35 



QUESTION AS TO GRAZING STOCK. 



There is, however, a plea put in by the agriculturist on behalf of his 

 grazing stock, and one which he generally seems to consider unanswerable. 

 He says, " Even if it be admitted that the removal of the honey from 

 my farm is neither exhausting to the soil nor injurious to the plants of 

 the standing crop, still it is so much fatten ing-matter which might be 

 consumed by my stock if it had not been pilfered by the bees." 



Now, it may at once be admitted that honey consists to a great ejctent 

 of fattening-matter, though it may be allowable to doubt whether in 

 that particular form it is exactly suitable as food for grazing cattle. 

 Although it is quite true that the saccharine matter assimilated in the 

 body of a plant tends to the formation of fat in the animal which eats 

 and digests that plant, still one may question the propriety of feeding 

 the same animal on pure honey or sugar. We niay, however, waive that 

 view of the subject, as we .shall shortly see that it is only a question of 

 such homoeopathically small doses as would not be likely to interfere with 

 the digestion of the most delicate grazing animal, any more than they 

 would considerably increase its weight. Admitting, therefore, that every 

 pound of honey of which tiie grazing stock are deprived by bees is a loss 

 to the farmer, and therefore to be looked upon as a set-off to that extent 

 against the benefits conferred by the bees in other ways, it will be 

 necessary to consider to what extent it is possible that such loss may be 

 occasioned. 



QUANTITY OF HONEY FURNISHED BY PASTURE-LAND. 



In the first place, it must be recollected that a large proportion- — 

 in some cases the great bulk — of the honey gathered by bees is obtained 

 from trees, as, for instance, the linden in Europe, the bass-wood and 

 maple in America, and in this country the forest-trees, nearly all of 

 which supply rich forage for the bee, and everywhere from fruit-trees 

 in orchards. A large quantity is gathered from flowers and flowering 

 shrubs reared in gardens; from clover and other plants grown for hay, 

 and not for pasture; and even in the field there are many shrubs and 

 flowering plants which yield honey, but which are never eaten by cattle. 

 Pastures, therefore, form but a small part of the sources from which 

 honey is obtained; and in dealing with this grazing question we have to 

 confine our inquiries to clovers and other flowering-plants grown in open 

 pastures, and such as constitute the ordinary food of grazing stock. 

 In order to meet the question in the most direct manner, however, let 

 us assume the extreme case of a large apiary being placed in a district 

 where there is nothing else but such open pastures, and growing only 

 such flowering-plants as are generally eaten by stock. Now, the ordinary 



2— Bee-culture 



