Or how to Realize the Most Money with the Smallest Expenditure of Capital 
and Labor in the Care of Bees, Rationally Considered. 
PUBLISHED MONTH L V. 
VOL. I. 
MEDINA, 0., DEC. 1, 1873. 
No. 12. 
STAKTIXO AX APIARY. 
No. 12. 
‘Tf^-IND HEADER: As wo only pro- 
posed to give an article with the 
abere heading for each month in this 
year, we are now near the completion of 
our task; and, before commencing in an- 
other year’s volume 
1IOW TO CONDUCT AN At'IAIlT, 
we feel like pausing with a feeling some- 
what akin to that experienced by a young 
man or woman when first settling down 
by themselves, as “children no longer.” 
We presume you are all “started,” after 
some sort of a fashion, at least, and, per- 
haps, some are depending on us to some 
extent to tell them what to do next. 
We have tried to impress upon you the 
importance of having all work with bees 
done up in its proper season, yet we are 
pained to receive quite a number of let- 
ters from those who had not fed their bees 
us late as November. While this is had 
and may result in heavy losses, there is 
still a chance. 
A neighbor of ours came to us in De- 
cember, a few years ago, and asked if his 
bees could be saved, stating that some 
boys had turned the hive over and robbed 
it of all ibe honey and nearly all the 
comb. As it was a box hive the bees had 
clustered on the stumps of comb remain- 
ing in the top, and he could not think of 
letting them starve. We told him the 
case.was nearly hopeless, but ns lie was 
determined to try feeding them, we di- 
rected him to nail a fine fanning mill seive 
over the hive to keep them in, and to 
place them in the cellar, the hive inverted, 
and to feed them on sugar syrup sprinkled 
through the sieve on the cluster until 
spring. This he did and they came 
through strong enough to build new comb 
in the spring and swarm beside. Since 
then we have heard of other instances on 
a larger scale, when winter feeding turned 
out badly. Perhaps the secret is to feed 
only so fust as they consume it, and then 
we run n risk of starving them unless fed 
daily. 
We have another instance of a swarm 
being wintered without a particle of comb, 
the amount, of honey they required being 
given them daily. 
Although the edilor ot the Bee Keepers' 
Magazine replied to correspondents most 
positively that bees could not be wintered 
without comb, we have sometimes t hought 
it might be the safest way, could they 
have their food furnished them promptly 
without trouble. A "log house’ made of 
sticks of candy might do, and if any 
among our readers try it we hope they 
will report. In this locality we usually 
put our bees indoors about. November 
20th. Many of our colonies are now 
quite weak, owing to their “cider diet,” 
we think, and as these have not got thc-ir 
stores sealed up well, we antic ipate some 
losses before spring. The colony j t b a t 
had the "gallon of eider” have no sealed 
stores and we should give them some from 
other hives were we not desirous of test 
ing the matter still further. We are 
pretty well satisfied now that cider acts 
almost as a poison to bees when confined 
to the hive by cold or otherwise, and 
shall take prompt measures next season 
to keep our bees busy elsewhere during 
cider time. 
See your hces often in winter as well as 
summer and try and know at all times 
; their exact condition. Many of ua huvu 
suece“ded finely in wintering one or two 
hives ut times when their prospects seem- 
ed very doubtful; can we not now, when 
we have our dozens, or hundreds, do the 
same thing over again if we give them 
attention iu proportion. 
With best wishes to all who huve fol- 
lowed us thus far, whether they accom- 
pany Us through the year of 18V'i, or not, 
and hoping onr efforts to assist in "Starl- 
ing an Apiary" have been productive of 
some good, we - remain, as ever, hopeful 
and willing to labor lor the rewards that 
another year may have in store for us. 
Nohtii American Bee-Keepers’ Socie- 
! I ty. — The next nnnuul session of this 
society will he held at Louisville, Ky., 
commencing the first Wednesday iti De- 
cember and bolding two or three days. 
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