FIFTY YEARS AMONG THE BEES ?r, 



In the fall of 1881 I maivied Miss Sidney Jane Wilson, 

 who v.-as boin on the Wilsnn farm where one of my onl-apiaries 

 was for years located. There was some economy in the arrange- 

 ment, for she could go out to the out-apiary for a day's -work, 

 and visit her old home at the same time. 



A GOOD YEAR. 



Of the 177 colonies with which the year 1881 closed, two 

 died in wintering, and I sold one in the spring. That left 174 



Fig. 11 — Hive-staples. 



for the season of 1882, and these gave me 16,549 pounds of 

 honey, nearly all in sections. That was 95 pounds per colony, 

 and the increase Avas only 16 per cent — quite a falling off from 

 the amount per colony of the previous year. But the additional 

 nine thousand pounds in the total crop reconciled me to the 

 " per colony " part of the business. It would be interesting 

 to learn how much the difference in the yield ]iev colony was due 

 to the season, and how much to the increased number, but that 

 is one of the things past finding out. 



