834 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Nov. 15. 



supply stores, with Bay View only one mile 

 distant — a Chautauqua Society resort, a city 

 of cottages of great beauty. Both these places 

 are situated upon the sloping hillsides that 

 reach down to the shores of Little Traverse 

 (or Petoskey) Bay, and are thickly interspers- 

 ed and surrounded with little native pines and 

 other evergreen-trees, especially Bay View, 

 which is almost hidden from sight in places 

 by this profusion of native trees among which 

 the cottages are built. 



Petoskey Bay is a beautiful sheet of clear 

 cold water, a mile and a half across, with a 

 railroad and bicyle-path running around to 

 Harbor Springs on the other side. These, 

 with the boating facilities on the bay, furnish 

 excellent facilities for diversion and exer- 

 cise. 



I rode around upon the wheel-path, and was 

 charmed with the beauty that nature had so 

 lavishly bestowed on every hand. 



Meeting some small boys Tasked, "What 

 is the attraction at Harbor Springs? I say, 

 how much of a place is it? " 



' ' Oh ! not much — a store and two apple- 

 trees." 



Having learned this much of the place I re- 

 turned without visiting it. 



I was informed that the hay fever is caused 

 by the noted ragweed so common in Ohio and 

 everywhere else except at these northern 

 resorts, where it does not grow. I felt sure I 

 should be able to find a sample of it, but en- 

 tij-ely failed after looking very carefiilly. 



I began to feel anxious about the honey and 

 the bee-industry, and commenced visiting the 

 groceries and supply-stores along the main 

 streets. I found honey, but it was not up to 

 my expectations. I could hear of no bee- 

 keepers, except in a small way, among the 

 farmers. Choice honey was mostly shipped 

 in, and prices were high. 



I found an old neighbor, with whom I stay- 

 ed a few days, at Elmira, 25 miles south of 

 Petoskey. It was here I visited my first bee- 

 yard in Michigan. It was on a large farm of 

 040 acres, devoted to general farming. It is 

 not surprising that the bees should be neglect- 

 ed. I found about 15 colonies arranged upon 

 a bench about a foot from the ground. A 

 good-sized stick of wood was placed upon each 

 hive (I wonder where that idea came from). 

 Here they wintered as well as summered. 

 How is that for winter protection in this cold 

 climate, where the mercury plays peekaboo 

 down into the bulb of the thermometer, shel- 

 tered only by a stick of wood, and yet winter- 

 ing as well as the average progressive bee- 

 keeper winters in Ohio? 



By permission of the proprietor I opened a 

 few hives (or, rather, cases on top of the 

 hives) which had not been removed, to see 

 what was being done by the bees. The pro- 

 prietor, being a discreet man, remained at a 

 distance while I was about this. I must ad- 

 mit that I was disappointed on finding no 

 signs of recent honey-gathering sufficient to 

 induce comb-building — not even to show in 

 whitening the combs. With all of the pro- 

 fusion of bloom which I had seen, and the 

 willow-herb too, I felt sure I should find the 



bees doing good work. I was disappointed. 

 The raspberry and hard maple would furnish a 

 great amount of honey, but it comes so early 

 in the season that the bees do not get built up 

 strong enough to gather it. 



Elmira is situated on an eminence — the 

 highest, I was told, in the southern peninsula 

 of Michigan. From here the streams run to 

 every point of the compass. The Boyne River 

 rises a mile and a half to the north, and runs 

 along the line of the railroad, which winds 

 around among the hills down a steep grade 

 for nine miles to Bo} ne Falls. The streams 

 and lakes here are clear and cold, and are well 

 supplied with .speckled trout and other fish — a 

 fact of which I had the most ample and satis- 

 factory proof, for I spent a day in the realiza- 

 tion of my most ardent boyish dreams in 

 capturing the speckled beauties in the Boyne, 

 and then the breakfast next morning — oh! oh! 

 The water in the stream where we fished had 

 a temperature, by actual test, of 49° and was 

 excellent to drink. 



The potato crop, which is the important 

 crop here, is an entire failure; same with corn; 

 wheat badly damaged, the result of a severe 

 frost on the 10th of July. Fruit is plentiful, 

 and of good quality, especially apples. So I 

 said to myself, as I cast a retrospective glance 

 over the last season, other industries are 

 attended with uncertainty as well as bee-keep- 

 ing. Even farming is not always sure. 



I cast a lingering glance backward from the 

 moving train as I resumed my journey south- 

 ward, followed by many pleasant recollections 

 of my short stay; and the pleasant picture of 

 Elmira, surrounded by its evergreen-wooded 

 hills, was gone. 



I looked out on both sides of the cars for a 

 glimpse of some bee-yard, and was rewarded 

 by seeing a good-sized well-arranged apiary 

 with a man in the midst of the hives, with a 

 smoker in his hand, puffing away vigorously. 

 This was refreshing. It was just north of 

 Manton, and was the only bee-\ard I saw dur- 

 ing the day's ride. This did not impress me 

 that this part of the country was overstocked 

 with bees. 



I had decided to abandon my excursion-pass 

 at Owosso, and make this a sort of headquar- 

 ters from which to make .short visiting excur- 

 sions into the surrounding country. I reached 

 Owosso at evening in time to drop W. Z. 

 Hutchinson a card to look for me next day, 

 and then wheeled out into the suburbs to 

 make the acquaintance of a young German 

 bee-keeper. He keeps a fair-sized apiary, and 

 deals in supplies. He produces comb honey 

 without separators; sells in his home market 

 almost entirely, gets a good price, and has his 

 cases returned. 



I sampled his honey, which showed a little 

 honey -dew. 



" To whom do you sell so many supplies? " 

 I asked him. He said, "There are a great 

 many small bee-keepers scattered all over the 

 surrounding country among the farmers." 



The next morning I wheeled toward Flint, 

 running out on a fine wheel-path for 8)4 miles. 

 I passed several shafts where they were min- 

 ing coal, and met several teams with coal. 



