COMMUNICATIONS—BEE-KEEPING. 
355 
BEE-KEEPING—SEASON OF 1871. 
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REPORT OF MR. GRIMM’S APIARY. 
Dr. J. W. Hoyt, Secretary Wisconsin State Agricultural Society: 
Dear Sir —In compliance with your request I send you a 
brief report of the results of the season ol 1871 in my apiary. 
After the spring sales my stock consisted of 290 colonies. 
Five of these were queenless, and so weak that I deemed it ad¬ 
visable to unite them. Fifteen mere were queenless, or had 
drone-laying queens, and as it was impossible to furnish them 
with new queens at that time, they became so much reduced be¬ 
fore they were supplied as to be of little account in the produc¬ 
tion of honey or the increase of swarms. Twelve other stocks 
were used to breed queens for market, and consequently added 
but a small amount to the season’s yield. 
From these 285 colonies, including the twenty-seven men¬ 
tioned as contributing little to the general store, I raised 359 
new swarms and took nearly 10,000 pounds of comb honey in 
boxes and small frames, and 11,000 pounds of strained honey. 
During the season I sold twenty-seven colonies and 203 queens. 
At the close of the season I placed in winter quarters 617 colo¬ 
nies, all in good condition. 
Parties unacquainted with bee-keeping may suppose that 
this amount of honey was gathered from one locality, as the 
product of one apiary ; but this is not the case. At the com¬ 
mencement of the season my bees were located in three differ¬ 
ent places, and afterwards, as the number of swarms increased, 
two more apiaries were formed. To secure a large yield of 
honey and a good increase of stock, not over 100 colonies 
should be kept at any one place. At three miles from this 
another apiary of the same number of swarms can be located. 
Probably if fifty hives were kept at a place the results would 
be proportionately better, but I have not been able to deter¬ 
mine by actual trial whether it would be enough better to pay 
the additional cost. 
