104 



THE AMERICAN BEE KEEPER. 



April 



bees is of no advantage, and therefore 

 is undesirable. Then we have Ligu- 

 rians, which, in some climates, have 

 proved themselves excellent workers ; 

 but I don't consider the pure Ligurian 

 altogether suited to the climatic con- 

 ditions of this kingdom. Our cold, 

 damp springs act as a deterrent to 

 their breeding-up early and in time 

 for our ordinary honey flow. That 

 they breed fast when the weather is 

 warm enough to get them once fairly 

 started is beyond doubt, but when 

 this is so it is in this country general- 

 ly within a week or two of the honey 

 flow, and so instead of gathering the 

 crop the bees are just beginning to 

 get their hive full of very young 

 brood, which eventually produces an 

 abundance of field workers just when 

 the harvest is over. This is another 

 instance where a superabundance of 

 bees is found when not wanted. Judi- 

 cious crossing of races is the remedy. 

 Much thought must, however, be giv- 

 en to procure an abundance of bees at 

 the right time. They are compara- 

 tively useless if produced too early, 

 and worse than useless if produced too 

 late, from a honey producers point of 

 view. 



How are we to know when the 

 honey flow will come, and how be cer- 

 tain of having our bees ready ? For it 

 is a question which will, no doubt, 

 arise in the minds of many readers, 

 seeing that in almost every locality 

 the seasons differ. This is a point on 

 which the bee keeper must inform 

 himself by ascertaining what are the 

 main sources of supply in his own 

 neighborhood. No certain date can 

 be fixed to meet the peculiarities of all 

 districts alike. The nature of the 

 crops and the probable time the bloom 



lasts are the ruling factors on this 

 point. Some lasts but a few days, 

 others continue flowering three weeks 

 or a month. Some districts boast of 

 only a single source of supply, while 

 others are favored with a succession of 

 bee forage. All these points need at- 

 tention now. So far as having our 

 bees ready when the honey flow comes, 

 let us take the first week in June as 

 the probable date. We are now in 

 the first week in March, and thus have 

 thirteen weeks in which to prepare. 

 Now suppose we have six seams of 

 bees on eight frames in all. We may 

 find perhaps five frames of brood, more 

 or less, representing roughly 13 ,000 to 

 16,000 bees which will be hatched out 

 in three weeks; by that time a very 

 large proportion of the present six 

 seams of bees will be gone ! But after 

 that three weeks have elapsed (if stim- 

 ulative feeding is then carried on) bees 

 will be produced at a much more rapid 

 rate than earlier in the year, and, with 

 ten weeks still to the good, the chances 

 are that the bees of this stock will be 

 fully ready for the honey flow when it 

 comes. Provided, therefore, the bees 

 are not addicted to excessive swarm- 

 ing ; plenty of room given the queen 

 for her part of the work, and just suf- 

 ficient food supply to keep them stead- 

 ily progressing, all will go well. It is 

 better to have them in readiness a 

 week, or even two, beforehand, than 

 one hour afterwards. I merely put 

 this case as an example, and to give 

 some data on which to base our cal- 

 culations. Or suppose we take a week- 

 er stock for another illustrative exam- 

 ple. If stimulative feeding is com- 

 menced at end of March, and the brood 

 nest spread slowly and gradually, the 

 following eight or ten weeks is not 



