242 



THE AMERICAN APICULTURIST. 



claim an interest, though he resides 

 across the hne in the Queen City, 

 aided the convention not a Httle by 

 his presence and experience, as well 

 as by his display of honey extractors, 

 wax extractors, smokers, honey, glass 

 jars, etc., etc. 



All together the convention was 

 pleasant and profitable. It was gen- 

 erally conceded that it would require 

 considerable feeding to get all our 

 bees safely through the coming 

 winter. 



Bees have gathered but very little 

 honey during the fall months. The 

 chief cause of failure in summer and 

 fall seems to have been unfavorable 

 weather for honey secretion; north 

 and east winds mean no honey with 

 us. When the flowers were dried up 

 the weather was good, and when the 

 flowers were plentiful, the weather was 

 rough. 



Christianshirg, Ky. 



LOCALITY TO BE CONSID- 

 ERED IN THE MAN A CE- 

 MENT OF BEES. 



By D. D. Marsh. 



All writings upon beekeeping 

 should have in mind the difference 

 between the various localities of our 

 land ; and the novice, fired with en- 

 thusiasm at the reports he reads from 

 some great honey locality, might as 

 well understand at the outset that 

 what is done in one place cannot 

 always be done in another. 



The great supply business of mod- 

 ern apiarian fixtures has been greatly 

 augmented by throwing out false in- 

 ducements which have no regard for 

 the locality of their customers. Such 

 an indiscriminate promise of success 

 must of necessity provide a column 

 of " blasted hopes " for the wail of 

 the unsuccessful. 



Nothing is more evident, and at 

 the same time more astonishing, than 

 the great difference between the 

 honey yields of different localities. 

 Not only states differ, but neighboring 

 parts of the same state differ. One 

 man reports, " I never have had a 

 greater harvest;" and another man 

 but a few miles distant from him re- 

 ports, " My bees have done scarcely 

 anything." My interest in bees was 

 originally kindled by the pleasant fic- 

 tions of Mrs. Lizzie Cotton's circular, 

 though I did not fall into her clutches. 

 I soon learned by experience that 

 exaggerated hopes founded on such 

 misrepresentations could not be re- 

 alized. Different localities need 

 entirely different management accord- 

 ing to climate and favoring surround- 

 ings. The debated question whether 

 black bees or Italians are better de- 

 pends somewhat, I think, on the 

 locality and peculiarities of the apiary. 

 My hives stand on the only land I 

 have at my disposal, a low and damp 

 soil in a hollow surrounded by shady 

 trees and buildings. I have found 

 thus far, during eight years, that 

 black bees have made comb honey 

 far better than Italians. 



After buying bees of farmers and 

 Italianizing them with high hopes of 

 the yellow beauties, I have gone back 

 again to black bees because, with the 



