 ways something to do either in the apiary, 

 on the farm, or in the factory. No loss of 

 time, not even when it rains. 



There are some few favored localities 

 where the honey crop has never failed ; and 

 up to the last three years I never failed to 



