1900 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CUIvTURE. 



525 



buy fifty hives of bees and increase them to 

 two hundred in one season, and then depend 

 on their giving me fifty pounds of surplus per 

 hive. I have read several books on bees, and 

 I thought if I could get, say, 10,000 pounds of 

 surplus per year, I could make it pay." 



"I have no doubt of it," I replied; "but 

 the question is, whether you can get it." 



" Oh ! I don't intend to rely wholly on the 

 bees, for I am going to keep pigeons, fancy 

 pigeons, and other fancy poultry too." 



" Ever kept any bees ? " 



"Well, no ; but I have read all the books I 

 could find, and know all about it." 



" Ever read what they say about keeping 

 pigeons and bees? " 



He didn't remember. 



" What are the honey resources over in your 

 section of the State?" H?' didn't know. 



honey of very good quality, however, but they 

 are valuable for building up in spring." 



" How about supplies? Doesn't it cost a 

 small fortune to buy all the hives and sections 

 and foundation you need?" inquired Mr. 

 Henshaw. 



"That depends, " said I. "There is Mr. 



C , of West Brimfield, who lives less 



than a hundred miles from you, and he man- 

 ages a lirge apiary without paying out much. 

 He cuts the timber for hives in the forest, and 

 draws the logs to mill, and, when dry, cuts up 

 the boards with a small foot-power circular 

 saw, and makes the hives himself. He dees 

 the satne for clamps and sections. He lets 

 the bees fill their frames with combs while 

 working on striped maple or goldenrod, so he 

 has no heavy foundfition to buy. I don't know 

 whether he makes the nails he uses or not. 



" A DEFINITION OF STIMULANT." 



"Before you go in quite so extensively, 

 don't you think it would be a good idea to 

 look up some of these points? " 



He didn't know but it would. 



"lean tell you one thing, " said Deacon 

 Strong ; " they have one source of honey over 

 there of great value, and that is the striped or 

 spotted maple. It comes early, and yields 

 abundantly. It is not a tree like the soft or 

 sugar maple, but rather a shrub from five to 

 fifteen feet high, and blossoms abundantly 

 and produces great quantities of honey. It is 

 very conspicuous all along the roadsides, and 

 adds nmch to the landscape with its masses of 

 showy seeds in late summer and early autumn. 

 The dogwood also yields honey abundantly, 

 but is not very plentiful. Neither shrub gives 



but I should not be surprised to learn that he 

 did, as I found he made almost every thing 

 when I was visiting hitn." 



' ' Some work, I guess, about keeping bees ? ' ' 

 Mr. Henshaw observed. 



" After you have tried it for a vfew years you 

 will not need to guess in regard to it." 



"Hello! Is that you. Deacon Strong?" 

 shouted Jerry Benton, from the roadside. " I 

 want to see you. Will the bees sting me if I 

 go over where you are?" 



" That will depend," said Deacon Strong. 

 But he thought he would run his chances, and 

 come into the yard. 



" Oh ! see those bees ! Is that honey on their 

 legs? " he inquired as soon as he saw the bees 

 carrying in pollen. 



