CHAPTER VII. 



THE AMATEUH SYSTEM OF BEE MAWAQEMENT IN THE OPEN AIR. 



In the fifth chapter of this volume, where I entered into a detail of the 

 cottage system which I approve and,- advocate, it will have been ob- 

 served that I have studiously ignored and carefully avoided to recom- 

 mend the non-swarming or depriving system, as it is practised by ma- 

 ny ^of our scientific apiarians. I have done so advisedly, from a per- 

 suasion that it is wholly unsuitedto cottagers in general ; indeed, how 

 often does the ingenuity and skill requisite to its successful manage- 

 ment baffle the best endeavors even of the better instructed amateur 

 to master it I Not only so, however, I cannot say that I am disposed 

 under any circumstances, to advocate the depriving system, in its in- 

 tegrity, as adapted to out-door apiaries. The situation must be very 

 snug indeed — the shelter from storm and wind most perfect — which 

 will effectually remove the anxious fears of the owner of a tripled or 

 quadrupled storified colony during the prevalence of a strong gale. 

 There must be a perpetual vigilance on his part, lest some untoward 

 and unforeseen accident should arise to mar his hopes by endangering 

 his aspiring structure. If even Mr. Taylor's bar hives are scarcely 

 proof against misfortune, how much less so are the not seldom ill-arran- 

 ged erections of straw which one generally sees I Certainly the novice 

 should have nothing to do with them, -except he have a bee house in 

 which to place them. Whether to the amateur or cottager, therefore, 

 who may prefer, from whatever cause, the establishment of a garden 

 apiary, my advice is the same — be content with a modification of the 

 depriving system, similar to that already described; it will be found a 

 much safer and more easy method of bee-keeping; nor am I certain 

 that such a method would be found a whit less productive and remu- 

 nerating than the much-vaunted non-swarming system. The glasses 



