12 ALEXANDER’S WRITINGS ON PRACTICAL BEE CULTURE 
quiries state that, although they had a very large bloom, their bees got 
but little surplus. 
My friends, the time will come when many will realize that what is 
commonly called the “season,” which is, the condition of the ground as 
to proper moisture and the temperature, and the electrical condition of 
the atmosphere at the time the flowers are in bloom, will have a thousand 
times more bearing on our surplus than the amount of bloom or the 
number of colonies we may have in one apiary. 
A few years ago, during the commencement of our August harvest, 
when our bees had at least 1500 acres of buckwheat bloom to work on, 
and were getting honey very fast, a heavy thunder-shower came down 
from the north about 2 p.m., which caused the mercury to drop 21 de- 
grees in less than half an hour. Then this low temperature of about 65 
degrees, with windy cloudy weather, lasted some 11 days, during which 
time the bees destroyed large quantities of their brood, for there was 
no nectar in any flowers during that time, and they were ready to rob 
any hive that was opened. We have but very little basswood in this 
locality, and two years ago the bloom was very light. We could hardly 
find a tree that had any flowers on, but still our bees got a fine surplus 
of over 9 tons of basswood honey; but the weather was all that could 
be desired. It was clear, hot, and very damp; the moisture of the air 
condensed on every thing that was cool, and consequently we got the 
honey. 
One year we had the most profuse basswood bloom I ever saw. 
Nearly every tree was full of flowers; but the weather was cold, cloudy, 
and windy during nearly the whole time it was in blossom, and we did 
not get enough basswood honey so it could be smelled or tasted in our 
surplus. I don’t know that I ever saw the buckwheat harvest stop so 
suddenly, with apparently little cause, as it did one August. From the 
morning of the 21st to the night of the 24th, bees got honey very fast. 
Our hive on the scales averaged a gain of about 8 lbs. a day, and we ex- 
tracted a tankful of a little more than 2 tons each day for four con- 
secutive days, and our men all agreed that there was more honey in the 
apiary each night than there was in the morning. But on the night of 
the 24th we had a light shower with a fall of temperature of 11 degrees. 
The bees were very quiet the next morning until about noon; then when 
it warmed up a little they were ready to rob anything they could get at, 
and there were thousands trying to get into our honey-house around the 
screened windows; and we knew from past experience that the honey 
season of 1906 was then drawn to a close. The hive on the scales did 
not gain 4% lb. any day after that fall in temperature and shower, al- 
though there was considerable buckwheat in bloom. 
Then at other times I have noticed, when the weather remains 
warm without any rain, the flow of nectar would last until Sept. 5; but 
if a break in the harvest comes at any time after the 24th of August 
we at once take off our extracting-combs, run them through the ex- 
tractor, and put them away for another year. 
One year we finished the last work in the apiary for the season on 
Sept. 1, and our honey was then all either in the barrels or tanks, and 
