16 



THE BEE-KEEPERS' REVIEW 



which is a better pasturag-e plant then 

 red clover. It will not furnish as 

 much hay per acre, but it should be 

 sown in connection with the red clover, 

 as it secures a better quantity of hay, 

 and also avoids bare spots in the field, 

 as, if one does not catch in certain 

 places the other is most likely to take 

 its place. Then again, it is of the 

 most importance to have some tree or 

 plant in bloom at the time when the 

 bees will be gathering little else. 

 Buckwheat, as is well known, will fur- 

 nish the bees nectar when they would 

 get little else. A plant which could be 

 sown with small grains would be very 

 desirable. Serradella, which is one of 

 the nitrogen gatherers, is said to furnish 

 excellent honey in Europe. It can be 

 sown with small grains, will blossom 

 during August, and then can be turned 

 under for green manure. Then there 

 is winter rape which should be sown 

 during August. It two months it will 

 furnish excellent pasture for cattle, 

 and, the next spring it will blossom 

 during the honey dearth between fruit 

 bloom and clover, after which it 

 should be turned under, about the first 

 part of June, and the land planted to 

 potatoes or sown with buckwheat, mil- 

 let, or other quick growing crops. 

 And don't forget to plant basswood, 

 willows, and the like, along the road- 

 side. They need not be planted for the 

 bees alone, for they beautify our homes 

 and increase their value. Especially, 

 are the willows important. My records 

 show that they ' commence to bloom 

 about the middle of May, and continue 

 till June, and the bees work on them 

 all day long. Thus, you see, the 

 farmer bee-keeper, has certain advan- 

 tages over the out- apiary man; and it 

 is my opinion that any one who can 

 throw away the farming-prop, and 

 manage, out-apiaries can also manage, 

 successfully, bee-keeping with farm- 

 ing. 



And that reminds me that the fol- 

 lowing conversation was once heard: 



A business man said to a farmer-bee- 

 keeper, who had about 100 colonies, 

 that "he could not manage them all 

 anyway." Said the bee-keeper, "I 

 manage them all myself, and do my 

 farm-work besides." "Yes," said the 

 business man, "but they build (work) 

 just the way they want to." "They 

 build (work) just the way / want 

 them to," was the bee-keeper's reply. 

 This business man had a colony in a 

 hollow log, brought from the woods. 

 I think he also had one or two in boxes. 

 Probably he thought he knew all about 

 the business. What would life say if 

 we were to tell him that Mr. Gill, his 

 wife and one helper, managed success- 

 full3' over 1000 colonies, securing 75,- 

 000 pounds of comb honey ? Maybe he 

 would ask us "if that was the best 

 yarn we could tell ?" 



And now, in conclusion, let me say, 

 that after having thus improved the 

 agricultural condition of our farms, 

 and, at the same time, provided pas- 

 ture for our bees, maybe we would then 

 be able to keep as many as 800 colonies 

 in one apiarj', as has been done by 

 Mr. Alexander, of New York. We 

 could then keep more bees without 

 going to the expense of establishing 

 ont-apiaries, and all done by the 

 farmer bee-keeper. 



Metz, Wisconsin, Nov. 14, 1904. 

 [It is seldom that I publish an article 

 with greater pleasure than I experience 

 giving in the foregoing. One reason 

 is because its views are in opposition 

 to my own — because the writer has 

 done what I have so often urged my 

 readers to do — write and let me know 

 if they did not agree with me. An- 

 other thing that pleases me is the fair- 

 ness of the arguments. In fact, it is 

 the best argument that I have ever seen 

 put up against my plea for specialty; 

 and I may as well admit that, if a bee- 

 keeper can manage an apiary by one 

 visit a week, a farmer could also man- 

 age an apiary by working in it one 

 day in a week, provided, as my friend 



