■V 
Or howto Realize the Most Money with the Smallest Expenditure of Capital 
and Labor in the Care of Bees, Rationally Considered. 
PUBLISH El) MONTHLY. 
VOL.-I. 
MEDINA, O., SEPT. 1, 1873. 
No. 0. 
STARTING AN AIM ARY. 
No. !>. 
^ we ttre admonished to “in times of 
peace prepare for war,” so we sav 
during this month prepare for winter. It 
is our sincere wish that each one of our 
readers carry safely through the coming 
winter every colony they underlake to, 
and further more we are persuaded U ran 
be done if the directions we propose giv- 
ing are carefully followed. 
If directions given Tast month were at- 
tended to in regard to having all queens 
prolific ones, we are all right on one of 
the great essentials. Do not undertake 
to winter any colony whose queen produ- 
ces but a small patch of eggs and brood, 
lor she will probably be only an expense 
if her colony does not fail outright in the 
spring; we want none hut those that will 
go through safely and surely. Of course 
in ‘taking the measure" of a queen plenty 
of food must be on hand. 
Having made up your mind what colo- 
nies are to he wintered, satisfy yourself 
by careful inspection that they have good, 
entire combs, anti, if yon have surplus 
frames of comb, choose none but the I 
best worker combs; he especially cure- | 
ful that none are left in the center of the 
colony built half way down, for many a 
hive of hoes have starved thus in severe 
weather because they were unable to get 
over to the remainder of their stores; if 
such combs must bo used, place them on 
the outside as they would be built by nat- 
ural swarms. Unless you can permit, all 
the pollen to remain in the hives, gathered 
during the fall, make arrangements to 
give it hack to them early in the spring. 
Considerable has been said about giving 
them for winter, one less comb, that more 
room may be allowed for the bees and 
that they may thus cluster more compact- 
ly. As we have had no experience in the 
matter, we cannot advise, but think with 
very strong colonies it could do no harm, 
at all events. We have never known a 
hive too full of honey to winter, for in ' 
our locality they always consume enough 
from the central combs to have plenty of 
clustering room before very cold weather. 
We unhesitatingly advise all to extract 
all of the honey before giving them their 
winter supplies ; our reasons are briefly: 
First and foremost, the great "lice mala- 
dy" of late seems to he much on the in- 
crease, and localities where bees had for 
years died only from starvation, have sud- 
denly been visited to such an extent that 
almost none were left ; you may have al- 
ways found your bees healthy; and yet the 
coining winter may take all. A list of re- 
ports seem to point out that neither honey 
dew, late pasturage, nor any other partic- 
ular yield is the source 01 the mischief. 
Those who so confidently relied on sealed 
combs of clover honey gathered in .lune, 
seem to have had, many limes, (be very 
worst, form of the disease. Secondly, we 
are happy to add, that in a "dollars and 
cents" view, sugar is enough cheaper to 
abundantly pay for the exchange ; lor the 
liouey remaining now in the hives is gen- 
erally the very thickest and best, and with 
us sells at 15c. by the quantify, and re- 
tails at 20c. We presume A. collee sugar 
can he purchased anywhere in I he United 
States almost as low as we get it, viz; 
lie. b.V the barrel, and this will make the 
cost of thick syrup, fully as thick as hon- 
ey, only a little less than Dc. per pound. 
Allowing one fourth of this syrup to lie 
consumed by the bees in eliminating the 
wax to cap it over, and we have total co. t 
of sealed syrup 11.1c. It the honey sell, 
for 1 fie. , there still remains -fie. to pay 
for labor of extracting and feeding. It 
supplied wi'h plenty of feeders, we could 
prepare the syrup and give twenty colo- 
nies 25 pounds each and do the work easi- 
ly in one day, amt $20 or over the amount 
• saved in giving them syrup instead of 
honey, vve think very good pay for nday's 
work. 
now To MAKK tub sviiri'. 
Justin this way: Borrow your wife's 
wash boiler, and with it her advice and 
assistance; put it on the stove (the boil- 
er,! pour in water, and put in sugar until 
a sample of the syrup, when cold, i.-. 
