30 



THE AMERICAN APICULTURIST. 



spring that notliing but natural 

 resources or fresh honey and pollen 

 from the flovvers will stimulate suf- 

 ficiently. I do not refer to early 

 feeding, now abandoned by most 

 beekeepers, but to stimulating after 

 the first brood hatches when brood 

 should be reared most abundantly. 

 Again, if the field be overstoclved 

 in the fall, brood-rearing ceases too 

 early, and it is the belief of many 

 that this is one drawback to suc- 

 cessful wintering. It is very cer- 

 tain that artificial feed at this season 

 of the year will not take the place 

 of natural supplies for securing 

 brood. Then, again, wlien crowded 

 on a range, even in flush times, 

 bees lose much time in searching 

 for honey from flower to flower 

 when they have already been emp- 

 tied and they will even condescend 

 at such times to gather honey be- 

 fore it is sufficiently ripened in the 

 flowers as well as other poor honey, 

 including aphis honey and hone}^ 

 dew, all of which injures the quality 

 of surplus and winter stores, mak- 

 ing it almost impossible to winter 

 bees under such conditions. 



It may be asked what proof we 

 have that bees gather too thin a 

 honey and such is not sufficient)}' 

 evaporated in the hive after being 

 gathered. I answer that the proof 

 is found in honey gathered in wet 

 seasons which is still thin after 

 being sealed. Sugar maj^ be sub- 

 stituted for honey in wintering, 

 but it is a Herculean task to 

 extract and feed after honey gath- 

 ering ceases, and after a little ex- 

 l)erience in feeding Prussian blue, 

 grape sugar, white earth, and the 



other adulterants of sugar, it may 

 be concluded that poor honey is 

 even safer than this. It will be 

 found that a guarantee of purity 

 does not always impW purity. 

 This last winter I observed bees 

 to drop down by the quart as if 

 poisoned, in a few sugar-fed swarms, 

 and I noticed in the fall that it 

 took much less water to melt up 

 some sugar guaranteed to be pure 

 than it did of another brand con- 

 taining no such guarantee. It is 

 certain that grape sugar takes little 

 water to melt it. We may, there- 

 fore, reasonably conclude that it is 

 easy to overstock a range, and 

 that overstocking often means not 

 only the loss of surplus honey, but 

 also the loss of the bees as well. 

 It might be well to notice in this 

 coimection the subject of artificial 

 pasturage and its effect on the 

 welfare of both bees and bee- 

 keeper, but tins article has already 

 grown too long and I will not tax 

 your patience further. 

 ~ Starlcville, N. Y., May 26, 1883. 



BEE-CULTURE IN THE 

 SOUTH. 



By G. VV. Demaree. 



I. 



While Dame Nature is wonder- 

 fully accommodating in her ways, 

 her economy is of the most un- 

 swerving character. 



Where she gives short and fitful 

 winters, she gives, in turn, long and 

 parching summers witli tlieir con- 



