262 



"HE AMERICAN BEE KEEPER. 



September 



(From Bee Keepers Review.) 



THE SEASON-EXPERIMENTS WITH 

 NON-SWARMERS, EI'O. 



BY A. P. ASPINWALL. 



Like the sound of the cataract's roar, 

 The hum of the bees is heard as of yore. 



Certainly, the continuous hum of 

 bees for more than three weeks dur- 

 ing oppressively warm weather, had a 

 semblance of the monotonous roar 

 which characterizes that of Niagara, 

 and added to the monotone was the 

 inability to keep pace with our bees 

 in removing and supplying supers. 



The season has been extraordinary 

 in many respects, and the honey yield 

 phenomenal; never have I know its 

 equal. This extraordinary yield ap- 

 pears still more phenomenal, when 

 but eighteen months ago bee keepers 

 were bemoaning the condition which 

 seemed to itidicate that our honey 

 sources were being obliterated by the 

 woodman's axe, and a succession of 

 extremely dry seasons But following 

 these conditions comes the present 

 season with an unprecedented amount 

 of white clover. Where none was vis- 

 ible last season it completely covered 

 the ground. It seemed as though an 

 angel had come down and sowed it 

 thickly, far and wide. 



This has led me to consider how, in 

 the face of apparant death, comes such 

 an abundance. Surely nature is found- 

 ed in wisdom and her resources are 

 indestructible. Has not the seed ac- 

 cummulated during the past five or 



six years of drouth, and the requisite 

 amount of moisture necessary to its 

 germination and extension by the 

 rooting tendrills given us more than 

 could have been expected; and has 

 not Nature more than ever before 

 displayed her marvelous stores? 



In connection with, or rather pre- 

 ceding this extraordinary condition, 

 the' weather was unseasonably cold; 

 and unfavorable to the flight of bees. 

 My hives having been well packed un- 

 til a few days preceding the honeyflow, 

 which Opened suddenly with warm 

 weather on the 10th of June, were 

 overflowing with bees, even in my 

 large hives (although supplied with 

 dummies,) which placed them again 

 inthe condition of swarndiug hives. 

 I became extremely anxious as to the 

 situation, wondering if it were possi- 

 ble to hold them from swarming with 

 such a sudden charge of temperature, 

 accorefpanied by the great flow of nec- 

 ta.r^ also art unusual proportion cf 

 field bees jyith perfect or unworn 

 wings (by reason of non-use) compared 

 with the middle aged or comb build- 

 ihg bees, which would naturally carry 

 honey to the latter faster than their 

 ability to care for it, clogging the hive 

 and increasing the tendency to swarm. 



In keeping the Review posted as to 

 my experiments in this line, I must 

 acknowledge failure this season, and 

 thank friend Hasty for spurring up 

 my courage in giving it at once. 

 Swarming was greatly retarded by 

 use of the dummies and late compared 

 with my neighbors, most of the 

 swarms being between the 20th and 

 30th of June, some of the parent col- 

 onies having stored upwards of forty 

 pounds previous to the issue. At first 

 ihouirht I attributed the failure to 



