THU SMERICKK ESEE JOXXRIMKX. 



233 



fc«fc^*^A^*^a^A^* ^*^*^* ^* *>*< fc<^^ 



tions for moving the bees or not. By 

 examining closely we can find the 

 bunch of buds at the base of each leaf, 

 curled up. looking like the half of a 

 very small pea, or perhaps a little 

 fuzzy caterpillar would explain it bet- 

 ter. With each week this bunch of 

 buds grows till at the end of about 

 seven weeks from the time the trees 

 put on their green in the s))ring, they 

 open their flowers, tilled with nectar 

 to invite the bees to a sumptuous feast. 



Of course, a cool season will retard 

 the time of their blossoming a little, 

 and a hot season advance it ; but the 

 above is the rule. Thus the practical 

 eye can tell nearly two mouths in ad- 

 vance, as to the promise of a yield of 

 basswood honej% 



In replying to the third question, I 

 will s.ay that I never knew a season 

 when the basswoood did not furnish 

 some honey. The shortest jield which 

 I ever knew gave a three days' yield, 

 in which honey was so plentiful that 

 the bees could not pre|)are room fast 

 enough to store it, with a gradual 

 tapering off of two days more, making 

 five days in all. The longest gave a 

 yield of 25 days, with three of them so 

 cold that the bees could only work a 

 little in the middle of the day. 



The state of the atmosphere has 

 much to do with the secretion of honey 

 in the basswood flowers. The most 

 unfavorable weather is a cold, rainy, 

 cloudy spell, witli the Avind in the 

 northwest. If basswood bli>omed at a 

 time of year when we were liable to 

 have much of such weather, there 

 might be such a thing as an entire 

 failure of honey fronr it. But as a rule, 

 we have very little such weather at 

 this time of year. 



The condition most favorable to a 

 large yield is, when the weatlier is 

 very warm, and the air filled with 

 electricity. At times when showers 

 pass all around with sharp liglitning 

 and heavy thunder, the honey will al- 

 most drop from the blossoms, provid- 

 ing no rain chances to come within a 

 mile or two of it. At such times as 

 this, I have seen honey in the blos- 

 soms after thej' had fallen off on the 

 ground, so that it sparkled in the 

 morning sunshine. Then, this nectar 

 is honey and not sweetened water, 

 which makes basswood doubly valua- 

 ble over most of the other honey- 

 secreting plants and trees. 



One bee-load of nectar from the 

 basswood, in a dry, warm time, is 

 equal to three from the white clover, or 

 five from some other of our flowers. 

 In a rainy time there is not so marked 

 a difference. At times when basswood 

 was yielding its best, I have seen more 

 than a bee-load of honey in a single 

 flower. I have taken one stem of 

 blossoms, when the yield was great, 



and jarred it over my hand, when I 

 would have several drops of nice honey 

 in it. At such times as this, 1,000 

 colonies of bees could find all the 

 hone3' which they could carry, if all 

 were left in one place ; at all other 

 times, I think from 100 to 200 colonies 

 would be ample for any locality. 

 Borodino, N. Y. 



FAIR EXHIBITS. 



Separate Buildings for Apiarian 

 Di!ipiay§. 



Written for the American Bee Journal 



BY DB. A. B. MASON. 



On page 132 I am asked, among 

 others, to tell what I think about sep- 

 arate buildings for bee and honey 

 shows at fairs, and the request is pre- 

 faced by these words: " Much may 

 be said in favor of a separate build- 

 ing." 



Yes " much may be said in favor of " 

 such a building, but I think that much 

 more ma}' be said in favor of usually 

 making apiarian exhibits in buildings 

 in which other exhibits are made. 



It is "just splendid" for bee-keep- 

 ers to have a building all to themselves. 

 The Michigan bee-keepers have had 

 snch a building for six years at their 

 State fair, and it is nice for Oiem ; I 

 think that it was in 1883 that they had 

 their first separate building at Detroit, 

 and very nice displays were made by 

 M. H. Hunt, W. Z. Hutchinson and H. 

 D. Cutting. There were also some 

 smaller exhibits, but the building being 

 oft' to one side, it was not visited by 

 the crowd. 



The next two years the fair was at 

 Kalamazoo. The building was larger 

 and better located, and was visited by 

 all who desired to see the exhibit. For 

 the last three years the fair has been 

 held at Jackson. It is not well located, 

 visitors having to go at least 60 feet, I 

 should think, away from the regular 

 thoroughfare, to see the exhibit ; and 

 when the ground is muddy, as fair- 

 grounds generally are during fair time, 

 people are not going far out of their 

 way to see what they are not especially 

 interested in. 



At the Ohio Centennial last fall, our 

 honey-building was located fully 75 

 feet from the main thoroughfare, and 

 there were many days when mud was 

 supreme, that our building was pretty 

 well neglected, and we felt "kinder 

 lonesome." 



At our Tri-State Fair, here at To- 

 ledo, the managers have several times 

 offered to put up a separate building 

 for us, but I have so far preferred our 

 present location, which is in one end 

 of what is known as the Main Hall — 

 the largest building on the grounds — 



in which is the Art Gallery, dry goods, 



notions, clothing, everything made by 

 the ladies, sewing machines, musical 

 instruments, flowers, fruits, vegetables, 

 grains, seeds, the products of the 

 kitchen and dairy, etc., and no one 

 can see these without seeing the bees 

 and honey. 



Exliibits at tlie Xri-State Fair. 



Our lirst exhibit was made in 1882, 

 and "ye editor" being present as 

 judge, said this in the Ameijican Bee. 

 Journal for Sept. 20 of that year, in 

 regard to that exhibit : 



"Bee and Honey Show at Toledo, O.— 

 Such a grand success was this new feature 

 of the TriState Fair, that the managers 

 have already promised the beekeepers all 

 the space they may desire at the fair for 

 next year. 



" Tlie small comer set apart for the bee 

 and honey show was so crowded all the- 

 time, that it was with great difficulty that 

 any one could get through the crowd, and 

 utterly impossible for one-quarter of those 

 who desired to examine the exhibits, to 

 even get within a stone's throw of them." 



Every year since, the honey exhibit 

 has been an attractive feature, and we 

 much prefer to remain in the main 

 building, to having a l)uilding by our- 

 selves. Last year one of the directors 

 spoke of leaving out the honey-de- 

 partment, so as to save so much money 

 (181), but he was "alone in his glory." 

 They have found it difficult to till the 

 space we occupy with anything else. 



We make a specialty of exhibiting 

 honey, and display it to the best pos- 

 sible advantage. The number of ex- 

 hiljitors is generally so small in most 

 localities, that a building of respectable 

 proportions could not be so tilled as to- 

 do credit to our specialty. 



I believe that the premium list is of 

 vastly more importance than the build- 

 ing. No one is going to make an ex- 

 hibit in any department unless it pays. 

 That is what we are all after, the pay. 

 Many exhibits are made without any 

 premiums being offered, the sales and 

 the advertising being suflicient re- 

 muneration. 



In this locality the sales and adver- 

 tising in the honey department are not 

 enough to pay. although the sales in- 

 crease every year. Last year there 

 was an unusual demand for honey. 



If a separate building is used, it 

 njust be tilled, or the fair managers 

 will be disgusted, and wish they had 

 saved the money invested in the build- 

 ing for some other purpose. If the 

 exhibits are made in connection with 

 other displays, and the show of honey, 

 for any reason, is small, other exhibits 

 will take its place. 



Last season being such a poor honey 

 season, there was but one entry made 

 here besides ours, and wo had to 

 "spread ourselves" to occupy the 

 alio ted sjiace ; and living only about a 



