Vol. LXXII. No. 4192. 
NEW YORK, MARCH 1, 1913 
WEEKLY, $1.00 PER YEAR 
THE FAMILY BEEHIVE. 
Two Hives of Bees. 
Wliy not, gentle reader? Aren't-you interested in 
reducing the high cost of living, or, if not, wouldn’t 
you like to live higher 
at the same cost? As 
our contribution to this 
end, we make the sug¬ 
gestion implied in the 
above title, and will try 
to show how simple it 
may all be. If the con¬ 
test for supremacy be¬ 
tween the cow and the 
hen were for net profit 
upon money invested, 
the prize would be won, 
I think, by a hive of 
bees. It is doubtful if 
any other branch of the 
live stock industry can 
show the gain over the 
actual cost that a few 
well managed bees can. 
I am not figuring per 
head, mind you, but per 
cow, pen hen, per hive, 
and I make this state¬ 
ment, not of the large 
commercial apiary, but 
of that companion to 
the family cow, the 
family bee. 
The writer’s start in 
bee-keeping was made 
while engaged in pro¬ 
fessional work in town. 
There were intervals, 
dreadfully long intervals 
sometimes, when his 
services didn’t seem to 
be in much demand, and 
with this spare time on 
hand, he fell an easy 
prey to those charming- 
writers who told of the 
delights of apiculture. 
There are few things 
more interesting to a 
lover of nature than the 
story of the hive, and 
that wonderful instinct, 
which may, after all, be 
reason, which guides 
these genuine little 
Socialists in their work, 
and makes them a 
proverbial model of in¬ 
dustry and thrift. Hav¬ 
ing decided that there 
was room under the 
apple tree in the back¬ 
yard for at least two 
hives, I borrowed a bee¬ 
keeper’s text book from 
a friend, and read a 
journal devoted to that 
industry, until I had mastered enough of the princi¬ 
ples of bee keeping to warrant making a start, and 
had worked up enough enthusiasm to make 
patient for the coming of Spring, 
approached I ordered two modern 
were bought for the very reasonable price of $1.25 
per swarm. A smoker costing 85 cents, and a veil 
costing 50, completed the necessary purchases, for I 
had a pair of light leather gloves and borrowed a pair 
of long stockings to slip over the arm. I might have 
been stung -'by some 
nature faker, but I didn’t 
intend to take any 
chances with the bees, 
even though I had to 
listen to a lot of derisive 
remarks from my wife, 
whose folks used to keep 
bees, and who, conse¬ 
quently, assumed a very 
irritating attitude of su¬ 
perior knowledge. 
When the time came 
to bring those bees home 
I felt my first misgiv¬ 
ings. but was determined 
to show that old bee¬ 
keeper that I had plenty 
of nerve if I was green 
in the business. It was 
with a good deal of 
trepidation, nevertheless, 
that I donned veil and 
gloves, and with a 
lighted smoker in hand 
for the first time, pro¬ 
ceeded to close those 
hives up and load them 
into the buggy for the 
trip home. Fortunately 
for me and old Bill, who 
little realized the possi¬ 
bilities that lay in his 
immediate rear, that trip 
was made without acci¬ 
dent. 
The first season of 
those bees was a strenu¬ 
ous one, for I was de¬ 
termined to become fa¬ 
miliar with the methods 
of handling them, and 
wanted to make the per¬ 
sonal acquaintance of 
those wonderful crea¬ 
tures, the queens. They 
were smoked and routed 
from their homes at 
such frequent intervals 
that they must have 
imagined judgment day 
at hand, with the world 
already in the grasp of 
consuming flames. Later 
in the season two Italian 
queens were purchased, 
and those in the hives 
gave place to their more 
blue-blooded cousins. 
T h e procedure was 
simple; after quieting 
the bees with smoke, the 
brood frames covered 
with bees were taken from the hives and the queen 
being found she was removed and the frames re¬ 
placed. This is not always as simple as it sounds, 
however, for, while the queen is of such form and 
size as to be recognizable at a glance, one is not always 
makers, getting them in the flat and unpainted, to 
save expense. After these were put together and 
painted, and had their interior fittings installed, they 
were ready for the bees, at a cost of about five dol¬ 
lars. As the most practicable method of filling them, 
FARM FRIENDS. 
me im- 
As that season 
hives from the 
they were taken to an old bee-keeper some miles out 
of town, and a bargain made with him for two 
“first swarms,” to be placed in them and left in the 
yard until the combs were built and they could be 
safely moved. His bees were native blacks and 
