1894. 



THE A Mi: III CAN BEE- KEEP EU. 



99 



vestment. But 1 think the profitable- 

 ness depends largely on the locality, 

 or, rather, on the source of our first 

 crop of surplus. In many of our 

 northern localities where we are de- 

 pendent on white clover for our main 

 crop of surplus honey, we can not 

 possibly get an extra large force of 

 bees any too soon and unless we have 

 extra strong and well provisioned 

 colonies in the spring we are very lia- 

 ble to not have them soon enough 

 without stimulative feeding. Al- 

 though there is clover in nearly all 

 localities in many, little or no surplus 

 is expected from it. In these local- 

 ities stimulative feeding is unneces- 

 sary, except where colonies are weak 

 or short of stores, for they will have 

 what clover there is to rear brood 

 upon and will be plenty strong enough 

 by the time the next honey flow is 

 ready for them. Again it is unwise 

 to feed when there is any simptoras of 

 spring dwindling, for by a little coax- 

 ing their ambitions will rise and they 

 will start brood beyond what their de- 

 creasing numbers can care for, and 

 the dead brood thus occasioned will 

 be more to the detriment of the colo- 

 ny than all the extra bees that a colo- 

 ny in this condition can rear, will 

 make up. It would be well to double 

 two or more of these colonies together 

 after the oldest of the bees have 

 dwindled away, and then by judicious 

 feeding force them along as fast as the 

 circumstances will permit. I think 

 stimulative feeding should be prac- 

 ticed more often in the fall than is 

 customary, for often honey is coming 

 in so very slowly from the middle of 

 August on. that brood rearing is prac- 

 tically stopped. These colonies may 

 get enough honey to nearly fill their 



combs, and to all appearance be in the 

 very pink of condition for winter. 

 Yet the slowly gathered honey has 

 offered no inducements for fall brood- 

 rearing. And the apparently fine 

 condition for winter is a delusion that 

 has carried the hopes of many a bee- 

 keeper through the winter to have 

 them dwindle away with the old bees 

 in the spring. A little encourage- 

 ment for a few weeks in the fall 

 would have prevented all this* Here 

 is the sum of it in a nut shell : Study 

 well your locality and how early you 

 will need the bees ; look closely to the 

 condition of your bees both fall and 

 spring and give each according to its 

 needs. 



Franklin, Pa. 



The Honey-Bee in the 

 " Old North State." 



BY J. C. MOORE. 



It might be well to give a de- 

 scription of this place before proceed- 

 ing to bees, &c. 



The place where we live is hedged 

 in on all sides by towering mountains; 

 and when viewed from a peak south 

 west from here it has the appearance 

 of a large globe, — hence the early set- 

 tlers mamed it Globe. Through this 

 little valley runs a clear and sparkling 

 stream called John's River and on 

 either side there are pretty homes 

 owned by the well-to-do farmers. 

 About the center of the valley the 

 houses are close together and are call- 

 ed by some a village. There is a 

 flourishing school here, — of which I 

 am a student. This is Globe Academy 

 which was erected in 81-82. It is 

 at the junction of the Gregg and 



