The American Apicul 



ENTERED AT THE POST-OFFICE, WENIIAM, AS SECOND-CLASS 



Publislied Monthly. Henry Ali-et" 



VOL. V. WENHAM, MASS., NOVEMBER i, 1887. 



We denl in first-class apiari- I Established in 1883. Terms : I Any yearly snbscriber is en- 

 an supplies of all kinds, lowest I $1.00 )ier year, 50 cents per six I titled to one of our selected 

 prices. Prompt sliiimient. mouths, 25 cents per three I queens anytime Isetween June 1 



Send for price list. | months. Cash in advance. | and Oct. 1, by remitting- 5U cts. 



Address all communications, AMERICAN APICULTUmST, "Wenham, Mass. 



For the American ApiculUirist. 



SHALL WE PLANT FOR 

 HONE Y. 



R. L. Taylor. 



Much has been written to dem- 

 onstrate that it is profitable for 

 beekeepers to raise honej' plants for 

 the nectar to be obtained from 

 them. Much mone^'' has been ex- 

 pended for seed, scores of apiarists 

 have planted and now many years 

 have elapsed since the sowing be- 

 gan. Is it not time to inquire 

 about the harvest? Who has gath- 

 ered a paying crop? By this time 

 some one should be able to show a 

 good result or else beekeepers 

 should no longer be advised and 

 importuned to spend their money 

 for the seed of honey plants and 

 their time sowing the seed. I have 

 as yet heard of no paying yield of 

 honey from plants sown for that 

 purpose alone ; indeed what possi- 

 ble reason is there that any one 

 should ever have expected it? 



AVithin two and a half miles of 

 my home apiary are 12,000 acres 

 of land and at a fair estimate per- 

 haps one-fourth of that territory or 

 3,000 acres are fairly well stocked 

 with honey producing plants : wil- 

 lows, maples, apples, plums, cher- 

 ries, thorns, raspberries, clovers, 

 basswood and autumn flowers. 

 With 150 to 200 colonies of bees 



21 



in good order and well managed I 

 may reasonabl}^ expect to obtain 

 from that apiary in a fair season 

 about 10,000 pounds of surplus 

 comb honey or at the rate of 3^ 

 pounds per acre. 



But some one would double the 

 number of colonies in the apiary 

 and double the supply of nectar by 

 planting. Let him consider how 

 many acres of sweet clover, mig- 

 nonette, catnip and Chapman's 

 honey plant he must cultivate to 

 produce nectar to equal in quantity 

 that produced by the 500 acres 

 white with clover and the 100 acres 

 solid with basswood within reach 

 of the bees to say nothing of the 

 maples, willows, and the rest. If 

 he were assured that his plantation 

 would produce 100 pounds of sur- 

 plus to the acre he must plant 100 

 acres. If he knew it would pro- 

 duce a ton to the acre he must 

 plant five acres ; and could he afford 

 to do that, when within five miles are 

 six other stations equallj^ as good 

 as the one he occupies which he 

 may have almost for nothing? Who 

 may hope to win in a race with 

 nature in the production of honey 

 plants? His reply when he con- 

 siders must be : no, we cannot com- 

 pete with nature. 



But some one wants to (ill up 

 the " gaps " and so have a contin- 

 uous honey flow. That seems en- 

 tirely impracticable except per- 



(277) 



