14 THE COTTAGE AND FARM BEE KEEPER. 



queen, is carefully tole rejected; for the bees having been bred for the 

 most part in contracted and, perhaps, vermin-eaten cells, -will be gen- 

 erally found of small size and insignificant in numbers. Sufficient at- 

 tention is very seldom paid to this matter, most people being content 

 ■with any prime swarm they can procure, from an idea, that because 

 it is a, prime swarm,, it must there/ore of necessity succeed ; and yet it 

 may be often worthless, as containing an old queen of say three or 

 four years of age, who will very probably die in the course of the en- 

 suing autumn or winter. To this ignorance are to be attributed most 

 of the mishaps and ill successes of bee-keeping. I am aware of the diffi- 

 culty there is, in the present low condition of bee science, in follow- 

 ing this advice, when there is not a, cottager in the three kingdoms 

 but would stare, on being asked so, (to him,) incomprehensible a ques- 

 tion as the age and pedigree of his queen bees 1 I rather throw this 

 out as a hint for the instruction of cottagers, who should be taught the 

 advantage of putting down in a book the date of issue of every queen 

 in their apiaries. There might be affixed to these swarms or stocks a 

 regular price according to their value. Thus, for instance, twenty-five 

 shillings, [$6,] would not be too much to ask for a stock in the spring 

 that has well survived the winter, of which the bees are in full vigor, 

 and the weight over 18 lbs., it being moreover a stock of two years' 

 standing, which swarmed the year before. No one who was aware of 

 the value of such a stock ought to grudge giving twenty-five shillings 

 for it. It might be considered worth a pound sterling if purchased 

 before the winter. Again, a current year's swarm, which proceeded 

 from a stock of this kind, would be worth full fifteen shillings, if it is- 

 sued before the 1st of June, and even later. Other swarms and stocks 

 might have a price put upon them in proportion to their individual 

 value. Such a plan would tend to reduce bee management to a sys- 

 tem, and would help remove many of its uncertainties; nor is it 

 at all difficult either to acquire a knowledge' of its details, or to impart 

 the same, when acquired, to others. 



As to the other method of stocking an apiary, I decidedly prefer the 

 purchase of a stock hive or hives in the autumn or spring, especially the 

 latter ; that is, about March or April, when the winter is safely pas- 

 sed. Independently, however, of the larger sum which is usually asked 

 for stocks that have survived the winter, it is often difficult to get them 

 at any price, as the cottagers are naturally unwilling to dimmish their 



