T})e See-JKeepeps' |Ae\^ie(.o 



A MONTHLY JOURNAL 



Devoted to i\]e Interests of Hoqey Producers. 



$L00 A YEAR. 



W. Z. HUTCHINSON, Editor and Proprietor. 



VOL, X, 



FLIN" 



ilCHIGAN, AUG. 10, 1897. 



NO. 8. 



The Season— Experiments with Non- 

 Swarmers, Etc. 



L. A. ASPINWALL. 



Like the sound of the cataract's roar. 

 The hnm of onr bees ii-- heard as of yore. 



13' 



CERTAINLY, the 

 continuous 

 hum of bees for 

 more than three 

 weeks during op- 

 pressive! y warm 

 weather, had a sem- 

 blance of the mo- 

 ll (it on o us roar 

 \\ h i c h character- 

 izi's that of Niaga- 

 ra, aud added to 

 the monotone was 

 the inability to keep pace with onr bees in 

 removing and supplying supers. 



The season has been extraordinary in 

 many respects, and the honey yield phenom- 

 enal; never have I known its equal. This 

 extraordinary yield appears still more phe- 

 nomenal, when but eighteen months ago 

 bee keepers were bemoaning the condition 

 which seemed to indicate that our honey 

 sources were being obliterated by the wood- 

 man's axe, and a succession of extremely 

 dry seasons. But following these conditions 

 comes the present seas(in with an unprece- 

 dented amount of white clover. Where 

 none was visible last season it completely 

 covered the ground. It seemed as though 



an angel had come down and sowed it 

 thickly, far and wide. 



This has led me to consider how, in the 

 face of apparent death, comes such an abun- 

 dance. Surely Nature is founded in wisdom 

 and her resources are indestructible. Has 

 not the seed accumulated during the past 

 five or six years of drouth, and the requisite 

 amount of moisture necessary to its germi- 

 nation and extension by the rooting tendrils 

 given us more than could have been ex- 

 pected: and has not Nature more than ever 

 before displayed lier marvelous stores? 



In connection with, or rather preceding 

 this extraordinary condition, the weather 

 was unseasonably cold, and unfavorable to 

 the flight of bees. My hives having been well 

 packed until a few days preceding the honey 

 flow, which opened suddenly with warm 

 weather on the 10th of June, were overflow- 

 ing with bees, even in my large hives 

 (although supplied with dummies), which 

 placed them again in the condition of 

 swarming hives. I became extremely 

 anxious as to the situation, wondering if it 

 were possible to hold them from swarming 

 with such a sudden change of temperature, 

 accompanied by the great flow of nectar, 

 also an unusual proportion of field bees with 

 perfect or unworn wings (by reason of non- 

 use) compared with the middle aged or comb 

 building bees, which would naturally carry 

 honey to the latter faster than their ability 

 to care for it, clogging the hive and increas- 

 ing the tendency to swarm. 



