OTJT-YAEDS AND ITALIANIZING 71 



Clean up the honey-house; do not leave it until the 

 honey flow is upon you and "time is honey." Do all you 

 can now and save yourself for the busiest time. Leave 

 everything just right, so that the work may be accom- 

 plished in ease and comfort, with a maximum of profit 

 and a minimum of labour. 



Before leaving the spring work in the apiary do not 

 forget the importance of the food supply. While 

 comparatively small demands are made on the stores 

 during the winter, it is astonishing how the honey will 

 disappear when brood-rearing begins in spring-time. It 

 is essential that at this time the hives should have ample 

 stores so that no obstacle exists to curtail brood-rearing. 

 The position and success of a bee-farmer are reckoned 

 not by the number of hives, but by the amount of honey 

 he produces. 



In breeding queens avoid being influenced by fads. 

 Colour is nothing to boast of, but a hive that can gather 

 6001bs. of honey in a season is a thing of beauty, and a 

 treasure to be guarded zealously. Wlienever queen-cells 

 are found in a good colony they ought to be saved, and 

 should any of the colonies possess a defective or old 

 queen she should be killed, and these surplus cells used 

 to replace the queens destroyed. As the reader 

 progresses it will be shown how these cells may be 

 used to produce the finest queens. 



OUT- YARDS AND ITALIANIZING. 



STOCKING OUT-YAEDS. 

 About this time the extensive bee-farmer looks up 

 various sites to establish new out-yards. The distance 

 of an out-yard from the home apiary should be at least 

 three or four miles; the greater the distance the better 

 the results. A good location is a gently sloping hill 

 facing the morning sun and protected by hills or trees 

 from gusty, boisterous winds (Fig. 39). 



