Bee-keeping eor Small Farmers. 



469 



of this country, we ma^ say it includes, in field crops, white 

 clover, sainfoin, alsike, trefoil, lucerne, white mustard, vetches 

 and buckwheat ; their respective values being taken in the order 

 given. The orchard or fruit crops comprise raspberry, goose- 

 berry, currant, plum, cherry, apple, pear, &c. To these may be 

 added that from the heather, which forms a valuable adjunct to 

 the bee-farmers summer crop, as affording a second harvest of 

 first-class honey to those within reach of moors and hills 

 covered with the common ling {Erica vulgaris) or the bell- 

 heather (E. cinerea). Lime trees — where grown in good 

 numbers — and hawthorn are also helpful in some seasons as 

 yielding honey very abundantly. 



The second condition is no less important than the first, viz., 

 a natural aptitude for bee-work. Some men are totally unfitted 

 by nature and temperament for bee-keeping, and for such it is 

 mere waste of time trying to learn. The good bee-man is 

 somewhat akin to the bees themselves, in being cleanly and 

 orderly. He must also be quiet and gentle when manipulating 

 hives, as anything like rough handling is soon resented by 

 the bees ; while the man whose habit is to " bang things about " 

 — to use a homely phrase — will soon find out his mistake, and 

 this is the one to whom the above deprecatory remarks apply. 



On the other hand, if our small farmer possesses in any degree 

 the necessary natural aptitude, he will have no difficulty in 

 mastering the few essentials required to make a successful bee- 

 keeper. But he must begin aright by acquiring some ele- 

 mentary knowledge of the natural history of the honey-bee, 

 in order to arrive at the " why and wherefore " of the " hap- 

 penings " which occur in the various stages of bee-life. He 

 must learn the difference in value between strong colonies and 

 weak ones, and the number of bees (approximately) required to 

 make up the former, together with the conditions implied in 

 what is termed " a prosperous brood-nest." Then, and closely 

 connected with the latter, comes the supreme importance of 

 having his stocks headed by young, vigorous, and prolific 

 queens, because the queen — or mother-bee — alone lays the eggs 

 from which the whole population of the hive is produced and 

 maintained. These details, together with a few particulars, 

 connected with the several phases of bee-life (from egg to 



