AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



241 



without a surplus, none can be obtained 

 during the season. From this it will be 

 seen that, in order to be a successful 

 apiarist, a person must have a knowledge 

 of his or her locality, whether they live 

 in New York, Canada, California, Flori- 

 da or Cuba, and also how to get the 

 laborers (bees) in the right time, so they 

 can be on hand at the time of the honey 

 harvest. Failing to do this, there is no 

 profit in apiculture, and I cannot see 

 why this will not hold good in any sec- 

 tion of the world, except in the time of 

 commencing to secure the bees. 



First, then, we have the location. Here 

 in central New York our honey crop 

 comes mainly from linden or basswocd, 

 which blooms from July 5th to the 15th, 

 and lasts from five days to three weeks, 

 according to the weather; while in other 

 localities of this State white clover is the 

 main crop, coming in bloom June 15th 

 to the 20th; and again, in others, buck- 

 wheat, yielding honey from August 10th 

 to the 20th. Other States, without 

 doubt, have as great a variation as to 

 the time of surplus honey as has this, 

 and it should be borne in mind that it 

 devolves upon the reader of this to ascer- 

 tain, by careful watching, just when and 

 what is the source of their surplus honey 

 crop, so as to work accordingly. 



After having determined just when 

 we may expect our honey harvest, the 

 next step is to secure the bees in just the 

 right time for that harvest — not before 

 or afterward; yet how few pay any at- 

 tention to this matter, letting the bees 

 take care of themselves, and thus they 

 are generally produced so as to become 

 consumers instead of producers. This 

 is one of the reasons why so many per- 

 sons who enter the ranks of bee-keeping 

 make a failure of it. 



The queen is the mother of all the 

 bees, she laying all the eggs which pro- 

 duce them. She is capable of laying 

 from 3,000 to 4,000 eggs a day, yet 

 often she is laying only from 500 to 

 1,000 eggs daily, at the time she should 

 be doing her best. After the egg is laid 

 it takes three days for it to hatch into a 

 larva. This larva is fed six days, during 

 which time it has grown so as to fill the 

 cell, when it is capped over and remains 

 hid from view for 12 more days, when it 

 emerges a perfect bee, making a period 

 of 21 days from the egg to the perfect 

 bee. This bee now works inside of the 

 hive for 16 days more, doing such work 

 as feeding the larvte, building comb, 

 etc., when it is ready to go outside as a 

 field laborer ; and at 45 days from the 

 time of hatching it dies of old age, and 

 another generation takes its place. 



From the above it will be seen that 

 the egg must be laid at least 37 days 

 before the honey harvest, in order that 

 the bee have the opportunity of laboring 

 in that harvest to the best advantage. 

 Now, if fhe harvest is white clover, com- 

 mencing to bloom say June 18th, the 

 eggs for our laborers should belaid on or 

 before May 2nd ; if basswood, blooming 

 about July 10th, then the eggs should 

 be laid on or before June 3rd, and so on, 

 for any yield that may come in our local- 

 ity, whether we are in Canada or Cuba. 

 The principle is the same for all locali- 

 ties where there is an intermittent flow 

 of honey, and I cannot see where any 

 "radical change" of this mode of man- 

 agement can be made, no matter in what 

 part of the world we may have our home. 



If there is a steady flow of honey all of 

 the year, during which the bees are ac- 

 tive, then we should aim to keep the bees 

 strong in numbers all the time; but 

 where one such place is found fifty oth- 

 ers can be found that give large yields 

 only at certain periods, when certain 

 flowers are in bloom. Only as the local- 

 ity is thoroughly understood, and the 

 bees reared to apply to that locality, can 

 we secure the best possible results. To 

 keep the results obtained, just as few 

 bees should be reared at all other times 

 as is consistent with keeping the colony 

 where it can be gotten in good working 

 order when we wish it, so as to secure 

 the harvest, otherwise we are supporting 

 a horde of useless consumers. 



I know this is an old theme, but it is 

 the one which has helped me to secure 

 the results of the past, namely, that of 

 securing a good yield of honey during 

 all the past 2 1 years ; and if understand- 

 ingly followed it will help others the 

 same as it has me. Try it, brothers and 

 sisters, and see if I am not right. 



Borodino, N. Y. 



Tlie Cause Of Brace-Coinlis. 



Written for the American Bee Journal 



BT H. E. HILL. 



On page 116, Mr. Cronkleton modestly 

 observes that the sanitary condition of 

 the fraternity would suffer no detriment 

 through the moderate exercise of its 

 mental faculties, and incidentally pre- 

 sents a theory regarding the cause of 

 brace-combs as subject-matter upon 

 which to act, which theory, by virtue of 

 its originality and creditable presenta- 

 tion, is conceded "good," and if Mr. C. 

 will say that the same bees, the same 



