POULTRY, BIRDS AND BEES 



257 



keepiQg IS light, pleasant work, and nearly every family 

 in the country might at least have an abundant supply of 

 fresh honey in return for a very little labor. 



Varieties of Bees. — More persons would keep bees, if 

 they were not afraid of being stung. The common black 

 honey bee is often quite vicious and will sting at the least 



Figure 115. — A well-developed apiary. 



provocation. Italian bees are now quite common and, if 

 handled at all reasonably, are not in the least vicious. 

 Most bee-keepers handle the Italian bees with bare hands 

 and bare faces and very rarely are stung. 



Sources of Honey. — Honey is the nectar of flowers 

 gathered by bees. White clover, sweet clover, buckwheat 

 and basswood are the chief sources of honey, though the 

 bees will gather honey from a great variety of flowers, if 

 none of the choice plants are available. Honey is a product 

 that, unless gathered and stored by bees, is entirely lost. 

 Bees not only gather honey, a useful product, from a source 

 that costs nothing, but they are of material benefit to many 

 of the plants they visit, as they aid in the pollination of 

 the flowers. 



A hive of bees on every farm is a good slogan. To 

 know about bees and their industrious, orderly habits is 



