THE BEE-KEEPERS' REVIEW 



75 



Points to be Observed in Locating* 



Out-Apiaries. 



M. V. FAGEY. 



N writing- upon this subject I sliall not 

 write from any ideal of what condi- 

 tions ought to be, but as 1 have found 

 they actually existed. Practically. I might 

 say that my whole bee-keeping life has 

 been spent in out-apiaries, as you may 

 realize when I say that on two farms 1 

 have had bees continuously for about 1 5 

 years, on two others about 12 years, and 

 on four others about 1 years each. 



MANAGING OUT-APIARIES CALLS FOR EXPERI- 

 ENCE, SKILL, GOOD JUDGMENT AND 

 SELF-RELIANCE. 



The subject of out-apiaries is at present 

 a popular one amongst bee-keepers. 

 Many have already commenced establish- 

 ing them, and many more are thinking- 

 seriously of so doing-. The tendency is a 

 healthy one, but it is like stepping up in 

 any other line of business. It will try the 

 metal, the good sense and the judgment 

 of the bee-keeper. It will show the stuff 

 he is made of. It is not a fit occupation 

 for a narrow minded or selfish bee-keeper. 

 It means the thorough systemization of 

 our work, but a systemization wherein we 

 are broader and more comprehensive than 

 any set of rules; where intuition and 

 trained perception and prompt judgment 

 will tell us what to do without following 

 any one else, or even ourselves, only as 

 our g-rasp of the case may point the 

 way. 



We also become semi-public in charac- 

 ter. It is absolutely necessary that we 

 conduct ourselves so as to merit the g-ood 

 will of the people in g-eneral throughout 

 the territory wherein our bees are located. 

 It is our duty to them to be accommodat- 

 ing and obliging in as far as we may, and 



1 have found that people so treated 

 amply repay the bee-keeper with interest, 

 for his good will. I have just lost $10.00 

 by depredations in yards in all of my bee- 

 keeping experience; and if I choose to 

 leave any thing in the extracting house, it 

 is always safe, even though it be left for 

 months. 



BEE-KEEPING NOT PROFITABLE IN AN OVER 

 STOCKED LOC--TI0N. 



And, above all, we must respect the 

 rights of other bee-keepers who may 

 occupy the field prior to us. The first 

 reason I shall give for this is a selfish one. 

 It is absolutely necessary, if we are going 

 to succeed with a system of out-apiaries, 

 or even with one or two, that we give our 

 bees an unoccupied range. The only way 

 to succeed with bees is to make them a 

 financial success; and where two large 

 lots of bees cover the same ground, it 

 very frequently means disaster to both; 

 so much so is this the case that in 

 average localities, and even in localities 

 where the average yield will run, from 

 year to year, upwards of 100 pounds of 

 honey to a colony, the number of bees in 

 a yard must be limited. I have tested 

 this repeatedly, and here, where my lot of 

 bees average over 100 pounds per colony 

 yearly, I find it is not the part of wisdom 

 to greatly exceed 75 colonies to a yard, 

 spring count. 



In buckwheat localities, like that of E. 

 W. Alexander's, with its heavy honey flow 

 and its immense acreage, possibly we 

 can keep bees in almost unlimited quanti- 

 ties, but this condition is found in only a 

 very few sections in the United States. 

 Therefore, for the sake of your own 

 success don't crowd in on occupied 

 ground, 



