THE BEE-ICEEPERS' REVIEW 



235 



there were only about ivvo tons in the 

 pile, but some of these old shanties are 

 br.iit none too solid, and there is no 

 knowini,-- how lonjc this one ir.ay have 

 stood here. I may as w;ll say, 

 first as last, that the honey 

 crop in Northern Michii;-an came as 

 near beinjj;- a failure this year as I 

 iiave ever known it to be. I expect 

 that the freeze that I have already 

 mentioned was the cause of it. The 

 followin-,' extract from a letter just re- 



ouj,'-ht to havtj had 2.5,000 or 30,()()(). 

 Bartlett luis one-fourth of a crop; I). 

 S. Kitson, of Charlevoix, only one-tifth 

 of a crop; Mr. Martin has about one- 

 third of a crop; and others one-fourth. 

 Our honey is not yet all oS the hives, 

 but I doubt if the averag'e yield goes 

 above 25 or .^0 pounds to the colony, 

 while 100 ]iounds to the colony is not 

 unusu;il in this vicinitj'. (hie apiary 

 is located vvhere there is a large 

 acreage of buckwheat sown, and, as 

 one man who has kept a few colonies 



The South Boardman Apiary. 

 In thr backtfround are Ihc chjppings that furnish the raspberry bloom. 



ceived from Mr. S. U. Chapman ex- 

 ])lains the situation as perfectly as it 

 is possible. Among other things, Mr. 

 Chapman says: — 



On May 20th it was just 20 degrees 

 above zero at my place. One-half of 

 the raspberry was killed .so that it 

 never leaved out, and is perfectly dead 

 today. North of here is even worse — 

 and this is what is the matter with our 

 honey crop. I will have about one- 

 third of a crop— 9,000 pounds when I 



there for four years told me there had 

 been a yield from buckwheat each 

 year, there may be something of an 

 addition to the crop from that source. 



HOW .SPRING KKEDING MIGHT HAVE 

 HELPED. 



Notwithstanding the damage frv.m 

 the freeze, I am quite sure that 'ho 

 crop might have been doubled, perhaj^s 

 trebled, by judicious feeding during 



