336 



AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



would seem to leave but little more to 

 learn. 



While all this is true, have the returns 

 to the bee-keeper in surplus honey been 

 commensurate with the progress made 

 in implements for the apiary, and in 

 their modes of application ? Every bee- 

 keeper of any extended observation and 

 experience knows that this question can 

 only be answered in the negative. Lo- 

 cations that formerly yielded large crops 

 of honey 4give now only moderate re- 

 turns, and very often chance years for 

 that. Does the white clover, that is the 

 "stand-by " with many bee-keepers, give 

 as many certain yields of surplus as it 

 did years ago? 



The mellifluous trees and shrubs that 

 abound in the swamps and along the 

 water-courses of our Southern States, 

 seem to fail of late years to produce 

 those large honey crops that they did in 

 past times. As every effect has its 

 cause, the question naturally arises, 

 what agencies have wrought these 

 changes? No doubt in many cases the 

 woodman's axe and the agriculturist's 

 plow have curtailed the forage, but in 

 other locations such has not been the 

 case. We must look for other causes. I 

 have nothing positive to offer towards 

 the solution of these problems, and very 

 much fear that no one else has. We all 

 have the privilege to offer conjectures. 

 A theory unsupported by facts is a 

 "baseless fabric." 



Pomologists of long experience tell us 

 that there is more uncertainty in secur- 

 ing good yearly crops of fruit now than 

 in former years. The causes they as- 

 sign are (insects aside) meteorological 

 and deprivation in the soil of certain ele- 

 ments necessary to the perfect develop- 

 ment of the particular fruit. It may be 

 one or both of these causes, Reasoning 

 from analogy, I infer that these same 

 causes that are recognized in the pro- 

 duction of fruit, are the same that in- 

 fluence the secretion of nectar in the 

 flowers. While the bee-keeper may not 

 be able to control the atmospheric con- 

 ditions bearing upon the secretion of 

 honey, he may be able, by studying the 

 thermal lines to his section of country, 

 to select locations that are less subject 

 to late frosts — that may be less affected 

 by drouth than others, etc. 



In the production of fruit we know 

 that the character of the soil elements 

 affect its development, its time of ripen- 

 ing, its color, and its flavor. The same 

 cause no doubt affects the secretion of 

 the nectaries of the flower. 



It is to be hoped that our apiarian ex- 

 periment stations and our bee-keeping 



scientists will take hold of this subject, 

 and diligently prosecute it until some 

 tangible results are obtained ; for upon 

 the abundance of the nectar secretion 

 depends the amount of money in the 

 bee-keeping industry. Dovetailed hives, 

 sections, foundations, golden Italians, 

 and the whole catalogue of apiarian 

 supplies cannot make bee-keeping a 

 pecuniary success without plenty of pas- 

 ture that yields honey. 

 Augusta, Ga. 



TieAtontapsof tlie"HanilFHiYe.' 



Written for the A.merican Bee Journal 

 BY B. TAYLOR. 



I see by the discussions in the bee- 

 papers, that the question of the " ideal " 

 hive is not yet settled ; so I concluded 

 that I would give the readers of the 

 American Bee Journal a discription 

 of the " Handy hive," that I have used 

 continuously for more than 34 years, 

 during which time I have given extend- 

 ed trial to nearly every hive presented 

 for public approval ; and now, as age is 

 creeping on, and a glimpse of the coun- 

 try on the "other side of the range" 

 comes in view, I begin to feel less like 

 experimenting, and more in need of 

 quiet rest. 



The question of what hive is best for 

 all practical purposes, in practical 

 honey production, as a means of earning 

 our bread with the least labor, presents 

 itself for dissection, and the answer 

 comes with a resistless force — the Handy 

 hive. 



This hive was the result of my first 

 effort in inventing a hive. Early in my 

 experience I realized the need of some 

 means of holding the frames in the hive 

 the proper distance apart, and at the 

 same time leave them as movable, or 

 more so, than the loose hanging frame ; 

 and I began experiments to that end. I 

 invented the wire end frames, as now 



