148 BEE CULTURE. 
and where they do not, it is easy and profitable to put in a 
few acres of buckwheat for late fall honey, as there is none 
better for wintering bees, and extracted buckwheat honey 
will always find a ready sale. In locating wm apiary, avoid 
the close proximity of laurel thickets, as honey gathered 
from the laurel is unwholesome, if not really poisonous ; avoid 
the neighborhood of cider mills, and do net locate immediately 
near a large body of water, as it will confine your bee-range 
to one direction exclusively. A broken or low country is no 
particular disparagement, because the less desirable for culti- 
vation, the more encouragement will there be for you to take 
time by the forelock, and plant plentifully of such honey 
plants as will insure a constant bloom, and provide against 
the time when others, encouraged by your success, shall also 
commence bee-keeping in your neighborhood and over-stock 
the location, unless nature is liberally assisted. With all the 
above natural advantages secured, aided by your provident 
forethought in planting, you will have done much to settle 
the question as to the best method of wintering, and your 
bees, let them be of whatever color, will solve the problem as 
to which is the best race. We are often almost persuaded, 
that were more attention devoted to selecting a suitable loca- 
tion, and to providing continuous pasturage, there would be 
less cause for so much talk about procuring the best races of 
bees ; the bees reared ’ne=th Italia’s skies, would scarcely re- 
pay the expense of importing ; no longer would we tread the 
shining sands of Syria in search of a better type; we could 
afford to respect the superstitions and avoid the scorching 
sun of Cyprus, for their bees would gather no more honey 
than our own; the bees of China would be left undisturbed 
in the shade of its historic wall ; and those in Caucasus would 
still fly from flower to flower in their own native valleys, 
What though we possess a type of bees with the wings of 
a condor, with tongues as long as was that of Xantippe, and 
honey sacs with a carrying capacity equal to that of Falstaff, 
of what avail are they if there is no honey to gather ? 
PLAN FOR AN APIARY, 
Decide upon a plan for an apiary, and then make it 
beautiful. Of all mankind, bee-keepers should admire the 
beautiful—and we really think they do, Italian, Cyprian, 
