THE AMERICAN BEE-KEEPER. 



171 



mile, leaving the earth bare and 

 blackened. 



In the wake of these fires there 

 spring up, as by magic, berry briers, 

 goldenrod, fireweed and the incompara- 

 ble willow herb. As all of these plants 

 die in the fall, the earth and old logs 

 and stumps are soon again covered 

 with a mass of inflammable material; 

 and the burning is almost sure to be 

 repeated every two or three years. In 

 fact, during a recent trip in northern 

 Michigan, I learned that the willow 

 herb is inclined to "run out" in two or 

 three years, and is kept at its best only 

 by these repeated burnings. 



The engraving shows a northern 

 Michigan apiary near Thompsonville, 

 Benzie county. It is the property of 

 Mr. Geo. E. Hilton, who owns two 

 other apiaries in that locality. The man 

 standing at the right is Mr. Hilton. 

 Leaning against a raised hive-cover is 

 Mr. John Calvert, Mr. Root's son-in- 

 law. The little chap behind the veil is 

 the son of the man who manages the 

 apiary for Mr. Hilton, and is quite an 

 enthusiast for a boy. The man in the 

 foreground is the driver of the team 

 that brought us in from Thompson- 

 ville. We took a drive a mile or more 

 into the region shown in the back- 

 ground, winding here and there along 

 the old woods-road and admiring the 

 acres and acres of willow herb in full 

 bloom. By the way. we found one 

 stalk of pure white willow herb, some- 

 thing none of us had ever seen. 



While on the train Mr. Hilton occa- 

 sionally pointed out of the window and 

 said: "Right there is a splendid loca- 

 tion for an apiary." He did not reach 

 this conclusion simply from what could 

 be seen from the car window, but be- 

 cause he had been there and investi- 

 gated. There are many places in this 

 region where bees have access to rasp- 

 berries, basswood and willow herb, 

 and, as the land is cleared, white clover 

 comes in and completes the chain, 

 making one continuous flow from 

 spring until fall. 



For years to come, Northern Michi- 

 gan will be an ideal location for hone^ 

 production. That bee-keepers are be- 

 coming aware of the fact is shown by 

 the way they are bringing in their bees. 

 While we were at Mr. Hilton's apiary, 

 his man told us that Mr. L. C. Wood- 

 man of Grand Rapids had just brought 

 in 150 colonies, and so it goes. Regard 

 for the rights of others, combined with 

 self interest and the number of unoccu- 

 pied locations, have thus far kept bee- 

 keepers from crowding one another. 



If any are led to consider the advisa- 

 bility of moving to northern Michigan, 

 let me say, if accustomed to the com- 

 forts and advantages of civilization, 

 don't forget that this is a new country. 

 — W. Z. Hutchinson in Bee-Keepers' 

 Review. 



From a number of original composi- 

 tions on animals, sent by a Boston 

 teacher to the New York Sun, we take 

 the following: 



THE BARE. 



"Bares are of many sighes and all 

 big. The chief kinds are the grizzly 

 bare which is black; the sinnermon 

 bare which is good and gentle; the 

 white bare which bleaches its skin to 

 hide in the snow and make a rug, and 

 the black bare which is common and is 

 careful of its cubs. Bares fight bees 

 for honey, which is mean because the 

 bees are little. Once a bare found some 

 currant jelly sitting on a garden bench 

 to dry, and he ate it, and the lady 

 hadn't any more, which was greedy. 

 Bares are pigs. J. C. C." 



BEES. 



"Bees are always busy because the 

 idle ones are killed. They make honey 

 and wax, but parafeen candles are 

 cheaper or else candles made out of 

 whales. The bees build cells and combs 

 and some times fill trees and bears 

 smell the honey and eat it. They suck 

 the juice out of flowers and the flower 

 dies. Bees are meaner than mosqui- 

 toes, and you can tell them by the yel- 

 low bands on their abdomen. A. C," 



