}\)c See-J\eepeps' J\e\^ie(jj. 



A MONTHLY JOURNAL 



Devoted to ti^e Interests of Hoqey Producers. 



$L00 A YEAR. 



W. Z. HDTCHiNSON, Editor and Proprietor. 



VOL. XI, 



FLINT. MICHIGAN, MAR. 10, 1898. 



NO 3. 



THE SUGAR-MAPLE. 



Value as a Honey Producer; Also Sonu 

 Keniiiiiscences of the Editor that Cliuii 

 About this Beautiful Tree. 



W. Z. HUTCHINSON. 



All the air is full of Rprini;, 

 Full of warblers on ttu> wins 



A 



WHKN the 

 ^l^ blue birds 

 come back in 

 Uie spring, when 

 the croak of ihe 

 I'ro.-;- is heard 

 once more in llie 

 ]) o n d , \v h e n 

 children's hands 

 brin.y home 

 sprigs of ' ' pussy 

 willow, " and 

 the air is laden 

 with the music 

 of bees on the winj^, we bee-keepers know 

 that activity has commenced again in the 

 hive; that the workers are bringing wa- 

 ter, and foraging far and near that they 

 may bring home the few grains of pollen 

 that will show that spring is really here. 

 By the way, is there a more cheering 



^ 



\v. z. " at i.S. 



sight to a bee-keeper than the first bee 

 ill it he sees in the spring loaded with pol- 

 len, as it pushes its way energetically into 

 the hive — a beautiful harbinger of spring. 

 The dainty white clover and the gor- 

 geous basswood furnish us our great crops 

 of surplus honey; but they might bloom 

 in vain, so far as profit to us is concerned, 

 were it not for the flowers that bloom in 

 the .spring and thus lay the foundation 

 for the great army of workers that gath- 

 er the harvest in June and July. In 

 manv localities there is no early honey- 

 flow greater than that from the sugar- 

 maple. I well remember the first bees 

 that I kept- -twenty-two years ago. They 

 were in box hives — four colonies — and we 

 transferred them in our kitchen, when 

 the sugar-maples were in bloom. I can 

 remember how well the combs were filled 

 with a bright golden honey — much of it 

 unsealed. I can remember a few other 

 things. For instance, that we began the 

 work of tran.sferring at ten o'clock and 

 finished at four, that there was a very 

 much mussed up kitchen and two very 

 tired folks. The old hives and odds and 

 ends were carried off several rods, and 

 left for the bees to clean them up, but 

 thev paid very little attention to them — 

 the yield from the maple was so good. 

 Fruit bloom came from ten days to two 



