r>E: voTi:i> to beijh ais r> honey, A]vr> hoimci: iivteiiests 



Vol. V. 



OCTOBER 1, 1877. 



No. 10. 



A. I. ROOT, ~) 



Publisher and Proprietor, 

 Medina, O. 



Publisbed Montbly. (-Tf^RMS: $1.00Per Annum in Ad- 

 > < va.nce; 3 Conies for $2.50; 5 for %3.75 ; 



} Established, in 1873. ClO or more, 60e. each. Single Number 10c. 



APIARY OF E. m. HAYHURST, NEAR 

 KANSAS CITY, MO. 



ALSO, EXACTLY OUR IDEAS OF PREPARING BEES 

 FOR WINTER. 



SI jn»R. EDITOR : — I believe Missouri has made no 

 Py|| claims to advanced bee culture, although it 

 m/^ must be regarded a honey producing state. 

 Bees thrive throughout its entire extent and are care- 

 fully attended to in various parts. 1 believe however 

 no single county has as many large and successful 

 bee-keepers as this county of Jackson. I have now 

 in mind seven persons who keep Irom .50 to 150 colo- 

 nies each, making bee culture their principal care. 

 Among this number I have no hesitation in placing 

 Mr. Hayliurst in the lead ; not because he keeps the 

 most colonies, (for he keeps only abouf, 75), but be- 

 cause he keeps in line with all the modern applian- 

 ces. I believe no valuable suggestion from any of 

 your numerous contributors has been neglected in 

 his practice. A visit to his apiary interests, if it. does 

 not surprise all amateurs. His hives, all of the Lang- 

 strolh pattern, in purest white, are arranged in hex- 

 agonal form at the distance of 7 leet from centre to 

 centre, with a grape vine (yet small) growing on the 

 west side of each. His honey house, adjacent, con- 

 tains his implements and hcney. I notice therein, 

 his queen nursery whereby he has been enabled to 

 furnish a large number of Italian queens this season. 

 He tells me he intends to produce largely the coming 

 year, and your readers in this locality will know 

 where to find beautiful Italians. I hope he will suc- 

 ceed in getting a fine imported queen from you to 

 raise from. 



One feature in Mr. Hayhurst's success I deem par- 

 ticularly worthy of notice; and that- is the wonderful 

 fiopulousness of his colonies. In addition to the very 

 argp. amount of mature bees in and about the liives. I 

 saw in numerous instances eieli*; Irames with the ca- 

 pacity of 60O0 cells each, all filled with brood to the 

 verv corners. 



He supersedes his old or lazy queens before his col- 

 onies become weakened, and by uniting his small 

 stocks keei)s all up to their highest working capacity. 

 Ihia feature enables him to obtain large quantities of 

 surplus honey, averaging nearly luo lbs. per colony. 

 Hi IS not runuing his apiary for increase, but for hon- 

 ev: and althougn he sells some colonies he does not 

 !;'i)or for their disposal. The strengtli of his colonies 

 a' solutely prevents moth depredations and bee rob- 

 ling— two fruitful sources of loss to bee-keepers gen- 

 eraily. 



1 I hink the method of wintering which he has so 

 euccpssfully practiced for several years, especially 

 worthy of commendation. On occurrence of frosts 

 which prevent honey gathering, he thoroughly ex- 

 an ines each hive and p'sces it in winter quarters. 

 This is done by removing all supers that have not 

 previously been removed, together witli the two out- 

 side irames of the brood chamber. Should these out- 

 side Irames contain brood lie changes it with some 

 other colony; otherwise lie stores it in his honey house 

 for future use. He. at the same time, equalizes the 

 stores of all his colonies, allowing each to retain 

 about 30 lbs. of honey. The 8uri)lus frames not un- 

 usually containing in the aggregate, upwards of 500 

 lbs. of nicely capped honey (for if a single frame is 

 not perfectly cajiped he eiilier exchanges it with one 

 that is or extracts it) are buspendod in his honey 

 chest and again used as occasion requires, to stimu- 



late brood raising in early spring. On either side, 

 next to the bees, he places a division board, of same 

 size of the trame, leaving a space of about one Inch 

 between outside of the hive and division board, which 

 space is filled with very fine dry hay or gra^s, not dis- 

 similar to your chaff cushions. A super filled with 

 the same material or chaff, vvhich is prevented by 

 means by means of duck or old carpet from getting 

 down among the bees, finishes their covering for the 

 winter. They are then left with contracted en- 

 trance on their summer stands and lie has not lost a 

 colony thus prepared for wintering, in years. Even 

 nuclei winter safely thus prepared. 



It is worthy of remark that the more populous the 

 colonies the less proportionate amount of honey is 

 consumed, and bees lost in winter. By frequent ex- 

 aminations in early spring, he keeps posted in regard 

 to their cnndition, and to such as are getting short in 

 stores, he restores a frame of honey keot for the pur- 

 pose. He thus fed upwards of 300 "lbs. last spring, and 

 in consequence had his stocks full and strong at com- 

 mencement of the honey season. 



Perhaps I am telling his secrets, but as he had no 

 hesitation in disclosing the same to me, I think 

 some of your readers may possibly profit by his expe- 

 rience. And here let me say, that on his returning my 

 visit he particularly examined your section boxes, 

 remarking that he believed he would get up machi- 

 nery and manufacture similar ones for bee-keepers In 

 this locality. As he is a thorough mechanic, I advise 

 you to file a caveat for your patent at once, or you 

 certainly will have competition in their manufacture 

 shortlv. 



I shall visit him again ere long, and such further 

 disclosure of importance as he mav make I will com- 

 municate. S. W. Salisbury, Kansas City, Mo. 



Friend S., you have done us all a great favor 

 indeed, by your excellent letter. The advice 

 for vpintering, or rather for preparing bees for 

 vpinter, gives my ideas so exactly, that I do 

 not know how I can improve on it by the ad- 

 dition of any remarks. Getting the bees on 

 as few combs as possible, then having the 

 chaff or hay come close up to the bees, is a 

 point that I would particularly emphasize. 

 To do this, of course we must give strong col- 

 onies more food, and more room, in the spring. 

 And to do this just as it should be done, our 

 friend has a good supply of filled combs on 

 hand for the purpose. Having these reserve 

 combs fxll of honey, every one of them, is an- 

 other bright idea. Then when you give a col- 

 ony a comb, you give them more room, and 

 more food, both at the same time, and when 

 you feed tht^m, you feed them enotigh. My 

 friends, if you want my ideas in regard to 

 wintering, and in fact in regard to bee-keeping 

 in general, you have it in the description of 

 friend Hayhurst's apiary. The perusal of it, 

 has given me new life for the work of prepar- 

 ing for winter, and if I follow it right out, as 

 I now feel like doing, I do believe that I — and 



