240 A Modern Bee-Farm 



Mr. S. Deacon, of Knysna, Cape of Good Hope, in a letter 

 dated Nov. 23rd, 1892, says, " I am a struggling apiarist, and 

 can fully endorse your statement at bottom of Page i of your 

 immensely valuable and valued little work, "A Modern Bee 

 Farm." I and my son (a regular bee enthusiast, aged 18) 

 are agreed that it is worth its weight in gold ! I should 

 certainly be sorry to take £5 for the copy I have just received 

 from home if I knew it ^ere impossible to obtain another. 



, 'am 



, , , , iand some half-a-dozen others, who 



have sought to teach us our business, can in future rest on 

 the shelves ! There are a thousand and one little matters we 

 have in vain sought information on in the works of the 

 authors- above-named. They generalize, but the novice wants 

 details. .... I am not going to waste any more money 

 on bee books, convinced that what Simmins' work doesn't 

 teach us isn't worth knowing ! .... for really I can 

 not say enough in praise of your book." 



The above gentleman reminds me he has a trouble I 

 have not mentioned in my work. He complains that it is the 

 rule, rather than the exception, for the bees out there to leave 

 their hives and combs — every bee deserting and going off like 

 a swarm. Once in a while, a similar thing , happens in this 

 climate, wh-ere, through inattention, the bees have not been 

 properly supplied with stores. These swarms are called 

 " starvation " swarms. 



It may be that Mr. Deacon thought, feeding unnecessary in 

 his locality, but as he states that the combs deserted are 

 perfectly empty, it points . to the fact that the bees , were 

 arriving at the starvation point, and made the one desperate 

 effort in the hope of finding more favourable pastures. 



