VOL. VII. 



OCTOBER, 1897. 



NO. lO. 



Bee Keeping in New Jersey. 



BY J. R. COLES. 



A report has been asked of me for 

 this season. I could answer it with 

 very few lines if all your readers 

 knew the locality, circumstances, etc. 

 In the first place this part of New 

 Jersey is not noted for its bee pastures 

 or honey flows, nor modern bee keep- 

 ers, your humble servant being the 

 introducer of moderu bee keppiug in 

 this locality a few years ago, and the 

 most of my work with bees is done for 

 the love of the work. I often drop 

 everything and go help some weak- 

 kneed brother hive a swarm or rob a 

 skep for the love of working among 

 the bees. People see my hives and 

 from their actions afterwards seem to 

 think that all required is to put a 

 swarm in a patent hive and the bees 

 will do the rest, and because of poor 

 seasons and lack of pasturage they 

 condemn the "new f angled fixins" and 

 tell me that their father orgraudfath 

 er, as the case may be, used to get a 

 washtub of honey every fall. I say. 

 dear brother you must remember that 

 in your father's or grandfather's time 

 where you are now growing Jersey 

 sweets, watermellons, etc., your ances- 



tors were grubbing new grounds or 

 had acres of buckwheat, and now tell 

 me where you can find an acre of 

 buckwheat or new ground to grub. 

 Our eectioii is pretty well cleared and 

 there are but few meadows for bee 

 forage. Our honey flow is very short. 

 We get no surplus at all except from 

 white clover and none from it after 

 June 20th. I have char-ge of several 

 yards in a circle of seven miles in 

 which I furnish supers and sections 

 and do all the work for one-half of 

 surplus honey. One yard is located 

 at or near head of tide water, giving 

 a large scope of meadow for for-age. I 

 always depend on getting surplus 

 honey from it. I think this year 35 

 lbs. from each hive was the best I got 

 from them. Some did not give any 

 surplus at all. Fifteen lbs. was the 

 best I got from this years' swarms in 

 that yard. My home yard did not do 

 as well. I think none of my yards in 

 town gave me over 15 lbs. except a 

 young swarm hived about June 11th, 

 which gave me 30 lbs. surplus, thus 

 filling up the body of hive (Simplici- 

 ty) and making 30 lbs. surplus in 9 

 days. (This queen was superceeded 

 by firtle worker in 7 weeks after hiv- 

 ing). I never saw a brighter outlook 



