8 A YEAR'S WORK IN AN OUT- APIARY 



it, in miniature, a sketch of the whole out-apiary — each row of hives, 

 and each hive in its place, shown in squares on either side. Each square 

 is numbered the same as the hives, and in these squares I make a record 

 at each visit, giving by brief signs the condition of each colony and its 

 needs, slipping the board under the cushion to the seat of the vehicle I 

 use in going to and from the apiary. 



In this way I have the exact condition of the apiary spread out be- 

 fore me at any time I may wish to know about it. I now find that 13 of 

 the 19 colonies have 7 combs of brood each, and are good enough to re- 

 ceive an extra story at this time; and these, together with three others, 

 are set apart for section honey, or 16 in all; the three weak colonies 

 (and nine others to be made later) are to carry out the other part of 

 the plan, to be given later on. 



HOW TO MAKE COMB-HONET COLONIES AT AN OUT-APIAEY "BICH" IN STOBES 



FOR BEOOD EEAEING. 



So far I have been working for the largest possible amount of brood 

 which will give bees in great numbers at the time of the honey harvest, 

 and there must be no slackening now if success is to crown my efforts. 

 To this end, and to keep the colonies from getting the swarming fever, I 

 use a ten-frame Langstroth hive. Small hives, the hiving of swarms on 

 a full set of startered frames, so they will not swarm out, and later tak- 

 ing half of them away, so as to "send" all the white honey into the sec- 



A TWO-STOBY COLONT "BICH" IN STOEES FOR BKOOD-EEARING. 



tions through the contraction of brood-chambers; the turning of the 

 parent colony one way and another every few days, after the prime 

 swarm has been cast, so as to throw all the bees emerging therein with 

 the swarm, etc., may do very well for the home apiary; but any thing 

 which requires so much manipulation, watching, and care has no place 

 in a non-swarming out-apiary. In fact, with the plan I used to produce 

 114% lbs. of section honey per colony in 1905, about the poorest of all 

 seasons in this locality during the last 30 years (acknowledged by the 



