THE BEE-KEEPERS' REVIEW. 



3'3 



could literally see and taste the clear shin- 

 ning nectar in the hlossonis. The season 

 of 1SS7 was a failure on account of ex- 

 treme drouth. The season of 1S88 was 

 phenomenal in honey-production. Bees 

 came out rather weak in spring, but built 

 up on white clover, getting in shape for 

 Vjasswootl, which lasted three full weeks. 

 When basswood closed, the bees began 

 working on the large wild sun-flowers 

 and other autumn flowers, which contin- 

 ued to yield honev until frost came. 

 During that season I had colonies that 

 produced over 200 pounds of comb honey 

 in one-pound boxes; others did nearly as 

 well. One hundred colonies of bees in 

 good condition to begin the season, and 

 properly handled, ought to have made 

 the owner 52000 clear, as honey brought 

 a better price than than it does now. I 

 received 18 cts. per pound in job lots for 

 part of my comb honey. 



For the years 1889, '90, '91, and '92, 

 the honey crops were light to fair, but 

 there were no total failures. The year 



1893 was a great white-clover year, and 

 gave us a splendid crop of honey. In 



1894 there was no white clover, but bass- 

 wood was a full crop, and lasted as long 

 as it was ever known to in this region. 

 The bees worked on it 25 days. Just after 

 the close of the basswood flow, Ernest 

 Root visited us and found the bees stor- 

 ing quite rapidly a very light amber hon- 

 ev, the source of which I never fully 

 learned. The year 189.5 scored another 

 total failure, bees getting just enough 

 honey to winter on. In 1896 we had a 

 fair crop, mostly from basswood. In 

 1897 we had another great white-clover 

 year. The pastures in this country were 

 covered as with a white sheet. In 1898 

 there was no honey at all from clover, 

 but basswood gave a fairly good yield. 



Thus we see that, during the years 1885 

 to 1898 inclusive, or ff)urteen years, we 

 have recorded f-ve full crops, seven light 

 to fair, and two total failures. Taking 

 it for granted, for convenience' sake, that 

 the present season of 1899 will score 

 another failure (which I do not think 

 will be the case), we have, as a result, 

 one total failure for every five years; five 

 heavy crops out of fifteen, or one in three 

 years, and seven medium crops in fifteen 

 years. This gives us a basis on which to 

 estimate the probable results in the fu- 

 ture, and is very valuable to the one who 

 e.xpects to make bee-keeping his princi- 

 l^ai means of support. Some localities 

 can show a better record than this, but 

 there are a greater number that can not 

 show as good. 



One can see from this record how im- 

 portant it is to have a location with a di- 

 versity of hone)' -producing plants. In 

 my location the fact that the field pro- 

 duces both white clover and basswood 

 prevented me from having several more 

 failures of crop during the time recorded. 



Some ma}' ask what I consider a full 

 crop on my field. I will state it in round 

 numbers easily remembered: 100 lbs. of 

 comb honey per colony, spring count, 

 for a full crop; 50 lbs. half crop, and so 

 on. From this it would not be difficult 

 to figure out just about what a good bee- 

 keeper could have flone in those past 1 5 

 years. 



Location is a great factor; but manage- 

 ment, I believe, is the most important of 

 all. How many Doolittles have we 

 among bee-keepers? Very few. I know 

 that I am not one, for, as I once said to a 

 friend, "I get well paid for neglecting my 

 bees." That means that I have other 

 business that prevents me from taking 

 the nice care of the bees that they de- 

 serve. But there are some keeping bees 

 in Wisconsin who are so ignorant and 

 negligent that they will tell you that they 

 expect their bees to do well when the 

 basswood comes in bloom, whereas bass- 

 wood has come and gone, and the poor 

 bees had no surplus-arrangement provid- 

 ed in which to store the honey, so they 

 just plugged their brood-combs what they 

 could, and then loafed, or in some cases 

 built a piece of comb on the outside of 

 the hive. 



SIZE OF HIVES. 



Sdine FairCi)nsi(lerations of the Subject. A 



S\steni ill which a Small hive is a 



Factor. 



Awhile ago I said in the Review that I 

 thought about enough had been said up- 

 on the subject of the size of hives, but I 

 recently came across something in the 

 American Bee Journal, written by Adrian 

 Getaz, that is so sensible and fair that I 

 must lay it before the readers of the Re- 

 view. Here is what IMr. Getaz says: — 



During the past few months quite adis- 

 cu.s.sion on large or small hives has been 

 going on in several of our bee-papers. 

 Probablj- all that could be said on the 

 subject has been said, perhaps not in 



