170 



GLExVNINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



of the sun, deludes itself into the belief that 

 it is an oven in full blast whose sole duty 

 is to bake both the hives and the bees so 

 unfortunate as to alight on its surface. 



In addition to these commendable features 

 of the double-walled hives, the amount of 

 labor they take off the hands of the city 

 beekeeper at the approach of winter must 

 not be overlooked. There is no need of 

 l)acking, nailing, throwing the bees in a 

 tumult, and creating a general mess of ex- 

 celsior, hay, shavings, roof-paper, newspa- 

 pers, and a thousand other improvised odds 

 and ends, as is customary with single-walled 

 hives. The following spring, there is no 

 fuss in unpacking, with the risk of chilling 

 the brood in the hives by the sudden cooling 

 of the single walls. With double-walled 

 liives all is calm and tranquil with the bee- 

 keeper. Peace reigneth in his soul and in 

 his hives. ' 



A city man is a busy man. A city man's 

 hobby must not en- 

 croach upon his regu- 

 lar occupation. It must 

 not tend to cause him 

 anxiety during busi- 

 ness hours nor enforc- 

 ed labor out of them. 

 The moment it does 

 this, it ceases to be a 

 hobby and becomes a 

 responsibility and a 

 bore. 



Now, the conditions 

 governing my apiary 

 are peculiar. It is sit- 

 uated in the center of 

 the largest and busiest 

 city of America. Miles 

 and miles of dwelling- 

 houses surround it, 

 with no open country 

 for a long distance off. 

 Where, then, do the 

 bees obtain their hon- 

 ey ? Why, from a city 

 park — Central Park. 

 Is there enough nectar 

 to keep three hives go- 

 ing? you ask. Going! 

 Why, it's all I can do 

 during June and July 

 to keep the enthusias- 

 tic inmates of the hives 

 from moving over to 

 the park en masse and 

 staying there. Central 

 Park is an unusual 

 park. Within its one 

 and a quarter square 

 miles it contains trees 



and shrubs from practically every part of 

 the world. The sylvan paths of this urban 

 arcadia present a bewildering array of alien 

 visitors. We discover a Chinese pagoda-tree 

 growing by the side of a Norwegian maple; 

 a Manchurian barberry nestling in the shade 

 of a pine from the far-off Himalayas, while 

 in the distance the dai'k foliage of a Crime- 

 an lindeii serves as a background for a 

 swaying bamboo-tree. Basswood (linden), 

 the standby of honeydom, is well represent- 

 ed here. Louis Peet, in " Trees and Shrubs 

 of Central Park," gives the varieties of this 

 tree as seven, mostly European. There are 

 fully thirty-five specimens of the linden in 

 the park, though whether they are all hon- 

 ey-producers I am unprepared to say. In 

 addition to the strange collection of native 

 and foreign flora. Central Park contains a 

 large botanical garden where tropical plants 

 such as bananas, cotton, oranges, etc., are 

 kept under shelter. During the hot days of 



Taking a dare. 



