58 A Modern Bee -Farm 



-districts, as there is a frequent occurrence of poor honey 

 seasons, whereas with heavy crops close at home it could be 

 so arranged that a good surplus would be obtained every ' 

 year, though' with scattered crops it sometimes happens that 

 the bees store little or nothing. 



No one has done so much in America to encourage the 

 planting of bee-forage near the apiary as Mr. T. G. Newman, 

 editor of the American Bee Journal. He not only recommends 

 it as being an advantage, but has always insisted that it is 

 ahsolutely necessary, and one of the first duties the bee-keeper 

 owes himself. I quote the following from Mr. Newman's 

 Bees and Honey : — "In view of the uncertainty of nature pro- 

 viding sufficient continuous- bloom, and the certainty of 

 annually recurring periods of cold weather, and long hazardous 

 confinement, the bee-keeper, to ensure success, should as 

 conscientiously provide pasture from which his bees can 

 gather food, as to provide hives with which to shefiStt" them 

 from the storms. With a liberal allowance of good, wTmesoiiw 

 honey in the fall, the first requirement for successful wintering ^M 

 be provided.'' • \ 



Observe the last sentence ; what a world of meaning the 

 words convey to those American and other bee-keepers whd 

 so often lose heavily during winter ! Our cousins across the 

 water put their losses down to bacteria, pollen, cold, etc. ; but 

 their late-gathered honey is not always good and wholesome, 

 while in many cases, if it is good, it is gathered often so late 

 as October. Thus the vitality of the bees is undermined too 

 late for recuperation by breeding before the cold of winter is 

 upon them. ISIothing is so exhaustive as the gathering and 

 storage of a heavy surplus, and thus the too late gathering 

 places a colony at a tremendous discount for wintering. 



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