AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. . 237 



Honey Crop in Bns:land. 



The past few seasons have been dis- 

 couraging, but this year the bee-keepers 

 have reason for rejoieing, as will be seen 

 by the following from the Bee-Keepers' 

 Record : 



It may be taken for granted that the 

 honey-gathering for the present season 

 is so far very satisfactory, and that a 

 fairly good crop has already been secured; 

 while, if the present fine weather con- 

 tinues for another week or ten days, the 

 harvest for 1891 will be an excellent 

 one. Reports continue to reach us of 

 capital "takes-" in a good many quar- 

 ters, and a hopeful feeling seems to pre- 

 . vail everywhere, which is very gratifying 

 after the depression caused by several 

 b^d seasons in succession. 



Bee-keepers are, as a rule, sanguine 

 men, and it unfortunately happens that 

 persons of that temperament find it very 

 hard to look on with stoical indifference 

 while the rain is washing out the figures 

 in which they have been reckoning up 

 their honey gains, or whileJeaden clouds 

 overhead darken their bright visions of 

 sunshine and abundance of nectar, pic- 

 tured in the near future. We have gone 

 through all these phases of the bee- 

 keeper's hopes — sometimes realized, and, 

 truth to tell, not seldom disappointed — 

 but we were never so impressed with 

 the comparative "littleness" of the bee- 

 man's interest at stake, when compared 

 with those of the fruit-grower, as during 

 our new experiences of the last few weeks. 



We have seen hundreds of anxious 

 men, women and children waiting for the 

 sunshine and the consequent ripening of 

 strawberries in the' fields of Kent — the 

 growers, also, equally anxious as them- 

 selves, with thousands of bushels of fruit 

 ready for gathering "if the rain would 

 but go off" — and we have felt very small 

 indeed when thinking of our own 

 "chafing" because of the enforced idle- 

 ness of our few colonies of bees from the 

 same cause. 



And then, when a bright, warm morn- 

 ing made the air ring with the merry 

 hum of the bees tumbling in, honey- 

 laden, to the few hives we call our own, 

 we have passed through the same fruit- 

 fields, and seen such a sight ! the bright 

 green of the strawberry foliage darkened 

 by the motley, busy crowd of "pickers," 

 let loose by the sunshine, and gathering 

 in the crop at " piece-work prices." 



Broken down perambulators, wheeled 

 under the shade of trees, were there by 

 the dozen, containing babies of all ages, 



tugging away at empty feeding bottles, 

 and tended mostly by an elder brother 

 or sister, who had reached the mature 

 age of three or four years. A-11 members 

 of the family beyond that age were 

 busily picking. 



It formed a curious and interesting 

 scene to one unaccustorned to the extent 

 of the fruit-farming industry in Kent, 

 and, as we have said, it tended to subdue 

 any disposition towards grumbling at 

 the weather misfortunes a bee-keeper 

 has to endure. Here were whole families 

 of poor people who traveled weary miles 

 to earn a few shillings in the fruit-fields, 

 and while the weather was against them, 

 they, like the bees, looked on and could 

 do nothing. 



But at last the sun shone on fruit- 

 growers and fruit-pickers, on bees and 

 bee-keepers, and all were made merry 

 accordingly. Moreover, it is a fact that 

 the honey of this year, like the fruit, is 

 of capital quality and likely to sell well. 

 A few days ago there appeared signs of 

 mischief from an excess of honey-dew, 

 but that trouble appears to have passed 

 away, and the clover honey now being 

 gathered is as good as was that from 

 earlier plants a week or two ago. 



There seems to be a general brighten- 

 ing up of the prospects of bee-keeping, 

 not only by reason of a probable good 

 harvest, but bees in poor health are 

 feeling the benefit of a rapid inflow of 

 natural food, which assists them in resist- 

 ing premonitory symptoms of disease. 



But besides this, there is cause for con- 

 gratulation on all sides at the general 

 prospects of the pursuit ; bees have 

 increased- well by swarming, while 

 swarms appear to be doing so well that 

 few will have failed to gather sufficient 

 natural stores to Winter on, and we con- 

 gratulate our readers on the almost cer- 

 tainty of a good season. If confirmation 

 of this view were needed, it comes in the 

 very encouraging number of entries in 

 the honey classes of the later shows now 

 being held, and those still to come. 

 When honey is plentiful, and of excel- 

 lent quality, on the show tables, it is a 

 reliable indication of general bee-pros- 

 perity so far as the season has gone. 



We have not as yet had full reports of 

 the prospects at the moors» but there is 

 no reason why a successful heather 

 season should not follow the splendid 

 growing weather lately experienced. At 

 any rate, northern bee-keepers are very 

 hopeful of as good a time at the heather 

 as we have been favored with in the 

 South from fruit and clover, and we 

 heartily wish them full supers, and 

 plenty of them. 



