188 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



the wax; and as they store the upper part of the 

 frame with honey or food, it leaves the main 

 hody of the frame for hrood chamber, and se- 

 cures a strong stock. The heat of the bees as- 

 cending concentrating in the upper angle of the 

 hive, that portion is therefore kept warm, so that 

 their stores arc rendered accessible to the bees 

 in the coldest weather. It will be observed that 

 the honey boxes above the frames (if we use 

 them) have the same angular point for the con- 

 centration of heat and the commencement of 

 comb-building, as the frames. Hence, in this 

 hive, the bees find every advantage which their 

 instincts and necessities require in angularity of 

 structure, instead of "tipping the hive," space 

 warmth, thorough ventilation, and facility for 

 keeping the hive clean. 



What I claim as my improvement is : 



1. The square or angular case B, folding roof 

 or doors D, when the case is elevated upon the 

 vertex of the angle of its sides, in the manner 

 and for the purpose specified. 



2. The angular frames F, when arranged 

 within the case B, so that the vertex of the an- 

 gles of said frames shall coincide with the ver- 

 tex of the argles of the case, in the manner and 

 for the purposes set forth. 



3. The honey boxes g g, frames F, doors D, 

 and case B, combined and arranged in relation 

 to each other, in the mannerand for the purpose 

 substantially as described." 



A. V. Con klin. 

 Bennington, Ohio, 



[For the American Bee Journal.] 



Bee Pasturage. 



That sufficient and continued pasturage for 

 bees, in every location, is the great desideratum 

 for the successful and profitable culture of bees, 

 by every apiarian, both on the large and the 

 small scale, few persons can deny. Our atten- 

 tion is called to this subject by Giles B. Avery, 

 in his article on Alsike clover and other crops 

 for bee pasturage. (See American Bee Jour- 

 nal, vol. 3, page 151.) Well, if we can but 

 obtain the half of what Mr. Avery claims, from 

 the appropriate amount of pasturage, our gain 

 will be immense, if adopted by the bee-keeping 

 public. He says — " We give it as our opinion 

 that if every farmer would put one half of the 

 land now seeded to grass, into Alsike clover, bees 

 might be very profitably multiplied in our coun- 

 try an hundred fold, and each hive furnish 

 many times its present profit, and quite as many 

 cattle sustained by the arrangement as at the 

 present time." 



It is quite evident that if we make the right 

 disposition of our crops, we can both benefit our 

 bees and other stock at the same time; and I 

 think it is our duty to do so, or suffer the loss of 

 the bees we have on hand. 



Again, Mr. Mangold (A. B. Journal, vol. 3, 

 page 168) says — " In view of the fact that bee 

 pasturage differs very much in different sections 

 of country, and that it is desirable to furnish 

 supplies for the bees at all times during the 

 working season, or from spring to fall, bee- 



keepers should on all occasions encourage the 

 introduction and cultivation of honey produc- 

 ing plants and forage crops." A season like 

 that of 1868 particularly demands attention to 

 the above suggestion, since "from the begin- 

 ning of July onward pasturage rapidly dimin- 

 ished, and the want of rain, with drought, soon 

 constrained the bees to resort to their winter 

 stores for support." This, of course, would in- 

 stinctively lead them to cease rearing brood in 

 sufficient numbers to supply the loss of popula- 

 tion contiuually going on during the working 

 season, by death or otherwise. And hence the 

 cold season coming on finds the colony too weak 

 to generate animal heat sufficient to keep them 

 from chilling to death, even with stores enough 

 at hand to keep them for months longer, if the 

 proper warmth could be kept up. For the want 

 of sufficient pasturage, then, we have this failure. 

 Shall we suffer it to be repeated, without an ef- 

 fort to save our bees and make them profitable ? 



Mr. J. H. Thomas, in his " Canadian Bee- 

 keepers' Grade," page 66, says — %i The prosper- 

 ity of bees, in any locality, much depends upon 

 the amount of bee pasturage. In some locali- 

 ties it is abundant from early spring until late 

 in the fall, nature having lavishly bestowed 

 there her wild flowers. In other localities it is 

 quite different. The section of country where 

 1 reside does not abound with wild flowers; and, 

 in the fall especially, the bee pasturage is quite 

 limited. This difficulty maybe easih r obviated, 

 by the more extensive sowing of buckwheat 

 and the introduction of Swedish white clover 

 (the Alsike)." The foregoing gives the evi- 

 dence and experience of friend Thomas in bee 

 pasturage ; and it is worthy of our attention. 



Mr. Harbison, in his work on '•'■Bees and Bee- 

 keeping," says : — It is of the utmost importance 

 for the success of an apiary that it should be lo- 

 cated in a neighborhood where bees can readily 

 find an abundant supply of good pasturage. 

 The success of bee-keeping depends greatly on 

 this. As well might a stock-grower expect to 

 make his cattle profitable, without supplying 

 them properly with food, as to suppose bees will 

 live, thrive, and be of benefit to their owners, 

 without obtaining constant supplies of pollen 

 and honey, in some way, from, spring to fall, 

 with but little if any intermission. No person 

 can fail to see that. Harbison's evidence coin- 

 cides, in every particular, with the preceding — 

 showing clearly that we must supply this pas- 

 turage or lose our bees, and gain no reward for 

 having owned them, but, on the contrary, loss 

 of time and expense. 



I next turn to K. P. Kidder's '■'■Secrets of 

 Bee-keeping,' 1 '' page 56. He says — "Connected 

 with the cultivation of bees, it is essential that 

 we understand the true conditions that most 

 favor its properity. That these may be known, 

 and in a great degree perfected by the hand of 

 man, we are quite certain." " It is known that 

 the only food of the bees is the nectar and pol- 

 len of flowers, and that different varieties pro- 

 duce these deposites in greater or less abund- 

 ance." ' ' Then, if we would prosper in an en- 

 deavor to multiply the species with success, we 

 must cultivate those plants and trees, (where 

 nature does not spontaneously produce them, ) 



