89 
means wherewith to labor, and tie his hands in the 
bargain? Then be reasonable with your bees ; do by 
them as you do by your fine horses and neat cattle, and 
they will pay you better. Cultivate trees and plants 
that will afford them honey; they are not idlers and 
will never refuse to work if you give them good hives 
to live and work in. In summer give them labor and 
in winter protection, and you have a mint that will 
coin the gold. Little more than this need be done in 
many sections of our country ; yet there are other 
portions where it may be necessary to do more than 
furnish flowers and a good hive. 
On those vast prairies of the West, where their unbro- 
ken bosom is one perpetual carpet of flowers from 
spring until fall, there is one lack, and that must be 
supplied — that is water. Bees sometimes are sub- 
jected to the inconvenience of going long distances for 
water, and it should be remembered that the heat of a 
summer sun and excessive labor creates thirst, and 
they will fly miles to creeks and sloughs to quench that 
thirst when it cannot be obtained near by, losing much' 
valuable time that might and should be remedied by 
keeping constantly near your dwellings and bees, a 
quantity of water. With these precautions heeded, 
a few of the spruces, pines, firs, or the different bal- 
samic trees, such as tamerac, willow, balm of gilead, 
&c., planted around the dwellings, will not only afford 
propolis for the bees but will add beauty to every home 
and its surroundings. 
Few persons are aware of the great amount of 
honey that a single acre of white clover will produce 
in a single year. 
