[1] More probably _new_ ones.--A DEVONSHIRE BEE-KEEPER.
[2] No, let us _not_ all _go west_, but rather let us have NOVICE _come
east_--retaining his time-honored name the while.
What was the average annual yield of honey, per hive, in Novice’s
locality, when he began to keep bees? What were his surroundings _then_,
as regards bee pasturage? and what are they now? If improved, are they
so proportionately to the increased quantity of honey obtained? Would
anybody _then_ have believed it possible, by any means that could be
devised, to secure, in any apiary, 6,162 pounds of surplus in four
weeks, or five times four, from the area of bee pasturage within the
range of the bees’ flight, taking the town of his residence as the
centre?
Now, if we mistake not greatly, the locality in Pennsylvania, as
described by Mr. T., furnishes quite as ample pasturage, _naturally_, as
that visited by Novice’s bees. Probably an unprepossessed observer,
noting appearances or indications in each, would give the Pennsylvania
locality the preference; and, very likely, Novice himself, at the
outset, had he been called on to choose, and been free to select, would
have so decided. Whence then the difference in the present results? Let
Novice come east, and we shall see. We do not propose that he shall
emigrate hither _in propria personæ_; no, but that his beekeeping
_spirit_ shall be imported. Let his mode of management be investigated,
adopted, applied, and carried out in its spirit and to the letter. Then,
if the result be not equally good, it will be early enough to attribute
the shortcoming to some natural or climatic inferiority.--ED.
[3] The substance enclosed to us was so crushed and pulverized in the
mail that we could not make out what it was, even with the aid of a
microscope. At first view it seemed as if minute scales of wax were
mingled with it, but none of it melted when exposed to heat. We presume
it is of vegetable origin.
[4] We do not know how bees thrive in the part of Virginia referred to
by our correspondent. Probably some of our subscribers in that section
could supply the desired information. A large part of Virginia is
unquestionably a first-rate bee country, and hardly second-rate in
anything else.
What sort of crop to cultivate for early bee pasturage, in a climate as
variable and uncertain as that which the writer describes, could only be
ascertained by trial and experience. Alsike clover is only suited to a
somewhat damp soil, otherwise in good condition. How far south or
south-west it can be cultivated with advantage, for bees and cattle, is
not yet known. We have no seed for sale--not dealing in seeds, bees,
queens, or hives; but contenting ourselves with publishing the American
Bee Journal, and striving to make that unsurpassed and unsurpassable.
[Transcriber’s Note:
Obvious printer errors corrected silently.