170 Hints for Purchasing. 
unless you find bees in such hives as you are to use, it will 
be best to buy them in box hives and transfer (see Chapter 
VII) to your own hives, as bees in box hives can always 
be bought at reduced rates. In case the person from 
whom you purchase will take the hives back at a fair rate, 
after you have transferred the bees to your own hives, 
then purchase in any style of movable comb hive, as it is 
easier to transfer from a movable comb hive than from a 
box hive. Some bee-keepers have purchased a queen and 
bees by the pound, and thus secured colonies at.very slight 
expense. A single pound of bees with a queen will develop 
into a good colony in a single year. 
WHEN TO PURCHASE. 
It is safe to purchase any time in the summer. In April 
or May (of course you only purchase strong stocks) if in 
the latitude of New York or Chicago—it will be earlier 
further south—you can afford to pay more, as you will 
secure the increase both of honey and bees. If you desire 
to purchase in autumn, that you may gain by the expe- 
rience of wintering, either demand that the one of whom 
you purchase insure the safe wintering of the bees, or else 
that he reduce the selling price, at least one-third, from his 
rates the next April. Otherwise the novice had better 
wait and purchase in the spring. If you are to transfer at 
once, it is desirable that you buy in spring, as it is vexa- 
tious, especially for the novice, to transfer when the hives 
are crowded with brood and honey. 
HOW MUCH TO PAY. 
Of course the market, which will ever be governed by 
supply and demand, must guide you. But to aid you, I 
will append what at present would be a reasonable schedule 
of spring prices almost anywhere in the United States: 
‘For box hives, crowded with black bees—Italians would 
rarely be found in such hives—five dollars per colony is a 
fair price. For black bees in hives such as you desire to 
use, eight dollars would be reasonable. For pure Italians 
in such hives, ten dollars is not too much, 
