88 



THE AMERICAN BEE-KEEPER. 



April 



rush out of their hives at early dawn, 

 and work on the tre(is all day long as 

 eagerly as they do on clover or bass- 

 wood. The flowers are similar to those 

 which grow on the birch or poplar, 

 being of long tag-like shape, as large 

 as a slate pencil, and from one and 

 one-half to two inches long. These 

 tags or blossoms secrete honey so pro- 

 fusely that it can many times be seen 

 glistening in the morning sun, by 

 holding the blossom between you and 

 that orb, and the trees resound with 

 the busy hum of bees from morning 

 till night. From the few trees along 

 a small creek near here, my bees fre- 

 qnently make a gain of from six to 

 ten pounds of honey while willows 

 are iin bloom. The honey is quite 

 similar to apple blossom honey, and 

 of a nice aromatic flavor, but the point 

 of greatest value is, that it comes in 

 so af to give brood rearing a boom just 

 at the right time to show in an in- 

 creased crop of honey during clover 

 and bass wood. 

 Borodino, N. Y. 



Random Shots. 



I5Y AVILDER <iRAHME. 



Now is the time to watch the hives 

 closely. The colonies are at the ebb 

 tide of the year and consequently 

 least prepared to withstand neglect. 

 Spring dwindling is by no means al- 

 ways an unavoidable evil. Stores 

 should be looked to and the building- 

 up process put into active operation. 

 For my own use I will take the "per- 

 colating process " every time for this. 

 Just fill a jar of some sort, holding 

 say a pint or so, with equal parts of 

 granulated sugar and water ; spread 

 a few layers of cheese-cloth over the 



top and cap all with a plate. How 

 easy ! Invert the whole, and set 

 above the brood- frames. Add a full 

 or half- story as the height of jar re- 

 quires, and leave the bees to do the 

 rest. 



But say, my friend, speaking of 

 this feeding business, you cheated me 

 last season, and every other apiarist 

 with me, by allowing the feeder to be 

 kept running too long. Somebody 

 tasted sugar in the sections where 

 nothing but honey should have been, 

 and the whole business was injured 

 thereby so far as that somebody is 

 concerned. Don't let it happen again, 

 please. 



J. W. Bittenbender, in the Agri- 

 cultural Epitomist, suggests March 

 25th to April 1st as usually the earl- 

 iest limit at which bees should be 

 placed upon their summer stands. 

 Does general experience confirm even 

 so early a date as this ? I do not in- 

 tend to deprive m}' colonies of their 

 winter protection for some time yet ; 

 perhaps not wholly till the middle or 

 latter part of April. Of course it de- 

 pends a good deal on the season. 



Don't forget the watering trough at 

 this season. Some evidence is at 

 hand that spring dwindling in fre- 

 quently caused by forced flights 

 through the cold March winds after 

 water. A supply should be furnish- 

 ed at some convenient and sheltered 

 place ; why not in the upper story of 

 the hive, while feeding ? Only, 

 don't imagine a quart or gallon of 

 water once a month as good as a much 

 smaller fresh supply- every day or 

 two, for it isn't, and if you think it is, 



