THE BEE-KEEPERS' REVIEW 



181 



as any of the hone^' plants. The sag^es 

 that grow in the mountain canyons of 

 California ha\e furnished honey for 

 many years, and probably will con- 

 tinue to do so, as the steepness of the 

 mountain sides prevents their being- 

 plowed up. The same might be said of 

 the clover upon the hillsides of old Ver- 

 mont; but, in many sections of the 

 countrj', the sources of the honey supply 

 a.-econtinuallj' shifting. For instance, 

 in some parts of northern Michigan 

 the basswoods once furnislied bounti- 

 ful harvests of iione}'; then came the 

 lumberman's ax<' and cut them away. 

 In their wake came the raspberry 

 which furnishes a larger and surer 

 harvest; but it is only a question of 

 time when the farmers' plow will r. ot 

 out the berries, and their place will be 

 taken by the clover that even now 

 comes creeping in. 



In some parts of New York buck- 

 wheat is now the main source of honey 



supply — what it was years ago I don't 

 know — possibl3' basswood and clover. 



In many parts of the West, irriga- 

 tion was followed by the cultivation 

 of immense fields of alfalfa, from 

 which the bee-keeper has reaped a 

 bounteous crop; but the tendency, of 

 late, on the part of the farmer, to cut 

 the alfalfa early, is lessening the yield 

 of honey, and the outcome is some- 

 what uncertain. 



A new, or timbered, country always 

 furnishes different sources of honey 

 than abound after the country is cleared . 

 Civilization brings the fruit bloom, the 

 alsike and white clover, the buckwheat, 

 the sweet clover, etc. 



The bee-keeper who expects to suc- 

 ceel must study all of these thing's and 

 govern his action accordingly. Don't 

 buy land, and put up expensive, 

 special building, cellars, etc., in a 

 locality where the pasturage is likely 

 to pass away in a few years. 



EXTRACTED DEPARTMENT. 



SHOOK SWARMING. 



How to Avoid Swarming-Out and Some 

 Other Difficulties. 



The season is now here when shook 

 swarming is put into [practice, and it 

 is well to consider some of the difiHcul- 

 ties to be overcome. One is that of 

 swarming-out. Mr. Stachelhausen, of 

 Texas, is the pioneer and introducer of 

 this plan into America, and probabl}' 

 understands all of the ins and outs of 

 the proceeding better than any one 

 else in this country, hence, it is with 

 much gratification that I copy from 

 Gleanings an article of his on this sub- 

 ject. Mr. Stachelhausen says: 



By reading different bee-journals 

 I find that a few things in making 

 these artificial swarms are not proper- 

 ly understood by some bee-keepers. 



For this reason it will not be out of 

 place to say a few words more. 



1. There is no agreement about the 

 time when a shaken swarm shall be 

 made. Some say it can be made as 

 soon as the colony is strong enough; 

 others advise waiting till queen-cells 

 are started; and the editor, page 527, 

 even thinks the absconding, which 

 sometimes happens with such swarms, 

 may be caused by shaking a colony 

 when there was no indication or desire 

 to swarm in the old colony. Whether 

 we shall wait for queen cells or not 

 depends on circumstances. If we have 

 a strong colony in a large hive, there 

 is no reason why a shaken swarm 

 could not be shaken successfully, 

 queen cells or none. I have made hun- 

 dreds of such swarms without waiting 

 for queen-cells. If we work for ex- 

 tracted honey, iind want some increase. 



