; CHAPTER III 
How to Buy Bees 
HOW TO SELECT THE STRONGEST AND BEST COLONIES IN A 
YARD; HOW TO DETERMINE THE CONDITION OF A 
COLONY BY A GLANCE AT THE FLYING BEES 
AT THE ENTRANCE 
In looking for colonies to buy it is well to select them from 
yards in the vicinity of the place where we expect to establish an 
apiary, if such can be found, for in this way no more bees are 
brought into the locality. This is a strictly business proposition, 
and the amount that one can afford to pay extra for colonies that 
are already within perhaps a mile of the proposed apiary is a little 
hard to tell. The number of colonies a location will support, and 
the number already there, are determining factors. If the begin- 
ner has any doubts as to whether the location will warrant its 
bringing in new colonies, he should buy them near home, even if 
the price is twice what it would be at a more distant point. 
During my early experience in beekeeping there were a good 
many small apiaries around me, isolated from other yards, so that 
the bees had unlimited pasturage; and these few colonies in a 
place always gathered more surplus honey than those in the main 
yards where perhaps a hundred colonies were kept. The fewer 
bees in a given location, the larger the crop of honey, other things 
being equal. 
In May of my second year with bees four more colonies were 
bought, which, with my two taken from the tree, made six at the 
beginning of the second season. These were increased to eighteen 
during that summer, though but very little honey was secured. 
If I were to chronicle all the mistakes I made that season I would 
fill Gleanings several times. 
In the first place, when I had but the two colonies, a 
"4 H party 
was found who had bees for sale in Metcalfe hives, and, by return- 
ing the hives after the bees were transferred, the four colonies 
