56 



THE AMERICAN BEE-KEEPER. 



March 



(From Progressive Bee-Keeper.) 



WILL THE GOOD YEARS GOME 

 AGAIN ? 



C. H. DIBBERN. 



No doubt during the last few years 

 of disappointment and failure, many 

 have become discouraged, and not a 

 few will give up the apparently hope- 

 less contest. And if the present indi- 

 cations were to continue indefinitely, 

 it would be worse than folly to give 

 all our time to a business that does not 

 pay. Twenty years ago we could look 

 for a good honey year, just as surely 

 as we could for a good corn year, and 

 the failures were the exceptions. 

 Now, however, in this locality — and 

 the same conditions seem to prevail 

 quite generally over the central states, 

 that four years out of five may as well 

 be called failures. Then, too, we were 

 beginning to pride ourselves that in- 

 vention had made such progress that 

 the up to date bee-keeper would soon 

 be able to double the honey crop of 

 our grandfather's day. I do not un- 

 dervalue the great value of recent in- 

 ventions; but the fact is, nothing will 

 take the plnce of an abundant yield 

 from the flowers — not even the sugar 

 barrel, if we could get it for nothing. 

 In times pa.*t we depended mainly on 

 ■white clover, supplemented by bass- 

 wood, golden rod, heartsease and other 

 flowers, and they seemed to yield all 

 that could be desired, and we never 

 dreamed that these sources would ever 

 fail, any more than that the time 



would come when our rivers would 

 dry up. But our parching, hot, dry 

 summers, and snowless, cold winters, 

 have about used up the white clover, 

 and other wild flowers are much less 

 abundant than formerly. Somehow, 

 too, they do not seem to yield the 

 nectar they formerly did — even the 

 basswood. But, says someone, we 

 know all this from recent experience; 

 what we want to know is, can we re- 

 verse this order of things ? 



Now, if we could order the weather 

 to our liking, this question might be 

 solved easily enough, but of course 

 that can not be done. Our wishing 

 does not help matters, for how often 

 did we not hear during the past sum- 

 mer that someone wished it would 

 rain, but the hot, burning days kept 

 right along. Of course, when normal 

 years, with a sufficiency of rainfall 

 come again, we may expect old-fash- 

 ioned yields of honey, but should the 

 dry years continue, can we not do some- 

 thing to make the apiary pay ? I think 

 the cause of a lack of honey yield- 

 ing flowers, is apparent to all, and in 

 the restoration or supplanting of such 

 flowers would seem to be in the right 

 direction. But I fear many of us, and 

 1 acknowledge myself among the num- 

 ber, have more bees than our localities 

 will support ; in fact, we are over- 

 stocked in these years of floral dearth. 

 It is quite likely that with one-half 

 the bees we would have got some sur- 

 plus, instead of being obliged to feed 

 sugar for winter stores. 



The question now seems to be, what 

 can we do to increase the honey yield- 

 ing flowers in our vicinity, and what 

 flowers will it do to depend on ? I am 

 satisfied that many farmers can be in- 

 cuced to sow honey plants that are also 



