^e |)ee-f\eepeps |\evieaj 



A MONTHLY JOURNAL 



Devoted to th[e Interests of Hoqey Producers. 



$1,00 A YEAR. 



W. z. HUTCHINSON, Editor and Proprietor. 



VOL, IX, FLINT, MICHIGAN, JAN, 10, 1896. NO. 



AV^ork at IVEicliigan's 



Experiinental 



^piarv. 



K. L. TAYLOB, APIABIST. 

 WHAT BECOMES OF THE FEED ? 



yEEUING bees 

 JT" for profit, i. e. 

 feeding back 

 honey which has 

 been extracted 

 for the purpose 

 of producing 

 comb honey 

 which is a more 

 valuable article is 

 a very complica- 

 ted matter if the 

 probability or de- 

 gree of profit to be derived therefrom is 

 alone considered. So many items which 

 are unknown qualities enter into the prob- 

 lem that it i? not to be wondered at that 

 some even of the most skillful apiarists 

 have been unable to realize a financial sue ■ 

 cess. But others have been entirely success- 

 -Oful, and it is hardly necessary to say that a 

 ~,--j negative result has comparatively little 

 ~ weight when confronted with a case of 

 ■^ actual success, for if all the circumstances 

 — ( existing in the latter case had had place in 

 ■^ the former the result must have been alike 



successful. Failure where there has been 

 success proves that the only requisite to 

 general succcess is the discovery and appli- 

 cation of the appropriate conditions. 



While the exact extent of the bearing of 

 these several conditions is to a consider- 

 able degree uncertain, their tendency is'in 

 most cases tolerably well understood though 

 there is a difficulty still in some paticulars 

 in determining whether they are the best 

 possible or not, as, for instance, the charac- 

 teristics of the bees of a particular colony 

 which is to be made use of in respect to per- 

 sistent energy, comb building etc. These 

 and some other points cannot always be 

 infallibly determined without an actual 

 practical test. 



Among the more important points to be 

 considered in order to induce the most fa- 

 vorable conditions are the following : 



1. The character of the bees to be employ- 

 ed. There is a wonderful variety in the char- 

 acter of the bees in the different colonies 

 even in the same apiary and of the same 

 race. This difi'erence shows itself in many 

 ways especially in the degree of excitability, 

 in smoothness of combs built, in the white- 

 ness of the cappings of comb honey, in 

 energy and activity, and in the disposition 

 to cling to the brood chamber, to crowd it 

 with honey, and, when that affords no 

 more room, to cease labor rather than to 

 overcome the disinclination to pass beyond 

 the limits of the brood nest into a surplus 

 apartment above. In selecting bees to be 



