696 ANNUAL REPORT OF THE Off. Doc. 



measure of success. There are critical linns in every apiary when 

 the apiarist cannot possibly be bothered with any oilier work and 

 must put in full time with his bees. 



A successful bee-keeper can never afford to procrastinate, for pro- 

 crastination is the thief of honey and money to the apiarist. If we 

 put off for a single day the giving of more surplus room to the 

 bees, when needed, it means the loss of many dollars, in a large 

 apiary. 



We will now look about us and see what conditions are necessary 

 to the successful prosecution of the business. First and the most 

 important factor in my opinion is location. Fortunately, our old 

 State of Pennsylvania is very lavish in giving us a great variety of 

 honey-producing flora, and I do not think there is a single locality in 

 the State that would not support from ten to one hundred colonies 

 of bees. In looking about for a good location for our apiaries, we 

 should take the lay of the ground and the abundance of honey- 

 bearing flowers into careful consideration. The character of the 

 soil should also be studied. If I were to choose the ground for an 

 apiary, I should try to get a piece of ground that is dry, and which 

 would never become wet nor flooded. It should slope gently to the 

 south or southeast, with a hill or an elevation on the north and west 

 of the Apiary to protect it from heavy wind storms and cold blasts, 

 especially if the bees be wintered on their summer stands. A brook 

 or small stream of water close to the apiary is also very desirable, 

 as the bees will not thus have to go far from their hives for water. 

 Many bees are lost in the early spring by being compelled to go too 

 great a distance for their supply of water. The cold chilling winds 

 of this season are fatal to bees. 



Having found a place like this with plenty of honey-yielding flowers 

 within easy reach, we have an ideal location. 



We must now study the flowers and find out when they bloom, 

 and when we may expect a yield of honey or pollen from them, so 

 that we may be ready for the honey flow when it comes and then we 

 should manage our bees accordingly. As the honey flora is essen- 

 tially uniform throughout the State, the management of the bees 

 is practically the same. In this connection I might mention the 

 most important honey and pollen yielding plants of our State. By 

 the time spring has fairly begun, the tag alders and the willows 

 blossom and the bees revel in their pollen, the first of the season. 

 (Brood-rearing now begins in full blast.) This is followed by the 

 opening of the soft maples, with their bounteous supply of both 

 honey and pollen. Dandelions, sugar maples, fruit trees and dog- 

 wood, follow in close succession. A short intermission now takes 

 place, then the raspberries come into bloom, followed closely by the 

 clovers with their feast for the bees. Before the clovers cease to 

 yield, buckwheat is beginning to give out its fragrance, and next the 

 season closes with a sea of goldenrod and asters. 



This is a list of the most important honey plants in my location, 

 and I give it as a hint to the prospective specialist. It is what I 

 consider a fairly good location for the bee-keeping business. This 

 is by no means a full list of the honey and pollen bearing trees and 

 plants that are visited by bees. There are many others of minor 

 importance. I have omitted the Linden or Basswood tree, because 

 very little of it grows in my locality, but it is one of our most pro- 



