120 MANUAL OF THE APIARY. 



wintering, either demand that the one of whom you purchase 

 insure the safe wintering of the bees, or else that he reduce 

 the selling price, at least one-third, from his rates the next 

 April. Otherwise the novice had better wait and purchase in 

 spring. If you are to transfer at once, it is almost imperative 

 that you buy in spring, as it is vexatious, especially for the 

 novice, to transfer when the hives are crowded with brood and 

 honey. 



HOW MUCH TO PAY. 



Of course the market, which will ever be governed by 

 supply and demand, must guide you. But to aid you, I will 

 append what at present would be a reasonable schedule of 

 prices almost anywhere in the United States : For box hives, 

 crowded with black bees — Italians would rarely be found in 

 such hives — five dollars per colony is a fair price. For black 

 bees in hives such as you desire to use, eight dollars would 

 be reasonable. For pure Italians in such hives, ten dollars 

 is not too much. 



If the person of whom you purchase will take back the 

 movable hives after you transfer the bees, you can afford to 

 pay five dollars for black bees, and seven dollars for pure 

 Italians. If you purchase in the fall, require 33^ per cent, 

 discount on these rates. 



WHERE TO LOCATE. 



If apiculture is an avocation, then your location will be 

 fixed by your principal business or profession. And here I 

 may state, that if we may judge from reports which come from 

 nearly every section of the United States, from Maine to 

 Texas, and from Florida to Oregon, you can hardly go amiss 

 anywhere in our goodly land. 



If you are to engage as a specialist, then you can select 

 first with reference to society and climate, after which it will 

 be well to secure a succession of natural honey-plants (Chap. 

 XVI.), by virtue of your locality. It will also be well to look 

 for reasonable prospects of a good home market, as good home 

 markets are, and must ever be, the most desirable. It will be 

 desirable, too, that your neighborhood is not overstocked with 

 bees. It is a well-established fact, that apiarists with few 

 colonies receive relatively larger profits than those with large 



