THE BEE-KEEPERS' REVIEW, 



239 



pay better than ever before, and the more of 

 a specialty one makes of the business, the 

 hirtrer per cent of net profits ho will receive." 

 Where there is a reasonable assurance of a 

 crop each year, or even each alternate year, 

 Mr. Heddon's views are in accordance with 

 my own, but in those localities where only a 

 partial crop may be expected once in three 

 or four years, it must be a rich man indeed 

 who can indult;e in specialty. Mr. Heddon's 

 idea that if a business will not pay as a 

 specialty it will not pay as a side-issue, is in 

 the main true : but here is the view that I 

 take of bee-keeping as it now exists in many 

 parts of this country. As I said a few 

 months ago when discussing " The Future 

 of Bee-Keeping," there are many men scat- 

 tered over the country who have done well 

 in making a specialty of bee-keeping, but 

 can never do so again in their present local- 

 ities under the present climatic and forage 

 conditions. As the years go by these men 

 become poorer and poorer. They have a 

 faith in bee-keeping and a love for it, and 

 will not abandon it, neither will they add to 

 it some other business, because they are 

 specialists and believe in speciality. It 

 might be the best thing for these men to 

 abandon bee-keeping. I don't say that it 

 wouldn't, but they have a thorough knowl- 

 edge of bees, they have the bees, the honey 

 house, the implements, etc., and occasionally 

 get a fair crop of honey, and when there is 

 no crop there is very little work, and if they 

 can take up some other business that will 

 still allow them to work with the bees when 

 necessary, I think that it is a good thing to 

 do. 



In closing I must call attention to the faint 

 star of hope that appears in the prospective 

 changes in forage plants. The old red clo- 

 ver that has been so universally grown is 

 rapidly becoming a thing of the past. In- 

 sect enemies are the cause. In its place is 

 coming alsike, which is a magnificent honey 

 plant, and it is possible that crimson clover, 

 in the warmer portions of tlie country, may 

 yet be the peer of alsike. In the West, al- 

 falfa is already furnishing car loads of hay 

 and tons of honey. I still have my doubts 

 about sweet clover, but there may be local- 

 ities where it will yet prove a large factor in 

 honey production. I must admit that these 

 prospective changes in forage plants make 

 me hopeful that bee-keeping as a specialty 

 may yet be depended upon in some local- 

 ities where a specialist now would starve. 



Growing Basswood From the Seed. 



Although the growing of a basswood forest, 

 or of a sufficient number of trees to make 

 them of value as honey producers, is the 

 work of a life time — no, that is putting it 

 too strong, is the work of years, it is a great 

 deal better to encourage the planting of 

 these trees, than of others that produce no 

 honey. Mr. Heddon mentions, in his (Juar- 

 terli/, one basswood in his vicinity, a " black 

 basswood." he calls it, that had finished 

 blossoming when the others were just begin- 

 ning, and he is going to save the seeds and 

 plant them. As every one may not know 

 how to treat the seeds to secure the best re- 

 sults I copy the following from the Ameri- 

 can Bee Journal. It was contributed by 

 Geo, W, Stephens of Denison, Iowa. 



"The seed should be gathered when ripe, 

 and mixed with moderately damp sand and 

 packed in a box in the cellar where it will 

 not freeze. Wet the sand two or three times 

 during the winter, so that it will not become 

 too dry. In the spring, sow broadcast in 

 open ground or in drills, as you would peas, 

 and cover very lightly. The roots start first, 

 and grow down into the ground ; the sprout 

 starts afterward, and graduly assumes an 

 erect position. If they are covered too deep- 

 ly they will never rise. Less than a quarter 

 of an inch is enough. The bed should be 

 kept damp, and to prevent evaporation it is 

 well to cover with muslin, as in a cold 

 frame." 



Why the Best Size of Brood Nest is a 

 Question of Locality. 

 I really am becoming tired of this discus 

 sion in regard to the best size of a hive. 

 Perhaps I would not, but it seems as though 

 so many of the correspondents are arguing 

 at cross purposes ; that is, they are right, and 

 yet they are wrong. In short, it seems as 

 though they were all both right and wrong. 

 One man details his management and ex- 

 perience and shows most conclusively, that, 

 for him and his management, a small hive is 

 best. Another man in a different locality 

 and with a different system, perhaps, shows 

 that a large hive is the one for him. Mr. J. 

 E. Hand, of Ohio, sums up the matter in 

 Gleanincjs in a way that seems to me to ex- 

 plain the whole question. His views are not 

 new, but they are so well put that there is 

 much satisfaction reading them. He says : — 



" I have read with much interest the dis- 

 cussion on the subject of large v. small brood 

 chamber hives. This is a subject of vital 

 importance to the bee-keeper, and one on 

 which depends his success or failure in the 



