8o A Modern Bee-Farm 



tion. To permit the ground to be occupied by a single 

 variety taking two years to arrive at maturity is sheer 

 folly : and even with those flowering yearly something 

 else must be growing at the same time. The white clover 

 is particularly partial to road grit, and where the sidings, 

 etc., can be secured, they will be found the most valuable 

 fertilizer that can be obtained for the crop ; often inducing 

 a heavy growth where the plant was seldom seen 

 previously. A great advantage to be gained from 

 continuous bloom is that the surplus may be removed at 

 any time without exciting the bees to rob, as is too 

 frequently the case when the later harvest is taken at a 

 time when they have nothing more to keep them 

 employed. 



Systematic Planting makes Profits Certain. 



This branch of apiculture has been much neglected, 

 but bee-keeping as a profession can only become a 

 certainty in this country where systematic planting is 

 carried out. Indeed, even in America the same statement 

 would apply to most 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. 



In this country it is almost useless for any bee-keeper 

 to attempt to get a living from honey-production unless 

 he can afford to farm sufficient land to materially assist 

 his apiary. In that case he should at least clear his rent 

 by his hay-crops, so that he will have the entire produce 

 in honey as clear profit, while the proceeds of the 

 necessary farm stock will pay his labour bill. 



No one has done so much in America to encourage the 



