12 



THE AMERICAN BEE-KEEPER. 



January 



(From the Progressive Bec-Keeper.) 



WILL GOOD YEARS OOME NO MOEE? 



BY DR. C. C. MILLER. 



Some seem to have settled into tlie 

 belief that the forests have been cut 

 away, cultivation has destroyed the 

 wild flowers, and that as a conse- 

 queuce we are never again to have 

 such yields of honey as in the past. 

 Others again come up smiling at the 

 close of each year of defeat, prophesy- 

 ing good things to come, and hopefully 

 recounting all the omens for good. 



I think there is no denying the fact 

 that in general the past few years 

 have not been as good as formerly for 

 the majority of bee-keepers. And I 

 plainly confess that 1 don't know 

 anything about the future of bee-keep- 

 ing. But I incline rather to join the 

 ranks of the optimists. The wise man 

 says: " Say not thou. What is the 

 cause that the former days were better 

 than these ? for thou dost not inquire 

 wisely concerning this." But I sup- 

 pose I may be allowed to discuss 

 somewhat the reasoning of those who 

 do inquire. 



As already mentioned, it is thought 

 by some, perhaps by a good many, 

 that the advance of civilatiou and cul- 

 tivation has so changed the flora that 

 no further explanation is needed for 

 the falling off in honey crops. There 

 may be something in that in certain 

 localities. A good deal in some. For 

 where linden has been a chief source 

 of nectar and the trees have all been 

 cut down, there can be no question 

 as to the result. But lindens ai'e not 

 found everywhere, and in many places 

 they have not been cut down, and 

 failures have occurred in their pres- 

 ence. 



The destruction of wild flowers by 

 the plow doesn't cut so great a figure 

 as many imagine. Look over the list 

 of wild flowers that yield great crops 

 of honey, and that are destroyed by 

 the plow and tell me what they are. 

 Such plants as fire weed are not great 

 in number, and are found in only a 

 few regions. Besides, in large areas 

 such as the state of New York and 

 parts of some other states, all the wild 

 flowers were gone years ago just as 

 much as they are now. The disap- 

 pearance of its crops didn't occur 

 along with the disappearance of the 

 wild flowers, but some time after. 



Again, the failures oE| recent years 

 are attributed to climatic, electric or 

 other occult influences. It may be. 

 Who knows ? I'm sure I don't. The 

 weather is responsible for a good many 

 things, and quite possibly it may be 

 the guilty party. 



But I fancy I hear some one say : 

 " Suppose you do locate the place, what 

 are you going to do about it?" Well, 

 nothing I suppose, " Then what's the 

 use talking about it?" Well, now, 

 there may be some use in talking 

 about it, even if we can't do anything 

 about it. A good many of us do a 

 good deal of thinking about it. 

 We've got to — can't help ourselves. 

 After running bluntly up against 

 partial or total failures for a number 

 of years, Ave can't help but think about 

 the question whether it is wise to con- 

 tinue making preparations for crops 

 that never come. And a thing that's 

 worth thinking about ought to be 

 worth talking about. For myself, if 

 the past two seasons are to be an index 

 of the future, the sooner I get out of 

 bee-keeping the less I'll lose by it. 

 And I'd give something to know what 



