192 



THE BEE-KEEPERS' REVIEW. 



Do not understand me to mean that the 

 farmer should vacate his tillable land and 

 give it up to plants commonly called 

 weeds; but, as weeds will grow in nearly 

 all land that is not cultivated, why not 

 have a weed that will produce nectar in- 

 stead of having the more noxious kinds? 

 Let us practice this ourselves, and edu- 

 cate our neighbors along this line as far 

 as possible. Is it not a fact that many 

 farmers who are raising bushels of cockle 

 burrs on their farms each year, are horri- 

 fied at the thought of a plant of sweet 

 clover coming on Iheir farm. 



I am aware that some bee-keepers who 

 are more particular than wise contend 

 that sweet clover honey is not fit to eat, 

 but such talk is sheer nonsense. 



If my bees can not gather honey that 

 will bring 8 cents per pound (for ex- 

 tracted ) I would rather have them gath- 

 ering 4-cent honey than doing nothing. 

 Sweet clover here comes at a time when 

 the bees have practically nothing else to 

 do; and I wish there were a thousand 

 acres or more within reach of my bees. 

 It can easily be induced to take the place 

 of more noxious weeds, and I have no 

 doubt that many of us will live to see it 

 planted as a profitable farm crop, es- 

 pecially for soiling, and redeeming dry 

 clay soils. There is much room for 

 thought and labor as well as improvement 

 in this field. 



In hives and fixtures I think we are so 

 near perfection that it is simplv a matter 

 of taste which kind we shall adopt; and 

 each bee-keeper should be able to judge 

 for himself, better than any one can tell 

 him, what kind of hive is best adapted to 

 his own particular locality. Adaptability 

 to climate and time of main hone)' flow, 

 ease of manipulation and the securing of 

 the greatest amount of honey in the most 

 attractive form for the market, should be 

 the chief considerations in adopting a 

 hive. In regard to implements about the 

 apiary, use the kind you prefer and can 

 use most skillfully, and do ndt discard 

 what you have for something new simply 

 because some one says it is better. 



Ivocation. Here, Mr. lulitor, you have 

 raised a question. You speak of Mohamet 

 going to the mountain. Now, if all of 

 the Mohamets should go to the moun- 

 tain would it not soon be overstocked? 

 And are not the Mohamets who are al- 

 ready there giving us gentle hints to keep 

 off the mountain, that it is already fully 

 occupied? 



Likely, the young man who intends 

 making bee-keeping his vocation for life 

 would do best to first find the best loca- 

 tion to be found, taking into considera- 

 tion, of course, honey resources and near- 

 ness to a good market. 



But, as a rule, the bee-keeper is not by 

 instinct a rover, and loves home, family, 

 friends and surroundings better than the 

 gold that he might hoard by going to a 

 more profitable location; and a move 

 with family and all costs considerable; 

 and often the place he leaves has to be 

 disposed of at a sacrifice; therefore a 

 move to a better location is not practica- 

 ble for the great majority of bee-keepers. 

 And is it not a fact that the best locations 

 have been already, or soon will be, occu- 

 pied? Hence, we (the majority of us) 

 must abandon this field, and I therefore 

 take it that the question really is, how 

 shall we best improve the opportunities 

 that lie around us; or how shall we make 

 the most out of our bees where we now 

 are. 



This is the question that confronts the 

 most of us, and, to my way of thinking, 

 the most hopeful field lies in the improve- 

 ment of our bees. We need a strain of 

 thoroiighbrtd bees. 



We will, for example, suppose a case of 

 an apiary consisting of one hundred col- 

 onies, and take for a full crop, or 100 per 

 cent, 100 pounds per colony (you may 

 suppose it to be either comb or extracted 

 whichever suits you best. ) Now, taking 

 apiaries as they run, is it not a fact that 

 among the 100 apiaries we will find some 

 colonies that do not store over 25 per 

 cent of a full crop; while others in the 

 same yard, having access to the same 

 fields, will store over 100 per cent, and 



