Tmm MMKRIC'KH WMm JOORHHl^. 



581 



IVatiire In Aiisriii^t. 



Now Nature sits with folded bands, 



As restiug from the busy year, 

 While o'er the wide and teeming lands 



She contemplates the goodly cheer 

 She gives ; all energizing powers 

 Lie mute and still, and drowsy hours 

 Move noiselessly, their jocund moods 

 And songs foregoing ; in deep woods 

 And fields a slumb'rous silence broods 

 Unbroken, save by beetle's drone 

 And o'erfed bees' dull monotone. 



Or leaves' low rustle as they make 

 A pathway for the gliding snake. 



The patient cows seek shadows cool. 

 That stretch themselves like giants prone 



Along the edges of the i3ool — 

 And midst the waters stand knee-deep, 

 In dreamy, semiconscious sleep. 



Birds sing no more, but on the hill 

 The tender plaint of whip-poor will. 



Who, telling oft her woful tale, 

 Lingers full late after her time. 

 While at slow intervals the chime 



Of sheep-bells in the distant vale 

 Falls on the ear like tuneful rhyme. 

 Lulling the senses, till in idle dreams, 

 We half forget the real in the thought of 



that which seems. 



— American Magazine. 



mmS % MEFLIES. 



■Does the Oolden-Rod Yield any 

 Honey ? 



Written for the American Bee Journal 



QuERV 726.— To what extent, if any, 

 does the golden-rod yield honey in your 

 bee-range ?— Miltona. 



None here (Illinois). — ^Dadant & Son. 



Very little, if any (Iowa).— J. M. Shuck. 



It is very limited (Illinois).— Mrs. L. 

 Habkison. 



None, that I know of (Illinois). — J. M. 

 Hambaugh. 



Often very bountifully. It did last year. 

 <Miehigau).^A. J. Cook. 



It yields a very little some years (Michi- 

 gan).— R. L. Tati.ok. 



It yields considerable very fine honey 

 (Illinois). — C. H. Dibbekn. 



It does the best it knows how, and that is 

 nothing to "brag about," usually (Ohio). — 

 A. B. Mason. 



I do not count much on it, but I do not 

 know positively (Illinois). — C. C. Miller. 



Not any that I have been able to dis- 

 cover. There is but, little golden-rod here 

 (New York). — G. M. Doolittle. 



One season, a few years ago. It yielded 

 largely. Usually it yields not at all (In- 

 diana). — M. Mahix. 



We have acres of it in bloom in early 

 September, but I have never found it to 

 yield much honey (Georgia). — J; P. H. 

 Bkown. 



Very largely. In fact, it is depended 

 upon for fall and winter stores (Massachu- 

 setts). —J. E. Pond. 



What is known as golden-rod does not 

 yield honey in this locality (Ohio), as I 

 have never seen a bee working upon it yet. 

 There is a variety of the Sof i(7'(f/o,however, 

 that does yield honey quite freely here the 



latter part of August. I think that it is the 

 S. Serotina. HoUdiujo Odora is the name of 

 the plant generally known as golden-rod. 

 There are 48 varieties of the Solidago in 

 this country, aud it is probable that many 

 of them yield honey. — G. L. Tinker. 



About one year in three, golden-rod gives 

 us quite a little surplus houey during the 

 latter part of August (Michigan). — James 

 Heddon. 



I cannot say with any certainty. I have 

 seen bees at work on it some seasons, and 

 in others the bees left it entirely alone 

 (Michigan).— H. V. Cotting. 



Golden-rod is " no good" in my locality 

 (Kentucky). Pardon me when I say that I 

 believe it is the poorest honey-plant in the 

 woi'ld, when speaking in view of its repu- 

 tation. Tradition sticks wonderfully tight 

 to bee-culture, aud golden-rod has a tra- 

 ditional fame, but no honey. — G. W. 

 Demauee. 



I consider the true golden rod of no value 

 in this locality (Iowa). After much in- 

 quiry and observation, I am forced to the 

 conclusion that a good many men do not 

 know golden-rod. Not a week ago I was 

 talking with a bee-keeper who has 50 or 

 more colonies ; he said that golden-rod was 

 a splendid honey-plant. Upon inquiry, I 

 found he called the yellow-ray flowers, 

 golden-rod. — Eugene Secor. 



It should be remembered that there are 

 many different varieties of golden-rod. 

 These vary greatly as to their value for 

 honey. These also vary in different sea- 

 sons, and on different soils, so that a direct 

 answer is impossible to the question pro- 

 pounded. — The Editor. 



HIVES. 



JWot all in the Kind of Hive- 

 Improving Bees. 



Written for the American Bee Journal 

 BY G. M. DOOLITTLE. 



Many seem to think that large yields 

 of honey are owing pretty much to the 

 hive used, or at least seem to convey 

 that idea, but this is not so. Hives 

 have something to do with the yield 

 of honey, of course, but nothing as 

 compared with a thorough knowledge 

 of the location we are in, and an un- 

 derstanding how to apply that knowl- 

 edge so as to get the bees at the right 

 time to secure the yield of honej' when 

 it comes. 



Again, tlie manipulation of hives 

 has more to do with our surplus crop 

 than the hives themselves, for no mat- 

 ter how good the hive is, if the combs 

 are never touclied, or the surplus room 

 put on in the right time, all may count 

 for naught to the would-ho bee-keeper, 

 and the flowers will bloom in vain, as 

 far as very much profit is concerned. 



In order that none might have a 

 mistaken idea in this matter, I have 

 said in concluding several of my arti- 

 cles, that if any one could not spend 



the time on bees that is required, he 

 had better keep out of the business. I 

 know of no hive witli which a man can 

 secure large results by simply folding 

 his hands and letting the l)ees work. 

 Such is not the economy of Nature, and 

 in order to succeed in any calling in 

 life, we must put energy, industry and 

 perseverance into our work, if we 

 would reap a harvest worth the gath- 

 ering. 



To work hard from 12 to 16 hours 

 each day, at mere physical labor, is 

 not all that is required, either, as many 

 assert by their actions, if not b3' words; 

 but there must be an energy and push, 

 mentally, sufficient to grapple with all 

 of the unsolved problems whicli are in 

 the way of our success. If these are 

 all combined, there is no reason why 

 bee-keeping will not give as good re- 

 sults for what is expended upon it, as 

 any other calling in life, even though 

 it is not so supposed by the majority 

 of the world. 



I wish it understood that large yields 

 of honey can only be secured where 

 there are large numbers of bees in the 

 hive at the right time, and securing 

 such bees in time for the honey harvest 

 is the great secret of success. That 

 more bees can be obtained at the right 

 time by the use of the Gallup frame, to- 

 gether with a proper manipulation of 

 the same, is my belief, and is the only 

 reason that I adopted that style of hive, 

 for other hives give many good points 

 not obtained in the Gallup, but none 

 of which are really great enough, in 

 my opinion, to make good their loss 

 on this one point of preference that 

 this hive gives. 



However, I have done nearly as 

 well with the Langstroth hive and 

 frame, and did I have 40 or more colo- 

 nies, on that style of frame, or in any 

 of the many good hives of the present 

 day, I should hesitate some time be- 

 fore I made a change, trying first to 

 see if a thorough knowledge regarding 

 their manipulation, and adapting this 

 to my field, would not give success. If 

 it should prove that the hive wa.s not 

 at all adapted to my locality, then, of 

 course, I would make a change ; but 

 to change hives every time something 

 new comes along, with the thought 

 " that with this hive I shall succeed," 

 is not the proper thing to do. "Prove 

 all things, and hold fast to that which 

 is good," is as trite a saying to-day as 

 it ever was. 



IMPROVING THE RACE OF BEES. 



There probably is not an apiary in 

 the United Slates containing 20 colo- 

 nies, but what the owner thereof is 

 compelled to acknowledge that certain 

 colonies do better than others nearly 

 every year in producing honey, as we 

 often hear it remarked, " If the whole 



