52 



THE AMERICAN APICULTURIST. 



lem, each of which is as important 

 as an}' otlier : first, one must know 

 the beoinnino; and duration of the 

 floral source of the nectar to be 

 gathered. 



Then he must time tlie rearing 

 of young bees so that they will be 

 ready to take advantage of the in- 

 coming crop. The old bees that 

 have passed through the long cold 

 winter have done their whole duty 

 and are dying off by thousands. It 

 takes twenty-one days from the 

 egg to the bee just emerging from 

 its cell, and from thirteen to fifteen 

 days more to make the complete 

 forager. By using the above fac- 

 tors, one can easily solve the whole 

 problem for his own locality. The 

 economy of the hive is perfect, and 

 division of labor is carried out 

 completely. The bee one day old 

 does the nursing and comb build- 

 ing, and allows its stronger sister 

 to go out and perform the more 

 laborious duty of gathering honey 

 and pollen. 



KEEP THE COLONIES STRONG. 



The rule of Otto called the ''gold- 

 en rule of beekeepers," viz. ; "keep 

 all stocks strong," is as true as 

 ever ; but in these days, when pa- 

 tent rattle-traps, and so-called la- 

 bor-saving appliances are ofi"ered, 

 many are apt lo forget the rule 

 or depend upon some wonderful 

 double brood-chamber, back-action, 

 incontrovertible, and interconver- 

 tible, interchangeable-hive to do 

 the work ; but rest assured it won't 

 do it. The only honey gatherer 

 is the hone3'-bee, and patent hives 

 without bees and proper care will 

 onl}' prove a snare and a delusion. 

 To the beekeeper who combines 

 theory and practice, and who gives 

 proper care and attention to the 

 work, a rich harvest is sure to come ; 

 to all others, the husks and ashes 

 of disappointment will be the sure 

 result. 



No. Attlehoro, Mass. 



For the American Apiculturist. 



By G. M. Doolittle. 



THOROUGH KNOWLEDGE OF LOCA- 

 TION WHAT LEADS TO SUCCESS 



GETTING COLONIES READY FOR THE 

 HARVEST COMMON SENSE IN BEE- 

 KEEPING IMPROVING STOCK AND 



RACES VIGOROUS QUEENS SUC- 

 CESSFUL BEEKEEPING MEANS WORK. 



In this article, I shall give what 

 I consider a few of the most im- 

 portant points, looking toward suc- 

 cessful apiculture, and first along 

 this line I put a thorough knowl- 

 edge of your location. Many bee- 

 keepers do not seem to realize the 

 importance of this as their actions 

 show, for if they did they would 

 not be asking " if the basswood 

 had bloomed yet," as did a beekeep- 

 er of me last August. All work 

 with the bees to be successfully 

 done should be done with an eye 

 open to the probable time of the 

 blossoming of the main hone}'^ 

 plants in our locality. For instance, 

 if white clover is our main honey 

 crop, we must commence opera- 

 tions with the bees at least six 

 weeks previous to its blossoming 

 in order to insure a good yield from 

 it, for it takes at least six weeks 

 to build up a colony so it will be 

 able to do the best work on a given 

 field of blossoms. Hence, as white 

 clover blossoms in this latitude 

 about June 15, we must commence 

 to get our bees ready for it as 

 early as the first of May. By so 

 doing we get the bees in time for 

 the harvest, which means success. 

 But supposing basswood which op- 

 ens July 10 to 15, to be our main 

 harvest, then the commencing to 

 stimulate the bees as early as the 

 first of IMay would be labor thrown 

 away, as well as a useless expendi- 

 ture of honey used in producing 

 said bees to loaf around waiting 

 for the harvest. What man is 

 there having a field of wheat re- 



