70 



ADVANCED BEE-CULTURE. 



Of course, bees moved in hot weather 

 must have abundant ventilation; but this 

 alone will not save the brood. To save 

 the brood the bees must have plenty of 

 water. As obstacle after obstacle has 

 been removed in home bee-keeping, so 

 the migratory plan may yet be robbed of 

 its drawback. 



Right here a hypothetical question 

 comes to mind. Supposing that an apiary 

 moving up the Mississippi secures six 

 crops of honey — six times as much as a 

 stationary apiary — would this be more 

 profitable than six stationary apiaries ? 

 In other words, which is the more pro- 

 mising field for enterprise, following up 



the season, or establishing out-apiaries? 

 Upon this point there are many things to 

 be considered, and varying circumstances 

 would lead to different decisions. To es- 

 tablish six apiaries would require consid- 

 erable capital, and the labor of caring for 

 the honey crop would all come at one time, 

 while there would be only one "chance" 

 of securing a crop. With the migratory 

 plan, only one apiary would be needed, 

 and the work of caring for the surplus 

 would not come all at the same time. 

 With the stationary apiaries there would 

 be no expense for transportation, which 

 is a big item. 



'V>>^f^P-^^^r<^A^<r^ 



Out-Apiaries. 



WHEN a man starts an apiary, 

 it is because he thinks 

 his home-yard overstocked; 

 that he will get enough 

 more honey by the division to pay for the 

 extra labor incurred. Overstocking is one 

 of the most puzzling questions connected 

 with bee culture. We all know that a 

 locality can be overstocked; but localities, 

 seasons and bee-pasture are so variable 

 that it is impossible to lay down any set 

 rules in regard to the number of colonies 

 needed to overstock a locality. It must 

 not be forgotten that the yield per col- 

 ony, yes, and in the aggregate, may be 

 diminished to considerable extent by 

 overstocking ere the establishment of an 

 out-apiary would be a profitable move. I 

 have had no experience with out-apiaries, 

 but I believe that the majority of the in- 

 experienced have erroneous ideas as to 

 the difficulties and expense attending 

 the establishing and management of an 

 oit-apiary. Land must be bought or 

 hired, some sort of a building or shelter 



secured and a conveyance of some kind 

 will be needed for carrying bees, tools, 

 supplies, etc. Then there is the prepara- 

 tion of a cellar for wintering the bees, or 

 they must be carted home in the fall and 

 back in the spring, or else protected up- 

 on their summer stands. But when a 

 man begins to number his colonies by 

 the hundreds, he knows that something 

 must be done. Even if out-apiaries are 

 not so profitable as home-apiaries, they 

 are not usually run at a. loss, while the 

 removal of the surplus bees at the home- 

 yard, allows that to make better returns. 

 When keeping bees upon the out- 

 apiary plan there must of necessity be 

 much moving about of hives from one 

 apiary to another. An out-apiary is sel- 

 dom supposed to be permanently located. 

 If some locality furnishes but little hon- 

 ey it is wise to abandon it and put the 

 bees in some better locality. It certainly 

 would be wise to take considerable pains 

 to ascertain the character of a locality 

 before going to much expense in fitting 



