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THE BEE-KEEPERS' REVIEW. 



if it would only come wheu our honey plants 

 are in the riglit stage of bloom to furnish 

 nectar. If we could only prolong their 

 bloom, as is done with the alfalfa, or add 

 some other source to our locality, as in- 

 stanced in the buckwheat fields of New 

 York, and, in other instances, by the raising 

 of alsike, the risk of disappointment from 

 poor seasons would be greatly lessened. As 

 I have often said, I have no faith in plant- 

 ing for honey alone, but if farmers can be 

 induced to raise some honey producing crop, 

 well and good. A letter received to day 

 from Geo. E. Hilton contains the following 

 sentence : " For twenty -five miles north of 

 here (Fremont, Mich.) there are thousands 

 of acres of the great willow herb." ) You 

 will remember that Mr. Heddon has found 

 this most excellent honey plant growing 

 within a few miles of his place, and is hope- 

 ful that with proper care it may spread to 

 such an extent that it will be of some benefit. 



There is such a thing as having a good 

 honey flow and not securing any surplus, 

 because the bees are not in readiness for it, 

 but when they have been kept in good con- 

 dition by care and feeding if necessary, and 

 the flowers bloom but yield no nectar, or 

 yield but sparingly, I must admit that I 

 know of no remedy. Sometimes we know, 

 or think we know, that the failure is due to 

 wet or dry weather. So far we have not been 

 able to control the weather, although enough 

 has been done in the way of producing rain 

 to enable the funny men to crack their jokes. 

 I must be pardoned for repeating one I saw 

 lately in a comic paper. It was entitled : 

 '• A Scene in 1929." There was a picture 

 showing the interior of a country store. 

 Around the stove, seated on benches and 

 soap boxes was the usual group of loungers. 

 An old graybeard, glancing out of the win- 

 dow at a drizzling rain, removes his pipe 

 long enough to remark: "Yes, this does 

 purty well fur one o' them cheap machines. 

 I tell you boys, I kin remember when we 

 used to hev to wait fur it to rain." .Joking 

 aside, the time may come when the amount 

 of rain-fall in a certain district may be in- 

 creased at will. In the meantime, what can 

 beekeepers do to guard against poor sea- 

 sons ? 



Well, I'll give a recapitulation. First, study 

 your field most thoroughly. Before selecting 

 a remedy we must know the cause of the 

 tiouble. When the clover is in bloom, go 

 about and examine into its quantity. Do 



the same with basswood ; with fall flowers, 

 or whatever sources there are. If at any 

 time the bees store honey rapidly, learn its 

 source and consider well the abundance of 

 the bloom. Strive to learn, if jiossible, 

 whether the poor seasons result from a lack 

 of bloom or from meteorological conditions. 

 If a drouth kills the clover, take that into 

 consideration the next year. If satisfied 

 that the poor seasons result from a lack of 

 l)lossoms, then reduce the number of bees or 

 else increase tlie number of blossoms. The 

 former course may be the more profitable, 

 and in this case, unless the surplus bees are 

 used in establishing an out-apiary, it will 

 probably be advisable to take up something 

 else in connection with bee keeping. If you 

 can raise bees and queens for sale, well and 

 good. It is impossible to give specific ad- 

 vice, as there are so many varying circum- 

 stances. If you decide to attempt to increase 

 the number of blossoms, don't, I hey of you, 

 devote good soil to the raising of plants that 

 produce honey alone. Neither be led into 

 the folly of raising, at some sacrifice, a field 

 of buckwheat or alsike, thinking it will ben- 

 efit a large apiary. If the natural condi- 

 tions are such that some honey producing 

 crop, alsike, buckwheat, or alfalfa, can be 

 raised at a profit, by the hundreds of acres, 

 on surrounding farms, if farmers can raise 

 these crops to better advantage than they 

 can any others, and by calling their atten- 

 tion to the matter you can induce them to 

 engage in their cultivation, if you can ac- 

 complish this without at the same time en- 

 couraging others to engage in bee keeping, 

 well and good. If there is sufficient waste 

 land near you upon which you can, without 

 too much expense, induce the growth of sweet 

 clover, or some honey producing plant that, 

 once it gains a foot-hold, will spread and 

 take care of itself, once more I say, well 

 and good. If none of these plans are feasi- 

 ble, yet you feel that you must raise honey 

 for a living, then I see no opening except 

 that you go to the flotoers. Go to some lo- 

 cality that has several sources from which a 

 crop may be secured, or else to one having 

 one source "long drawn out," as the alfalfa 

 fields of Colorado. 



The bearing that out-apiaries have upon 

 this subject ought, perhaps, to receive a 

 little more consideration. Putting the bees 

 in two or more apiaries gives them access to 

 a larger territory, and this alone may make 

 the difference between success and failure. 



