158 EIGIITEEXTII AXXUAL REPORT OF THE 



Mr. Kindig. — It is an annual. 



A Member. — How long does the honey flow last with the fire- 

 weed? 



Mr. Kindig. — It is scattered. Now, the honey flow up there 

 is different from oiir honey flow here, for this reason. Nearly all the 

 flowers that secrete nectar and grow in the shade, won't begin secreting 

 nectar for ten days or two weeks after those that grow in the sun will 

 begin secreting nectar. About six weeks is the honey flow, beginning 

 the 2oth of June, and beginning with the raspberry and finishing with 

 the alsike clover. Now here is a condition — I am free to confess that 

 I am afraid some of you will say I am the biggest liar on earth, but all 

 I say is, come up there and see for yourselves, and then come back and 

 tell me what you saw, face to face. The alsike clover grows in immense 

 tracts, as 1 said before, for hay pasture. Now every fellow^ wants to 

 produce all the hay he can, and the result is he may have several hundred 

 acres of alsike clover hay. Now the labor question is a question up 

 there just as much as it is here, and he starts in to cut alsike clover 

 hay. He starts on the first of July to cut, maj'be, and he will be cutting 

 alsike haj^ for six weeks, and before he gets done with the last cutting, 

 where he cut in the first place has come up to second gro^vth, alsike 

 again in bloom. So that serves to lengthen out the hone}' flow. 



A Member. — Does the second growth produce honey? 



Mr. Kindig. — I am told that it does. I did not actually see 

 the bees working on the second growth myse^fj-'^T^am told that it does, 

 though. 



Mr. Wheeler. — Does it ever fail ^ produce honey? It does 

 here. 



Mr. Kindig. — It fails here. But the peculiar thing that I ex- 

 perienced up there was that they don't know what a drouth is. Now 

 that is easily explained. You understand the proximity of Lake 

 Huron and Lake Superior brings about a condition whereby rain falls 

 with surprising regularity throughout the summer, and they do not 

 really experience a drouth, and it is a drouth that cuts clover off. And 

 for that reason I think it is the greatest bee-keeing country I ever saw. 

 But I want to say to you folks this: any one who will go up there on 

 w^hat I have said and ship a carload of bees up there without making 

 an investigation of that thing is doing one of the most foolhardy things 

 that I can think about. There is onlj'^ one way to go to a place like 

 that, and that is to make due preparation in the way of investigation, 

 and so forth. Go there next summer and mayl^e it won't look half so 

 good to you. The only thing to do is to go and see it and satisfy j^our- 

 self in your own mind without taking anj^body's word for it, and then 

 if you go there you will go there with your eyes open. I don't want 

 to be to blame for any one going to the upper peninsula and being stung. 

 I do want to create an enthusiasn in some bee-keepers to go there, 

 because, as I said, I think it is a great thing to get away from the drouth 

 that cuts the honey crop two j^ears out of five around here. And 

 you get away from a lot of things. But I want you to go there with 

 your eyes open. So I say go there for yourselves, and go there during 

 the honey flow. 



A Member. — July? 



