XIV 



THE GUIDE TO NATURE 



but are thoroughly efficient workers, that form this apiary are in perfect con- 



The method followed in this apiary dition the whole year round, and the 



is to keep the bees constantly busy, products are consequently and corres- 



as well as to have them carefully pro- ponding-ly good. 



MR. VANDERWERKEN AND HIS APIARY ON HIGHLAND ROAD. 



tected. It is well-known to all students 

 of nature that the flow of nectar is 

 somewhat intermittent. Bees rush to 

 the fields when there is plenty of nec- 

 tar, and then sometimes for days, or 

 even weeks loaf around the hive with 

 nothing to do. In this apiary the feed- 

 ing process supplements the natural 

 flow from the fields, and it seems that 

 this is not only good in theory but 

 just as good in practice. It keeps the 

 bees built up to a strong and workable 

 condition, so that when the flow is 

 coming in from the fields, all their en- 

 ergies may be centered upon the stor- 

 age of honey. The feeding is discon- 

 tinued when the supers containing the 

 sections or extracting frames are put 

 upon the body part of the hives. This 

 is the right idea. The wonder is that 

 some one has not previously put it 

 so effectively into practice. By this 

 method of feeding when necessary and 

 by constant protection, the colonies 



"The Occasional Enthusiasm." 



What would life be worth without 

 its occasional enthusiasm, laughable in 

 the retrospect, perhaps, but in itself 

 pleasurable almost to the point of pain- 

 fulness? — Bradford Torrey. 



Six Pronged Cabbage. 



Mr. Elbrey M. Purdy has supplied 

 Arcadia with an interesting form of 

 cabbage in which there are six prongs 

 and six cabbage heads on one stem. 

 This is an excellent example of a cab- 

 bage manifesting the branching ten- 

 dency which has been largely diverted 

 by cultivation, but which, like the corn, 

 as we have previously explained, occa- 

 sionally reverts. The corn then grows 

 its kernels in the tassel, and our cab- 

 bage has not devoted all its energies 

 to the terminal bud, but has developed 

 branches — a curious compromise be- 

 tween the formation of the terminal 

 bud into a cabbage head and the side 

 buds into Brussels sprouts. 



