186 BEES AND BEE-KEEPING. 



lessons of harmony, industry and perseverance. 

 The cultivation of honey bees is destined ere long to 

 be one of the most important and profitable branches 

 of rural economy. 



TIME TO EXPECT EIRST SWARMS. 



In this latitude (42 degrees 1ST.) some years ago, 

 when there was a good supply of wild honey-pro- 

 ducing flowers blooming early in May, making a 

 continuous supply of honey from the opening of the 

 first fruit tree flowers until the closing of the clover 

 season, swarming began as early as the twentieth 

 of May, and continued in good seasons until July, or 

 near the close of the clover season. 



The value that was attached to swarms issuing at 

 the different periods, may be illustrated by a little 

 rhyme, which an old Scotch friend of our family 

 taught me, when a very small boy ; it ran as follows : 



A swarm of bees in May, is worth a stack of hay; 

 But one in July is scarcely worth a butterfly. 



As the country has been improved, and the for- 

 ests cut down, the quantity of wild flowers has been 

 reduced each year, until there is now a period of 

 from two to four weeks, from the close of honey 

 gathering from the fruit trees until the white clover 

 comes in bloom, during which time a very small 

 amount of honey can be obtained, although this is 

 the most critical part of the year. More bees starve 

 during this time than all the rest of the year, at 

 least in this region of country. This may seem 

 strange to some of my readers, nevertheless it is a 



