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This item is filmed at the reduction ratio checked below/ Ce document est filmA au taux de rMuction indiquA ci-dessous. 10X 14X 18X 22X 26X 30X J 12X 16X aox 24X 28X 32X Th« copy filmad h«r« has b««n raproducad thanka to tha ganaroaity of: L'axamplaira film* f ut raproduit grAca A la g^niroaitA da: Library Agriculture Canada Bibliotlikiue Agriculture Canada Tha imagaa appaaring hara ara tha baat quality poaaibia conaldaring tha condition and lagibility of tha original copy and In kaaping with tha filming contract apacificationa. Original copiaa in printad papar covara ara filmad baginning with tha front covar and anding on tha laat paga with a printad or !lluatratad impraa- aion, or tha back covar whan appropriata. All othar original copiaa ara filmad baginning on tha firat paga with a printad or illuatratad impraa- aion. and anding on tha laat paga with a printad or illuatratad impraaaion. Laa Imagaa auivantaa ont 4t6 raproduitaa avac la piua grand aoin, compta tanu da la condition at da la nattati da l'axamplaira film*, at an conformity avac laa conditiona du contrat da filmaga. Laa axamplairaa originaux dont la couvartura 9n paplar aat Imprimte aont f ilmte an commandant par la pramiar plat at an tarminant aoit par la darnlAra paga qui eomporta una amprainta d'impraaaion ou d'llluatratlon, aoit par la sacond plat, aalon la caa. Toua laa autraa axamplairaa originaux aont filmfo an commandant par la pramlAra paga qui eomporta una amprainta d'impraaaion ou d'llluatratlon at an tarminant par la darnlAra paga qui eomporta una talla amprainta. Tha laat racordad frama on aach microficha ahall contain tha aymboi — ^ (moaning "CON- TINUED"), or tha aymbol V (moaning "END"), whichavar appliaa. Un daa aymboiaa t':'vanta apparaftra aur la darniAra imaga da cnaqua microficha. salon la caa: la aymbola — »> alQnifia "A SUIVRE". la aymbola V aignifia "FIN". 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PRICE 10 CENTS. 63Sa W793 % iff ::: THE FAMILY HERALD^AND WEEKLY STAR Ih addition to being the leading Agricultural Journal of Canada is also the best general news- paper, and gives its patrons more general r eading than can be got in any other way by an expenditure five times greater than its subscription price Send for a »n,mpie copy and BatlBfy yourself .... -i ' FAMILY HERALD AND WEEKLY STAR MONTREAL, QUE. ^^^ ^^^ ^^^ ^^^ ^^^ ^^^ ^^^ %^^ Modern Bee-Keeping BY GILBERT WINTLE. REPRINTED FROIM THE FAMILY HERALD AND WEEKLY STAR 1899. rr?.i.'.^nF.i> cy THE FAMILY HERALD PUBLISIILXG COMPANY, MONTREAL, CANADA. IMIKIC TKN CKXTS. This is not a bee-keeper's hand book. It is not even an amateur bee-keeper's hand book. But, in a modest way, it is an attempt to explain to outsiders some- thing about what is certainly a most interesting, and, if systematically and properly pursued, a very remunerative country industry. MODERN BEE-KEEPING. CHAPTER I. TiiK I,!!'!'. Cvcij', (>i- A Hi;ic Community In thinking or spi-akiny about l)ct>s (l>y w'liii'ili I iiiL'ii.ii hivt' \)vv, a«. l.lifso (ire llif only kind which wo shall hi'fe cohsmIciI Ihi; liisi point to gra^p is that. cxc'Ih iniltL'd in tiic laso dl tin- iiin'cn, tin- >o\\- luiy l)(.'o in nothing. (>ni' woiktr b.\' alone (unnot huihl cdmiIi, caniiol I'l'iiro (luic its >|»('(it's, nay raniiut even k('i'|i .1 s»!U aiivo llirougli a niodciaU'ly colli iii;;li'. Only as a nieinhcr oi a ii)imiumit\. tli^i is to nay a liivi-, of a^ tin- piiiii'-~ioiial Ircc Kt'opiT geiu'iailv rails it. a slock, i-^ it albe to take its shan,' in coml) Imildiiij,, honey gat ht'i'ing and storing, and the rear ing of the young; and tvcn then a worker bee that is born in May or .June will hav. worked itM'lt out and died beiore si'\ en weeks have pa'^sed, so that il will iievei see tile result ot' its own laliour-: but I lie eoniinuiiily lives on and prolits by ihein. J propose to lullnw a bi'i' coinniunii \ tlirougii one (•nnii)lete lite cycle; that l^ to say i'roiu the tnne when it i-^ues ioilli as a swarni troni the parent hive, uniil, having sately pa-^ed tlu' winter, it i- ready next year to send inU. swarm- n Bell'. And it we trace this iirst on tn. supjiosition that the bees are left to iheir own devices, are wild in lact, we shall ial.n be belter able to appreciate the s-ii'iitiii eally I'oiistructed hives, and skilful nrini- pulation, the use and practice ol which constitute modern bee-keeping. Most ot us have seen bees swarniiu'.'. We know iiow the\' coiiie boiling out ol tlic iiive, ll.ving round and round, makiie.'. that peeul ar excited bu/.zing, so well known to tiie bt c-kei per as the swarminu note, until tlie ettect i- that ol a d.iik cloud of eddying and (apparently) luriou- in-ents. I'loiple are apt to hive >iicli eiiri misly variant itlica.s about tlit' miinlier <:!' bees in a swarm or in a hive, that it may be well to state beb)re going on that the number of bees in tliis cloud i< generally somewhere about twenty thoniand. an! that probably as manj' more have stayed behind to carry on work in the parent hive. Twenty thousand does certainly seem a great many; but it anyone who has seen a swarm will remember how the air through quite a large space was literally black with bees, and will then reflect how small an insect a bee is, I think that he will cease to wonder at the figure. Gradual- ly this cloud of insects moves as a whole 111 the direction ot some convenient tree or bush, generally ipiite clohc to the hive, say twenty yards Iroin it. And now llie cliud seems to be gettinii thinner, and a (■irelul inspection will show that a cb.is- t*'r of bees is biing lormcd on one ot the brainlies. This cluster rapidly increases in s:zc, until it lias ab-oibed nearly all the bees in the air, by wliicli time it resem- bles, if 1 may be allowed a homely simile, nothing so much as a big blaci; jeiiy hag At this point, pre>umably, the bee-keeper has come up and hived vlio ^waiiu and we liave seen no more ot it; but in the ease we are following we will suppose that no bee keeper conii's to inter- V( rr. J bough most of the swarm are in the cluster, a few, some hundreds perhaps, aie now away scouting, searchiim. that is to sa\ . for a suitaible | lace lor tilie new lit me. t)cca-hinaliy a few of these scouts come in and join the cluster, having ap- parently been unsuce»;ssfiil and given it up. At la>t, however, all in a body, as if they weie iiuliil;'.ing in a miniature swarm on liicir (twn accnunt, the succe>slul scouts •(liiiii; the clu~ti'r melts away, and, with tilt, scouts leading, the whole swarm starts, olf for the place they have found. Nine times out of ten this will be a hollow tree. Tbt hist care of the bees, after taking pos- session of their new quarters, is to see that the queen is safe. The queen is the only perfect female in the oomnumity, that is to say. she is the only bee that can Ifiy eggs ami rei)roduce the species, so if any- thing . has happened to her, the whole swarming has been a failure, and there is nothing else for the bees to do but go ignominionsly back to the parent hive and ask to be taken in again. As soon as the bees have reassured themselves of ffer Majesty's safety, the workers begin their hist serious task, the building of comb. It is the more important, that no time should be lost in setting to work at thi% as, since the queen lays her eggs in the cells of the comb, till this is ready she must re- main idle. TJefore leavmg the parent hive, each worker, like a prudent adventurer,filled up MODKRN BEl-;-KKKPING. her honey sac (whiolj constitutes a con^i- (lerabk' pai-l of ji bcr's anatomy) with honey, on tlu' priiK'i|»li', 1 .>4n|)poHi', that an she hatl liflpcd to gather it, she minht lair- ly take i^oinc; of it away; so the now eoni- nuiiiitv is ready to start coinh huiUlinK with honey hi-ou^lit from the paient hive. Hut eomit, you may say, is not made of honey, hul of wax. Kxaetly, but wax i> made .tf honey, tiiat is to say, tlie bee ni\i^ the lioney and tiicn seeretes the wax l>,v a tdand. The process i-; as folh)ws; The bees suspend themselves in lonn leslooiis from tile roof, when every worlier is in plate, perfect stillru'ss is ki'pt. the lempiMM- ture rises, and jiraduailv on tlu' uiidei' sidi of each bee a|>pear lillle globules of li(|ui(i wax, wliich soon harden into little tlak.'s or -scales. 'I'hen one of the bees near the top takes a scale from hei' body, chews il to make it plastic, ami attaches it to the to|» of the hive; another follows, and soon, bee by bee, each one aildin^i a little liere, or tliinninu otV there, the comb begins to nssiiiiu' delinite shape. It is not necessary for tin- bees all to hang together like this to nroduce wax; but the stillness and IukIi temptMiiture favimr its secretion, and in an empty hive, when a comb is wanted at once, this is how they always ))roceed. Ami now the hive settles down to ordin ar.v rt)ntine. The (pieen lays cji^s, and so many does she lay, and so constantly does she k«>ep to this duty that a do/en or so of worker bees have to attend on her, feed- inu her. ivnd eleaninK out the cells in which >»he IS to lay. The duties of workers are indeed many and varied. A lew are posted as guarils or sentinels at the entrance, and any marauding bee or w-nsp ia stopped, and perha|)s sluiig, by them if ho shouhl try to enter. Otlier workers, their number vaiying according to the temperature, do (bitv as what are called fanners, and with their wings keep up a I'Onstant circulation of air thiough the whole hive; and so well do they do their work that on a hot day a lighted match held in front of the hive entrance is almost blown out. A nuicli larger proportion of worker bees arc en- Raged in making the home tight and wea therproof. These little masons, or ratle-r plasterers, get from the trees a kind of Kummy substance, called j)ropolis. with Avhich they |)roceed to rtll ui) every crack or cranny that might let in the rain. Some- times they n»ix the propolis with wax. liut the main body of the workers are neither queen attendants, nor sentinels, nor fannms, nor plasterers, but foragers. All through the tlay they are going and com- ing, sallying forth, brisk and slim, and re- turning, flying slowly, with distended honey ■ac, and perhaps legs packed witli pollen as well, to deposit their plunder in the comb, anil then set out for more. The e\|tressiun "legs packed with i)ollen" re- quires »'X|)lanation. The himl legs of u worker ln-e are provided with hairs, which in conjuiict'ion with the bee's thigh form ;> kind of banket; and v. hen she visits a ilowcr, after siie has tilled her honey sac with nectar, if there is any pollen she packd it into the.se. Tims a bee well loaded with pollen ap- pears to drag after her two little yellow balls. ><o prominent are these that one classical writer evolved, and immortalized 111 \ei>e. the idea that these were two l>ebbles, which the intclligt'iit insect carried to balaiu-e herself with in high winds ! The ptdieii, like honey, is for food. Hut though full-llcilged bees do eat pollen, its chief u«t' is for making into ))aste with honey, which is fed to th(> grubs. On the fiiurlh day these young grubs will be lialchiiig out, and from now on tbei'c will be another duty for the worker bees to perform tlhait of aurscs. -hHi at firsi tihe nurse btes feed the grubs witii a sort of pap wliidli they .srcivte — one miglil aluHist call it milk, if it did not sound absurd t>) talk of bee milk; but the grubs are not giv- en much of this, and soon have to be con- tent with the above mentioneil |»aslc of pollen and honey. As tJu' gland which pro- duce.s the pap tends to atiophy and dry up win II the bee is about three weeks oid this duly of nurses is generally undertaken by the xouiiiicst among the workers. After about six days' nursiing the grub will be full grown, and the nurses seal him nj) in his cell witii a little cap made of wax mixed up with i)olleii, and finally, .just three weeks from the time the queen laid the egg, what has been sealed uj) as a grub eats its way ("lit. a iierfect boo. And niow that the younger generation has appeared to rein- force the remnant of the original twenty thousand, all .should go well. More combs will be built, breeding will go on faster, and large slores of lioney will be laid up for winter. So far the only kind of bees that f have mentioned have Iteen the <iueen bee and the workers, and, as no doubt the reader has noticed, T have called them both "slie."' And both are female, really, but in the worker the ovipositing and other sexual organs are in so rudimentary a condition, that U)v all i)ractical i)unios('s the workers are neither male nor female, but neuter. The queen, on the contrary . is, as wc have «ecn. the mother of every bee in the colony. Hut besides queens and workers, there is a third kind of bee, the drones or males. These latter do no work, and, as soon as the honey flow shows signs of slackening MODF.RN HRK-KEEPINO. ill autuiiiii, the iWorkciN drive tluMU from 11h> 111 VI' to (lif. A>< the honey How Ic-- senH st.ill more, fewer bee-* ^o out us for- iigers, uiul more work us plasterer-, until, at tlie appHKU'li of winter, tliey are pnn'tii'- ally all jtatlierinn propolis, ami painting it over the inside of their home, and tliis ^(ics on till the weather hecomes too eold for tihem tr venlurc outside the hive. By ihi-* tnme tlio (pucn, Um, ilia.s siopj'ivl lliiyiii';;. 'Il.lero is not miicih to »iy ahmit tJie l):'ts ill wilder, (ilii.stered itiogntiher aiiioiiiiH. lllie (lomhs, nidin^j each otlu'r to keep warm, they lire not o.xaetly ilormanl, for every now andilten, l»y which mu-t he undpr- Htood evi'iry few chiys. tliey have 'to take food, and it is wlieii they leave the eliis- ter in search of this that tliuy are mos-t in dan,u:er oC free/,in;i to diMth. When Sprinti contes, Work ))("p:ins anaiii, especially foi' the (pieen, who must lay her hardo-4, -inee the bees that have t?otie ttironi^ii the winter will not last lonj?, and need to Vje reidaeeil. In fact to Mich an extent is breedin<i imw carried on that soon tlie hive is too full. 'I'hen nature decrees that the (pieen, and perhaps half the bees, should feel the swarming fever; and some fine day they go otf and .start a new home elsewhere. .\nd the parent hive, whose fortunes we liave been folIowiuK, left now without a (pieen, will it not die out? No, for the bees tiicniselves will provide a new queen, and this is hmv they will do it. They choose some eel!, in which the queen who has (U'.serted them has just laid an egn, and, with «reat eare not to injure the e«K, they enlarpe the cell, until it is about three tinies its former size. Jt is now vvKat i* known as a queon cell. Wiien tiie little urub hatches out, the nurses, instead ot feeding it only for a day or two on the pap secretion, and then weaning it on to a |)aste of pollen and honey, as they wouhl tlo to an ordinary grub, feed it on the pap .secreition altogether. What with the stim- ulative pt)wers (if this mysterious food, and l.h^' extra room for development ifiven by tlie enlui'Kcd cell, the bee, which finally iNMU'rties,is a perfci t (pieen. Next year tills new (pieen will go with a swarm, and the bees will have to raise another, that the eommuiiity may live on; and so on each year. Thus you see, although tJiere is (vnly one (pieen bee in each hive, yet, so long as there is an unhalehed egg, or even a very young grub, in the hive, they can always re-ipieen themselves if they lose li«r. CH.M'TER ir. The History oi- I'.ra-^Kiau'iNfi. ns We have now traced, albeit in the eriid- est outline, the life cycle of a bee Cnvn- niunity under iiiitural condit'oas, that is to say under bee management. Now we will look at the matt''r from the bee-keeper's ]ioint of view, beginning wiih a glance at the history of bee-keejiiiig. In pre-historic times, when all men were hunters, they i)rolKihly obtaint'd honey by bee-ihunling. If they did not think of it themselves, the bears wdre there to show them the way. IJut ^v"hen iikmi began to settle (h)wn, and to till the ground, and cultivate crojis, they must surely have hit on some simpler method of g.ttiiii: tludr honey tihan tlie clumsy one of hunting for bee-trees in the foi.>st. 1 say " must have " because in tliose day-', wihcn sugar was un known, honey, which Ave now look oi as p:;mewliat of a luxury, was the only sweet- ener, and consequently almost a necessity, .^t any rate the records at Thebe-i show tli«it the ancient Kgyi)tian was a be:^'-ke;'p- er, and one too who went into the busine a Ml a pretty extensive scale. Pfe used to load up great flat-bottomed boats with hives of bees, and float them down the Nile, timing to reach each i)oiiit a little after the overflow of the river had sub- sided, when the whole valley would be l.urstiiig into blossom. I may add that the sanie S'ort of floating apiary is used o i the "Nile to this day, and is also used, thoui?h less extensively, on the Danube. Some years ago the same thing was tried on the "Mississippi, where, however, it was not a success; but of course the conditions of the Nile and its valley are unique. Hei a were kei)t by the (Jieeks and by the Ro mans; and it is interesting to note that Blount Hymettus, which was celebrated for its h(mey in the days of Homer, is eoually celebrated for it to-day. Beyond the fact that it was pretty commonly i)rac- tisi'd. I do not think that we know very much alwut the (Jreek or Roman bee- keeping. ^'irgil certainly wntes about bees, but he writes of tlhem in their wild state; besides which his treatment of the subject is — well, poetical, that is to say it does more honour to has imagination than to his ac- curacy. MODlvUN HIvIv KKKl'ING. , ^ fii Imlia wi! get on suri'i' gioiitiil. he<'s havf bi't'ii U«'|»t in marly every pan ol' India siiico ri'iiioto ages, ami Vfiy guiioru.- ly till' Haiiu' system |uevails, Tlrs lon-ii^is in luivih); t'oi' a liivi> a li^n^ kIiuIIivw Ii(>\, rtoinetinit's an eartlienware (ylinder is iisimI, like a drainpipe with the ends uIuhuI. The mvann is intTuduced thimijrh a ddor at the back, wiiirli is then eTii« <l, tli • en- trance tor the bees' nse iH-'ing a small hide in the I'rnnt end. 'I'he tiist combs, it is found, will! then be built near this entriime, that is to say in the forepart of the hive, and to n xreat extent the qm en will al- ways eontine her van laying to the foie- part of the hive ulso. The pollen, too, being wanted for the gnibs. wi I be sturel in the foreiwut, thus leaving a'l the l^ack combs fi).r the storage of i>ure lioiicy. When the bee-kee|>er comes to gather his hirve t he oiiens the dooi' at the back aiitl blows in smoke. Tli's frightens the bi es int > the front, part of tihe liive, while tlieii' ma^tei' ents out the coniibs of honey at the biek. Then he shuts up the hive again, and lb.' bees, whose breeding arrangennnts it will lie observed have not been disturbed, si't to work with redoubled ener^^v lo bn Id moife combs and gather moie store-i, wliidi in due time the bee-keejx r will take as he did the tirst. And now fio n bee-keejiing i.n Imli i et us turn to bee-keeiiing as it w.is pr.icli-^cil in Kngland and ( anada, or for the matter of that t'liiou>iliom Muiop, and .\merici toK), at the beginning of the present cen- tury. The bee-k(ei)i'r lit a!ni st make- o.c blush to tell about it) nsi d to gel a swarm of bees, jiut them in a straw hive, ami h'ave them to theii- own devices. In the autumn, having jireviously decided what bees he meant lo " take," as he called i , lie proceeded to do so, by the simp e ex- pedient of sulphuring them to datli! Kor liis trouble Iil' geneially got moiiic lifl\ pounds or so of dark-'ookng, su'p'iur smelling honey, mi.xed uj) w th eggs, pol- len, dead bees, and dead grubs, and, if lie were veiy luiky, piihaps two or three eondis of white virgin honey tit to put on the tabic. Tlie first advance en Ihi- sys tem. if system it can be called, wa-< to pnl the swarm into a very small hive, an I Hien, when il was judged that llie bees had filled it, to give extra space by adding tw > nuwe hives, communicating with it, o, e on each side, and sometimes a third on tn|) as well. The (iiieeii generally coiifiiied her egg-laying to the centre hive, so that when the bee-keeper took away the extra h ves, or honey-boxes as they were ciHcd, in au- tnnin, lie found them full of pure white honey; he also saved his bees to work for him another year. This of coui'se was a great stride in the right direction, but far Jill that it was little more than had bei n ilone in India for centuries. This is how we should be kiepiiig our bees to-day, but for one mj"i .Mr. Langstroth, who in IHW iiivt nted the niovalde tiaine hive, the main iVatiire of which has never been improved on, and which, it is not too much to »«ay, has revolutioni/ed bee-keeping thruiighoip two <'ontinenls. My the way, to give hon- our wliiMe honour is due, it sliould lie 8tat- n\ that Mr. I.angstroth was an Ajmriean. Like all great inventions, his is ipiite iiiii.l»le wlien you know. For .some time various expepiiiienlers had aimed at making a hive, in which the c imbs Bhould be readily inovabh' at the will of the l)€e-keeper. lluber had indeed achieved this, in hiis leaf hive, as ii was cilled; bin hiiis hive, tihoiigh very useful to the natur- alist, was altogether too complicated and expiinsive for use in a pricticiil apia'-y, where the bee-ki eper's object is not scientce l«uit Ijiiia.sic dn! La rx anil cen<ts. Suggeistcd jvrobably by Miilier's hive was t!u> bai" hive. Th's was a xpiaie wooden V)ox with a moveable toi», dii'reclly under which Was a roiW of loose hoi'i/onta! bais or slats, the ends of which rested on loilges. nailed along two oppo-iite sides about an inch from the top. The umlei' side-* of these l>ars were eoaited with beeswax, the iilo i being the bws woulil thereby be induced to build one comb on each bar, then, since eoinbs are always built hanging straight down, it was argued that all you would have to do to move a comb would be to Lift the bar on which it was built, and the comb woulil come too. it WiUj found that the bees quite understood the hint given by the wax on the under sides of the bars, and, as far as getting good straight combs went, this hive was reaJly quite succes.s«ful. But straight coiiii'is, however nice they may look, ea.nno't i»b- viously be manipulated unlesis they are al- so moveable; and in thus reapect the bar hive was a failure. For it was found tha.t the bees, not content with at'taching their comb U> the movable Iwr at the top, gen- erailly built strong attachmenits to the sides of tile hive ais well. So the bar luive iikia, though very ingeniious, fell through. Thtn came Mr. Langstrobh. He built a light w^oodeii frame, a little smaller than the in- side of the hive, on each bar. Then the bees built their top attachments to the bar and their side attaohitiients to the sides of the fraine, and a perfectly mov- able comb wais the result. This was tho geniasis of the bar-frame hive, in use by every practieal apiarist to-day. However, one more invention had to MODl'RN HlvI'l-KIvI'I'INC;. come bt't'iMV niod'in Ici'-keL'jtiiu (Mill 1)0 Haiil to U' fairly "i nij(m:ilt'f| 'Ills wis what WUH kiiowa .14 (.1*11 b-ioun liiliim. 'I'lii'* time tlie ftvilit lios witli Uoit. i.j.. A- tlie idea <hl t>lie m'.' irnuc hj)I'..'I4 > 'in tin- Imr. MO tlu' idea ot coiub-touiilat l.e the the UhMinU'll to comhuiiiile, of bfcriwax undi'i'sidf of woiiiU acci*|)t tliis their comb, wli.v 1 cabile to hang a thin nhe^t (►f the frame, for the Ijectj to woik ice.s woiihl I»eHia.|)s the ; but after t it. ihi'v tlieif own lion may haye npi ung from thai is ihi' coat- t'hat was put on each bar. If the bfcs as a Kuide for p'ui iii^ ihould it not Ite prai li- b^'l*^*wax in up, or draw out, us ii is teoimicaliy ter'iied? At (ir'l «iglijt it does iml si'imh as if litre w<iuld be very niunh advantage in this. Praol ieally there are often tiniiw, hm wc shall Mi'f wln'ii Ue come to study tlie woikiin; of an ap- iary, when ii is a great object to help the bees over their work of (•onil)-buililin;,'; then, too, tihore are many minor point.-*, micih as gettinK t.he comb linnly built out, to the sides and bultoni of the frame, whioh, thoug'h not eaay to explain on per, are soon aivpreeiated by any o.ne w work lieiH amongst bi'cs. As a ma.tter fniet it was found that, if the alieot l»eeswax was phvn, tlie Ik accept it. 'I'hey miu'ht u>e tiiree ((Uarteis of an iiinh rather than botiht r wit.h bite it away, and make al'togKiilier. .\t tdiis point til' idea ncciifred Ilerr Alehriii;;, an inj^cnioiiis (Jrrman bee man, to try stam|)in« the wax Avitli ni hexagoniil pattern, of tln' proper size for marking the ba*es of tlic cells of the Jn)ney-comb. This was in 1857. The stiimp sheeii was accepted eajtet'ly by the bees, and to-day coniii-fouriidation made after tli - method is tihe practicial bee-keeper's stand by all over the world. Indeeil Heir Meh ring budded better t.ham he knew. Not only does his invention enable us to help the bees with their cond) i-onstructioii at critical times, and to insure a neatei; result of tiluiir laboura; but, by letting very tchin platinum-silver wires into our shee! of wax, we get a eondi so strong that it will stand the whirl round m the extractor, a machine which throws tlu- honey out by centrifugal force, leaving the coinb intact, to be return, d to the l)ce> for retilling. Hut where the up-to-date apiarist finds comb-foundations most valu- aWe is in the broodnest, as the part of a modern hive where the queen lays her eggs is called; and this for a reixison that the first expeiiiimenters with plain sheets can liainHy bave fort -een. As drone cond) comb, that is, the cells of which are lit pa- lOSi' ot' .)f noi top hat. would comb to for the roairing of drone grubs is of a dilferent pattern from worker eond), it will be at on<e seen that, by the employ- ment of this stamped foutidaton, the bee-keeper can contn)l the propoplLon of dicinis in liisiiiivts. Kill i.'r im' ho'iiey pro- d\iction oir bixH'ding, the advantages lo be derivi»d from a judicious exeicLse of ttie power thus given are very great. At tliijj point I \\\ti\i to make a digie.s>sion, lo remind the reader that thiti foundatimi that We are .•.jieakiiig otf is nut m any seuise an ai>tili(ial (iind), m r is anything but the purest bce-wa\ u-eil in the making of it. In fact nothing i l-e but pure beeswax will answer, Lt having been fnuml by experi- ment that even the .-mallisl adu teration, either with vegt table wax or i)ararine,iJii)ugh the bee- lyW woi k it up, produces a (vunb that, <in the lirsl hoi da.\ , will wag all out of ".jiape, and often meh down altog. thei', to the de-tiui'tion of the bi'ood, if not <),f bets and i|Uerns as well. 'Id show also how little it ilisei'vC' the appellation of ar- tificial ciind), I may siy that, lliongh the thi(kiie-s var!e-, the thickest kind that is made ian\- mure tli.in ten sherts to tihe inch. However, thougih the «hcel is noth- ing but Dure bieswax, and, in the process rd' being diawn out i.nto cdiiib. is m) thinned !)>■ the b;'es thil I'.ie base> of the cells are hard'y. if a.t .'.il'. t'l'ckir than when the whnlc tiling is made by the bees al) initin, it is a fact that sumetimc-i t'lier,- is a slight IdU.diirss in (oml) tlius nroibicel. tiace- ali'e piiibab'v to the wax s,he 'ts having been work;d awd stamped by maeldneiy. For tihis re;-()n a few atiiarists. myself amiiii'i^t the number, piefer not to use fiiiiridat on fur Inviey that is to be sold in the ceiinb. I,. The oidy other invention to which 1 need now ilraw your at.ten'ioii is the section lonev box. his I'S little wooden .s(iuaic that r inc is aciu-^tomed to buy full of honey at the grocer's. It is far from an ideal inukage, e'tlier from the bees' or the hee-keeper's pont of view. It has to i)e quite filled u)) with co.nb, or it docs not loi. k nice; yet sometimes the bees take longer messiing a'l.ouit over the last stpiare iiieii in one coi'i' •• (••" l than over all the rest. At leaist twenty-five ])er cent, more honey eain be got in large eonnhs than in ttbe-e little bnxc>'. riifortunately, the eus- toiner demands a jiackage of about one lb. weigiht; and, as ])ig ciombs can neither he packed with s';*'«*t'- nor cut in the .shop wi.'lh 111 M'e-.s, for the bee-keei)er who makes a .siixeialty of comb honey, the scc- t'on honey box seems to have oome ti «tay. 8 MODERN BKE-KERPING. CHAITER III. The Apiary. So niiueh for ihe apivliances of iniodei'ii seientilit.' apic-ultaire. Now for their hm.', to leain wliidi. if tilie reaclieir pleasesi, we Wiill touetlier go tihr Migili ai» imaginary yeair's work in t.lie ai)iary, .It is Spring; the bees are just awakening from tlieir Jong winter's re.st, and t.iiey, as also till' hee-keeper and his staff, are soon goiing to he busy. I^et us come out and look at tile hi\e.s. And sinve J must describe sonieoiie's aii^iai-y, J hope 1 shall not be thongiit unduly egotistival it' I choose the o'ue I knoAV most aibo'ut, that is my own. J^ike many a.piairis'ts on a la.rge scale, I prefer to dt'sign a,nd make my own 'hives, ami to iKigin at the ibeginning, I had better ex'iiilaiin that the man 'who starts to design a iliive niU'st keep con>atantly before his mind t'lie fa("t that itliere are nol one, but three, ideal .hives. Or, stated more simply, t.iicre aire tiliree diifcrcnt iioints of view from whicli a liive has to be considered. First there is the ibees' point of view; the liive iiiusit be coi:nft)iiitail)le for the bees, and mu's't be arranged to work with, not against, tlieir irmtincts. Secondly.tlitre is 'blie bee — keeper's qioint of view: tilr.' hive and combs must be easy of maniimlation. and thei'e muist l>e arraiiigement- whereby iic can in- fluence .his bees to exert their honey gather- ing j)')iwers to tlie utmost; if po^sible, too, lie sho'uld be aible to a certain extent to con- trol tile siwarining impulse. Thiiilly, there pocket-book; the hive must no't be too ex- ]»ensive. The best hive is that which re- ))reseiit.s the l)'e>t working comprdinise be- tween tlhe.se conflicting interests. My hiveis, Tecta.iiiguiar boxes, with i)ro- .jecting lid's, and a. boa.rd in front for the bees to alight on, have each a sepni'ate stand, like a foui'-legged stool. I'roliably the lirsit thing that would strike a stranger, whosie only idea of a hive was a farmer's box iliive or la straw skep, i.s their size; he wo'uld think tliat they 'were altoircther t.io large, lint on opening one we shall find t'lat tiliiis big 'hive is only an outer case. Ke- iioi-ing at the bntlom we shall see an ob- long, rathe;' s'laljow, box, Avhich is the brood-nest, qv bee's jwirt, of tihe inner hive: but wlieii I say we shall see it, 1 am sujt- po'sing that we have fii'st lifted alV a big c'luaff -stuffed ciisbion, wihich goes on top of it to coisy the bees in winter. The s[)ace between t'he walls of the brood nestis and the walls of the outer hive is also ehaif- packed, Avit.h, a kind of tunnel ai-ranged tliro-ugh it in fronil f(M- the bees' entrance. The insidie (liinen.si(Hiis of the brood-nest box are eighteen inches long, thirtejii imcilies wide, and ten imihes liigli; anil along (the two longer i^id'es are the ledges or rabbets, edged with metal, on which rei-it t!he njiiper Itai's of thirteen frames, each frame containing it's comb; on top of the frames is a close-fittinig sheet of canvas, then the cushion. The reason for this siheet of canvas, a.si well as foii- tlie melal eilge to the raibliets, i> that bane of the bee- kceiiei', i)roiiiolis. I'robabl.y tHiere is no suibject on w.hich ibees and il)ee-kee])ers' views are so inucili at vaiia.irce as this of prijipolis, oj-, as it is sometimes cailled, bee -blue. We understand JiO'W necosary, how vital even, it is to them in their iiollow tree, and are lost in admir- ation at tl-e industry and ^kill with which they gather, and use U; but we cordiallv -vvtsh that t'hey could be taujfht to do with- out it under domestication. To an ontsiiler this may seem a small matter; but a bee- keoper wilio has inucih handling of frames to do, knows otlierwi.se. iloiwever, since, in the present 'stale of our kinnvledge, w« «'aivnot. -hope to sto'i* proipoliz.iition alto- gether, we try to anange our hives so that tihe m()veal)le parts s;liail suffer from it as little as pos.sible. Thus tlie (piilt or sheet of canvas, ■ thmijiih jiropolized down to the lo))is of tile bars, can be (peeled off bv one corimer; whereas, if a iboant were used un- der the cushion, it would l)e almost impos- sible to detaclv it wlien necessary to lift a frame. Tiien the metal strips ' along the rji.bbets give less scope for proipolizat ion, both because the bearing surface is small- er, and beraii'se bees seem to have a dislike to pid'poli/iiijr metal, pei^liap> liecaiise of its coldneps. So far we iiave seen, an coiii.teiits of the large outer iliive. a brood- ne.st box, containing frames, combs, and (of course) bees, covered by a (luilt of can- vas, and ovei' that by a .big cushion. "S'et, cusliirnn and all, it does nof come more llian half way up to 'the height-of tlie outer liive. It is this empty siiiace which will ilater on be utilized for section crates, second stories, etc., for t.lie honey crop. But at t I V MODKRN RRE-KERPING. 1 I /I CcH.0 '^QJJ^- Ca^^APA' lO MODHRN BEK-KEKl'ING. p.res(Mil all tiii» ^\)Mc I'm nitiirc is .stowed iiwiiy ill the luit ol the wm Usimi). Ildw Jiiiii'li ()( it we -ha'] want wlu'ii ilover c^niiis 111 jiit'ai iiHi-iii'.' (U'lu'iuis on iiuw we do our work in spi in;;. I'lrsit and roieuio-t wo niii^t siti^^fy oiir- selves tiiJil euii hive lias a (jm c.i alve. Qiii'kiv and inel liodi( aly. t'oi wh; n hives are nnniheri'd by lli.' .Iiundiel there i- not. iiuicU tinit' to .-paie in a woiUinij day. Ave Ro aiditnd the apiary. \du. readei'. we will Jiiinijiine, lift ofV the cov.m- of the liive and the eUNJiion. and i lift a coiner of tlie quilt, and blow in a little smoke frnm iiiy smoker, a kind of small lielUws and lire- box iiiaehiiio, which burns imnk, blown ivaiper <ir o'd rajis, and which is tlie liee- ket-per's most useful tool. The .-moke frifiiileiis the bees it does not stupefy thtMi!) and, peeling off the reist of the quill. I am jfenerally able to lift out the centre liame without a ^ling. Mind. reader, I nm not tsaying that ymi would be aliln to do so; ill fact, if you sihould ever try a little amateur bee-keejiing on your own aiccount, I strongly adivse you not to (iesi;.'ise gloves and veil till you get <-o'nti- (leiice and know the ropes; but. except II veil, which some bee-nieii always kerp handy in their pocket<, ready to dim when about to maniimlate any exception- ally vit ions stock, tlie jjrofess'.onal ajii ii- ist will never be botliere(l with any mor.- elaborate i)ee- lies- than h'.-< shirl-slee\-es. However, to continue. The reason 1 have lifted the centre frame i..s because this is t'lie w.irmesi pi, ice in the hive, and therefore t!ie sjioi clio-en by the (pheii to 1 ly hei' lirst eggs in sjiriiig. ISnmeliines we ^ee her ai once, sulking about majestically on the fia:re. surrounded by her attendants. Hut if not. we are (piile content if we see eggs or young brood, sinc;< thesjc ciiuld not lie tlii're if the (lueeii were not aliv:' and well. So I rej^lacc the frame and ipi It. and .vou the cu.shon a-id en;, for heil is vital to bi'ood-rearing, and the le-s lii\es are oi>en at this soa-on the better. Then, while ymi are making thi.s ou;- >inig again, getting ready the next. 1 inscriiie iin tny hive register, on the ]iage dcvot.'d to Hive No. 1 ,ind against the date of tie- day of our in.s|icctiion "Q. ok." which ;- bee-keepers' abbreviation for '■(^ucen il! coi-rect" also aiiytihing that ha- struck me in regard to the general -tale of tlit; hive, such as "plenty of stores," "-hoit of s-liires,"' "much brood," or whatever 1 may be. So on with the iicnI, and llu' nexit.. and the next. I'ut (we will say I at Hive No. o we meet with a ditt'erent state of things. Xo qneen. no eggs, no brood to be seen on the centre frame. 1 lean it quietly. >o as not to jar the bees, against the hive stand, and eximine the farmes on each .side of It, luil with no more success. So I replaci> all three, and you put on the cu-hion and cover. Mean- wliile I have found a stone, which I imt on the alighting bo.ird as a maik, and, without as yet making any entry in the register, we pa.ss on to Xo. 0. All goes (in -inoolhly till we got to Xo. 30, whiclh is the same as live. That, an<l four others, wliicli we come to later, we mark with stones; and, as we are miw in tile nineties, and tlieie are only a hundifd hives in ilhis apiary, we are just congialu- laling ourselves on nov having absolutely lost a single ome, when, alas! at No. it.) our [iride receives ii cheek. Scarcely have I lifted the corner of the quilt than, w.ili- out any need ot' smoke, I «ee thai liere we have a case of clear freeze out. t^ueen dead, bees dead, combs all cold and damp and mouldy. And why? Who can >:iy'! I'erlialp.s' the hive was (liseased the previous sii'innur, but not sutiicieiitly for me at that (laite to notice anything wrong, iierhaps, during the autumn an apivrentice took olt' ihe co\er for something, and left it off whiile a cold .slnwer soiaked the cusliioii, IKMihibii- there wnis ,i luik. and the slow drip, dniip of melliiig siunv ha^ been doing its I'a'lal work ipiielly aiiid insidiously. I'ut on tilie cmshion and thi' cover, an! (dose up the eiiil ranee witli a siliip of pine, for we must not c'hance any otlier bees coming here .to rob. and perhaps s/»)it.adiiig disc ise throughiuil t'he apiary. To-morrow we will take the combs and melt them up tor w.ix, chun and disint'ecl ifie Ihive, and then, when it Jias had a fie-li coat of i»aiiit, ami any -mall reiKiir- that are neces.-ary liave ben made. it will be ready, a.t the proper time, to house another swarm. 'Ihe other live hives are all correct; and so we will now return to the six we have marked, and >iibject eai'li in turn to a rigid search, taking out and minutely ex- amining evciy frame in the liive, until either we liiid ller Majesty, or are satislied tliat she is dead. In I'Wo O'Ut o'f the six we iind her. Clearly, ho-wever, -be can- not be much good if .-ihe lias not made a start to lay. I'eilhaiiis she is too old. If so, it is my own fiiult, for no bee>kee[)er who knows liis business will allow a hive \o go into winter quarters witli a (pieeii of more than two and a half years. Per- hap-' she got (Jliilled. U'liatever' the reason of tbe slackness we must make the be-t of her now._ So we give the hives some candy, a slab of it being sliipped in between the MODERN BEE-KEEPING. II frames ■and the ((uik, wliidh we eaii rely on stiimvulating tlie bees wo tli.it liliey will make their aovereinn do her duly. Hut tlies* two (juecns Avill have a ■on the registcK, which ruthless execution, mi w'hen it is conveinient to other four hives we shall in^jj; up." That is to say the cionib to store, nieltinK up any that nient and then tlie honey harvest niai'k against thenj will mean their the first occasion replace tlieni. The treat by " break - we shall return .show signs of moHld, and shaking out tihe bees in front oif so^nie hive that we have ■noticed to be weak in population. The ac- tual Iiives.'of cioiurse,wtiil] be painted and re- paired like the former two. And no,w we have finished our first in- spection. Kesult: Loss of .5 'jier cent., ^Vhioh in a big apiary very fairly represents an iverage year. And now for spring tretit- CHAPTKR IV. Thk Production ok Comh Honky, and lave (> a cx- intil siicd SIX ■an- e a II per live cen •er- >on t of idv, the The whole aim of tlie bee-keeper, trom the opening of siiring to the (lowei'ing ot clover, is to keep 'his bees brood-rcariiig. The old stores ol last season, the new pol- len, and honey too, from willow ;. id olin, fi-uit bloom and d'a.mdelioin, and tihe Jvsit of tJh'e s{)riiig lioira — are iioit wanil^cd in the hive at wanted is tlh'at. as in, lit wlliould be given turned into young bees. main harvest later on. iin that shai)e ail; vvlhat is fast as it 'Comes wings and legs, be to labour at the Anil to be able to bring about this result without a liitcli or a setback is l e b'-i test of a good apiarist. There are two chief method< of forcing the brood-rearing; one, more for amateurs than for men who run things on a bju scale, is stimulative feeding; but, even in a big apiary, stimulative feeding is useful at times, as we have seen an example in the case of the two liives whose queens s^crc backward to make a start with laying. The other, in which the professional bee-keei'cr places his chief reliance, is the judicious spreading of brood. What that mean- we shall see directly. Hut, for profe>3sional and amateur alike, the best treatment for the tirst three weeks is, be certain thai nie bees iiave stores enough, and -a good let ting alone. Wliy the bees need a letting alone for three weeks is that, as it takes that period for the first generation of the year to begin to show, so, till then, the hive poi)ulatioins not only are old and fee- ble, and not well fitted lo rear brood, (the reader will 'remember that in the second article 1 explained that the pap gland tends to atrophy in the o.ld bee), but are decreas- ing daily; so that to put any extra strain on them would be very bad policy, more likely than not to result in brood being found dead from chill and neglect, and the \yhole hive becoming diseased as a conse- quence. And this is .iiist one of those things thiit the amateur can never be made to iiinlei'stand. He "wants to go too fast. When on our t'Uir of inspection we noted any hiv(;s that seemed short of stores; and these, of course, we supi»lied, by exchanging an empty fiame, or peihaps two, for a frame or frames, full of honey, from some hive having a sni)erabundance; or perhaps we took our ful'i frames from a reserve, kept for the purpose. Then, like wise men, we have been content for twen- ty-one days to busy ourselves in the work-hop. getting ready sections and ci'ates. m ik ng marketing and shipping box- es, (Mc, etc. Hut now, I lie three weeks jier- iod being at an end, we are ready to begin to Inistle our bee-; a bit; so once more, reader, wv will go round the apia'i'y, I, as befoic, with the smoker and register, and you ready lo take o(f covers, take any stings which may chance to come with cheerfnlne-s and humility, and generally set an example to other apprentices. At hive No. 1, as l)ef(ire, you lift the cover and the eu-liion, and T smoke the bees and lift the middle frame. Cood; all the brood here aie hatched, and a second lot is coming on; so I -('''ini it and lift the two frames next to it. flood again: there is a nice batch of maturing brood in each: we will look at the two next. On the front one of the*e there is nothing, on the other, no, yes, a tiny jiatch of egiis, and her majesty in the act of adding to them while T hold the frame in my hand. There are plenty of newly hatch- ed bees about, too. not flying yet, but busy for n'l that, tendimr the brood. So. fully satisfied that No. \ will bear spreading a little, T return this frame with the eggs, then, taking out one that the queen has not yet touched, say the third from the front, T re-insert it right in the centre of the hive, pushing the others apart to make room for it. Then T mark the register. No. 1, such and such a date, spread one 12 MODERN BEK-KKRPING. frame. WJion the queen finds this i'ranu', quite emi)ty, right in tliu eeiitre of Jier little K'i>l>e of bi'ood, and consc(iuently in the wannest and best situation ior hatc-li- ing young bees that there is in the wliole hive, she feels tliiit she must lill it at onee witli eggs. And so we go oji with our round, sjjread- ing some hives, leaving others for anotiier ■week, giving stores here and sometimes when the hive looks to be very badly off indeed giving a frame ol brood, nearly reiidy to hatch, from aiiolhei- hive, not so mueh for their actual nunibers, but be- eause one young bee, at this season, will nurse eight or ten grubs, and so the hive will get a hllip, and things go on moie li'opefully. So'on we shall lind oursolvi's going our rounds nearly every day, spread- ing whenever we can, but not too' much, or only disaster will result; feeding, or help- ing with fresh stores oi-easionally, and al- together keeping our apiaa-y in good fettle and breeding hard, till, if we liave managed well, just about the time of clover blossom- ing we find every Jiive strong in vigorous young bees, and witli everv frame from front to back packed with brood as Avell. A little honey there nniy be, just along the tops of the combs, as that is where it is put when brought in and where tiie nurses go for what they need for the brood; a few cells of pollen, too, may be s-ten dotted here and there about the combs; hut tiii-< like the honey is used almost as fast as it is gathered. IVactically every hive Avill at tihis time be crammed with bees and brood and nothing else. Hut woe betide the bee-keeper who sihould now be !-o fool- ish as to disregard even three days of con- tinuous bad weather; for with the hive populations living from hand to mcmtli like this such a panic of starvation would result that the yet immature bees would l)c dragged fnom their cells, and their juices sucked, and the wiiole jirogress of the hive would be set back a month, and almost all hope of profit for that year wou'd bi- gone. iSo he will have either spare c()nd)s of stores, or candy, or one of many dc ^•ices for giving liipiid food, always at hand. Nor will he breathe (piite freely till clover is faix'ly oii)en, and his bees at work on it. And this, too. is the ^jM-oper moment to put on the first crate of sections. This, as its name implies, is a crate or tray or very shallow box, packed full oi the little wooden sections, in which the market reiiuires that our comb-honey sliouhl be made; it has no top, a.nd the l.otfoiu is only a series of slats, witli spaces be- tween through wlii'ch the bees fin<l itassage. Having, as on f'oiiner occasions, removed eover and cushion and qudt, we place this crate right on the brood-nest box, where we find that it tits exactly and there are niutal catdhes to hohl it in position. The (luilt closes it on toj) and the hive cover is replaced; the cushion we return to store; it will not be wanted ugain till autumn. We have now given the bees an extra story to their house, anil therebv have solved for them what uiust have been becoming a rather pressing problem, namely, wluie to put all tihis wealth of honey that is be- ginning tu uome iu. Within half an hour, if we have ti'med things right, each seetioin (tihere are .'iO sec- tions im the craite) will be occupied by bees, begimniiig to fill it with comb; ami, if we left things go, in a week or ten <lays at most, they would nearly all be finiisihicd, JJut, to use a collonuialism, the bee-keiper Icnoiws a trick worth two of that. So far from leaving thum alone to fimisih the crate, he i'S, oin the contrary, very particular to be on hand when they have no m:ore than half doinic so, and aisilomishes the bees by "tiering up."' That meaus that he lifts the lialf full crate, and intei'iunses another, an ciunptv one, between it a.nd the bniod nest. Then, the bees' instinct telling them that a grea't eniiKy sjiaie ! kc that iin the iiiidcMi' of llioir hive nvust be filled up at any cost — ^ot hoAV C'oulid they cro.-is it im winter withoiut freezing to death, they buikl and w;uk away double time. Of eomrse, long before winter convco, both crates will have been taken by their master and by him converted into cash; but the hees knnw nmthing of that. Whether aimother tiering up will be passible depends on the season, and more than a little judgment is re<purod to decide. For a while, if bees are allowi'd to get short of s^toi'age rooiin biifo're the end of t-he clover lloiw, they wi'l lo.if and idle, and hoKney Avill be lost; on the other ha.nd, toio much room Vk'ill only result in a I'ot of uiifinislud, and nnsa'eable sections, wh'ch is oidy am^vther way of Sitating tliat the l)eekkee(per mu<?t kiMvw his husiiiC'ss. .\:;id that is the w.iy to produce cnmb- lumey. If extraetv-d, or liipiid, honey had bec'ii our object, the onlv d'iH'trence AVimld have been tl:at, insted of crates ( f st^etinns, we >hould have sUiiierimivosed om the broiral- nesii deener crates, with frames in them, cimlaining emiity erunb. built o;i wired foundatioi'i. Then, at the end oif the sea- son, or, some of them, befoie, tliese wonld have b; en put into an extr.ietin;; machine, and till* honey fln.ng mint of then by centri- fugal force. And noiw, reader, a:s after all you are only makinir a nretene;' visit to ain aitiary, T thirds that those are lesso.ns enough for von to follow at one time. 4 MODERN BEE-KEEPING. 13 CIIAI'TER V. AnVICK TO BlvdIXNKRS. a of cv ■ill inm lul ms. ud- e'n, itctI spa- nilil ine, itri- inlv T von ^ ;ill alMut it. lliiii;!; c"l-e, v lM),ik, I wi;i ho knows jo'ul. 01' (loiii- iciilly. 'I'Ik' i U) b,' laUi'ii olV am bi'iiijr liiintH'il; \\lii( would think, sinCv' hvv wiuMi tViuiiti'iu'il •c lih'i.t IxHiUisi' lio I'll a.) Iters lu' kncwi il aipciilliirc, or any- I'rally learKed fro 11 a It now loina.ins, in fa>o you should l»o thinking of doing >o, lo aWe you a liint or two on hi'w to stai't bt-es yourst'lf. It is not every one who wants, or w'lio ha-i the time, to make a reguiiar bnsin.s-* of apicu'ture; but 1 tli.ink tihat any one 'wli!> live- in the eoumtiy may llmd nuii-h jilnaia- uie and interest in the i'M'^i of a U>\v liivci o4' htic>, anil in thoir produce a <iui.U' au- ceiKab'e additon to llu- honseihold nsour- ce«. 'I'o a fruit jjrnwer tihe work w:hit!h ilia ber-s do in ei(iss))i lleniz:i.t.i( n (if the lilos- M)nii- wi u!d niiakf it w irtlh wiiiie to kem thcni, eve-u if tiliey uiado no hciiiey at ail. Well, to any one wlivi denides to start aipieu'lrre, lei nie nive a word of warning;. Do nol h t him -uii] o- lias read t;hi' forttjoiny; i"]ven uld b.- b;' candid and tell h:in tliat merely lli.e out lines of the snb- eonr.se, :iuiuh moa\' has tii hi oiuy, For instance, ha* freed of Ih-cs wilihont 1 is uiM so e':;sy as you tihe Hrst impulse ot n in l:is liivo, is to break tihroufyh the neaivst piece of while cap-piiiji', a.nd li'l liim-e'f up wit'h honey. The Irives lunve to lie ('o:i.Ned itilo liro]),-'!' ^ta.le fut winter. Swarnn have to be loDkcd aftir and art'lhi:il >warms have t;) be made. Dis- ease has to be guarded against eoji tin nail y t^>uei'ns have lo b.' reared au'd supeiseded And so on. In fad, voiu'm;'s luiight bi. writto.n, and a ffoml irnany vohvmes have beP'u written, on Uhe ai"t of scii nlihc' bcL* culture; and not o^ne 'of them, still Iish anytihinji that I caa say here, is any use to a b-.'Ki>nner \viliho\rt 'practic.'. ' Kxiieri- etitia doeef he.lds good, I supipose, in every eiuft. reitaiely in none more tlnn that oif the beekeeper. So nvy advice to any onie wi-lrnR to stm-t bees is: l?iry a ooiiple of stocks in jjood nvodern hives ami for the first 'yc'ir keep thorn for comb- honey - it will m^ver pay to buy an ex- tractor for t>wo hives — and beyond luvin>i tihe swarms and takitip: the honey, do a- lltt'e to the-in as poa-ible. Of coui-se, yon must Ki'f :» >?""'l hi'e-boo.k to sihnw you how lo do even this, aii'd ecpially, of eoursie, you will want lo do a':l tiln- other wonderful things tiha.t you si'e described in it. liut don't. l»e conteni to fjo -slow at tirsl; then :n a few ytars you will find youiself mak- ing ai'tilic'al swarms, brcodiiiji iiueens, se- lecliiijj di'ones. and all the rest of It. with the besit of them, ami, wdiat is more to the |io:nt, makinjt a very comfortable little additi:;n to your income into the har- waiii. ihit don't try too many experi- nuMi'is at first. yomeliimes, however, entiy. A unm with a rural tastes buys scune after them himself, does not and decides that bees are out S it works out differ- couiitry house and hives, tries to look take to it, of hi* line. K) lie turns his a^ttention to <itther things. Meanwhile the be^e- perhaips get a sort of half looking after by the gardener, or [ler- ha,ps get no looking after at all. Aind so things remain until souu' tine day one of tlie emterprising rising generation diseov- era the forgotten bee-booJc, a^bsorbs it ilirongh a whole wet afternoon, and by night shoiws all t-lie synuiitomis of an acute attack of liee-fever. Well, the niudens of a bee business in already on the estate, and the best thing that' the family pat- riarch can say is "lco in nry la<l and win." After all. viewcxl Irom the standpoint of the paterfamilias, bee-keei)ing is a far bet- ter iiastime than — tlian breaking the pater- nal windows wilh a catapult, say. liy the wa\-, if a personal reminiseenee Willi be pardoned, it is something in that way tiliat I began my own a]HcuUura'l ex- ]veriences. I was eleven years old ait the time I made my venture, and wiithouit un- due boasting, 1 think I may afhrm that a more successful convmorcial undertaking was never carried through. I will not dwell O'U the staitistics. which weire some- thing like this: My father gave me bees, liives and all aip)dianices. T sjohl him the honey at a s'liillinig a pouml and at<^ it my- self afterwards. Vent peir cent gives but a IVeble idea of my profits in, those days, lloiwever. tliei-e is no newl to start the young idea ipiite so luxuniously as that. On the other hand, do uM discourage him; he will meet with nuite enough set-backs without your help. T.t is sionit' of those set- backs ivnd failures, to be exi>eeled by every 14 MODERN BEE-KEEPING. novice, ifchait I now intend to deal with. liiiprmiis, we le.iiennber liliai if there is one per?:on .iu tilie w..ir.'(l w',io nierit-i the ajjipellaibioai, aipicuilturail expei-t, it is the young niaiii wlio has goit ihu.d of a bee- boiuJc for tihe first time and has just read it thiTOU'gih. Kxpert ! why that is mot tlic uainie for ilidin. l*riiifiiii>!e anul practice, lie knows it all; lie's — weil, tiliere is on.ly one word to express his knowledge — he's in- fallible. The only iworse ease is thatt of the yoiiing lady in siiiiilar oircunistancjs; hio'wevtr, she general. y subsides after one gooil s;tiniy[iiig. And 'now he comes to reali- ties, lie K^'ts his kives, mnd, during viover he learns to manipulate thenn. In l'a<'t, Jie learns tlii^s >.o ea.si.ly tliat he can't d>) einougih of it. He piiiMs dut the frames for every eoiieeivab e aind iiie.mceivaWe pur- pose, but ais (rften as not that his famiJy may see hiow niciely ihe does it; till ome fine day Jie liiids that tilu bees are not workiiiig on clover any more, and by the time ihe ihas be.n stuiii? aM over the face and haiiids, he I'hinks he will go and look up t'lie d.irectioins for openinir hives ajjrain. Aii'd now Itif me ji'we i\vm\ a word f)f advice. In laii^ry time.s liike t.hese, ntn-er opein a liive tiiil you liia'\e blown two >;oi)d puffs of i^niioke in at the entrance with a couple of minutes i.iiiterval bitwecii tlicin — then take oH' the covcir, lift a comt'r of the quilt, smoke, t'lien the other three corners in sudessiioii. siiiokinjj a little at each; them ()U'ekly and liriiiily, but (piietly peel off the (piilt. s!Hud.ie dowa the brc-s, and do wijiat you 'have to dn. A little eoal oil s(iuirt"d amoiiig-t the smoker fuel helps ooii-viderably. The next thing that the novice will dis- cover not quite according to book is, in spring a quarter of his bees will be deul. I am afraid tliat here I cannot comfort liiin except by siiying that wintering with sui-- cess is a thing that we all have to learn by experience and by experience only. How- ever, if he has the right kind of grit, this failure should only nene him to greater care and fresii efforts towards future suc- cess. As a preliminary, he should, of course, try to diagnose the caiise or causes of t'iie mishap. Perhaps 1 may with ad- vantage obtrtide a few observations as to the basis on whieli his self-examination should be conducted. First, did he take cure to unite all weak colonies early in the auLumn':' In less he is very unlike other novices the answer will be, no, he was too anxious to go ahead and liave a big apiary o,U!ckly. Secondly, did he leave his bees alone during winter? Here again 1 leur the answer will be no, he went and sh,v.)k litem up about twice a week to make sure tlu',\ were alive. He i)robal)ly had the Nilidaction of finding that they were so tlwough about three parts of the winter, and then suddenly found that tliis violent .oiiicitude had been a little more than tiieir coiistuutions I'ould survive, and that Ihey liad succumbed. Thirdly, perhajis most important of all, were his covers really watertight':' If not, that explains every- thing. However, sheet iron, shears, and roofing nails are all cheap, and these with .1 little paint ar«> all that are reipiired to remedy the matter for next time. Atid so having got our begunier through his first winter, not too successfully, but probably tpiite as succiessfully as is good for him, let us close with a word of .idvice to him (whicih, of course, he will not fol- low 1 for the spi-ing. Do not let him give way to the mania for sudden increase. \n apiary that is artifieally .swarmed too much is like a man who has been bled to exhaiiNtum, it is so weak that nothing Avill succeed with it a.t least in tlie hands of a beginner certainly next to no honey wUl be obtained. iOven if a pi-ofit is tried to be written in l)y valuing the new sitocks at six dollars each; what with all the sugir that will have to be bought to get them in- to shape for the winter, and the number that will die before sjiring, a great part e\en of this will l)e dissijjated. f^'o my finaJ advice to beginners in api- cultuiiv is "go slow and yon will g'o sure." • • t J'} "iSW Want AND FOR SALE ADVERTISEMENTS OF LIVE STOCK IN The Family Herald and Weekly Star MONTREAL BRING THE GREATEST RESULTS. 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