.^'* »<'- .''-i 



Tm AMERICAN 



ApfcULTURlST. 



A. Journal Devoted to Practical Beekeeping. 



VOL. X, 



MAY 1892 



No. 5. 



DIFFERENCES OF OPINION. 



Last season I read advice from E. L. 

 Pratt sa3'ing not to bother with chaff or 

 flour as a substitute for pollen in early 

 spring. Again some one else advocated 

 its use. Then comes in some novice 

 and says, "'The doctors don't agree." 

 I\Ien of high reputation give directly 

 contrary advice. Some one is wrong ; 

 may not both be right and both wrong? 



My first experience was in a field, 

 where natural pollen was alwax's al)un- 

 dant in the hives, and also in the fields 

 when the bees could go after it. Be- 

 tween the hive and field supply there 

 never was any lack. Nevertheless, when 

 the advice came out to feed flour I put 

 some out, but not a bee would touch it. 

 I caught a few and showed them w'here 

 it was. but they at once skipped out. 

 Then I put honey in the flour to "start 

 them,'' and they licked out the honey, 

 but no more. Later I have been in a 

 field lacking in pollen, and a hundred 

 colonies of bees would consume chaff" or 

 flour about as greedily as honey at times. 



Now, whose advice was right? Can't 

 you see the point? 



Doolittle uses one system, and Da- 

 dant still another ; each says he is right ; 

 his. hive and system are the best. But 

 the novice, and even many who should 

 know better, say if one is right the others 

 are wrong. It is not necessarily so. 

 Each may say or think his hive or sys- 

 tem the best ; yet, each knows and ac- 

 knowledges that the other is a reasonable 

 success. The hive don't do it, neither 

 does the system of management, only 

 in so far as that svstem recoonizes and 



utilizes the underlying principles neces- 

 sary to success. 



As in the matter of pollen, so in many 

 other ways does location decide what we 

 should or should not do.- 



I used to read, "What can I do to 

 prevent swarming during the white clo- 

 ver honey flow?" I had no white clo- 

 ver, but only a fall flower. My bees 

 gave so little trouble I had about con- 

 cluded to cry Eureka, and go into the 

 queen business — a regular ''non swarm- 

 ing strain." I waited another season, 

 gnd saved myself much humiliation. 

 That season I had a white clover flow, 

 /. e., a summer instead of fall flow of 

 honey. Then I found out the differ- 

 ence. ]\Iy bees swarmed just like oth- 

 ers. Now can you tell why many genera- 

 tions previous my bees had been "non- 

 swarmers ? " They are both swarmers 

 and "non-swarmers" now. 



If you have only a fall flow and run 

 for extracted honey it is very easy to 

 control sw-arming, even so far as to say 

 it is a practical success. But just try the 

 same stock one season with a June or 

 July flow, and run for extracted honey 

 and see if it is a success. Or run for 

 comb honey witlr a June flow, and nine 

 times out of ten you will "climb a tree," 

 or — or — something else, after swarms. 



I once read that a man could not 

 make a success of any business in less 

 than five years, experience, /. e. : AVe 

 can't learn enough about a business in 

 less than five years to make it a real suc- 

 cess. I believe to-day it is true. Yes, 

 some men do succeed in less time. But 

 the majority of those who do succeed 

 (G9) 



