The Middlebury register. [volume] (Middlebury, Vt.) 1850-1882, 1873-06-17
agricultural department..
CONDUCTED BY ALBERT CHAPMAN.


A paper read before the Farmers Meeting of the
Hoard Of Agriculture, &C., at Brandon, March
j, " J L. Ca,Sr. Esq, of Bridport.
Few portion ot our country, | believe.
are more inviting 10 the a%piatian THAI
our " State. E,tly IN April the aldcrs
that grow 80 p%rolu,ely ,loug most of our
streams furnish II 6oe supply Of pollen.
y little later the various varieties of
willows, the soft maple aud elns, furnish
some honey, and u great prolusion of
pollen, so essential to the early produc.
tion Of bread. These are followed by the
beautiful pendant blossoms of the sugar
maple, the dandelion and strawberry, on
which our industrious insects find employ.
ment in collecting both honey and bread.
As these pass by, the currant and goose
berry, with the fruit tree blossoms, fur
uish the bees oftimes u real harvest A
week or ten days later and the red rasp-
berry, the white and red clover open their
treasures, which are eagerly sought by
the bees. Usually, as the clover dries
up, the linden or Eastwood opens its
waxen flowers and furnishes a better
supply of honey from ten to fifteen days
than we may expect al any other time
during the season. Indeed. so valuable
is this tree for honey that it ought not to
be cut down uutil it has measured its
years Of usefulness. After linden blossoms
fail the bees busy themselves on m%ulliens
and thistles and ragwort, the vine
blossoms, the second crop Of red clover
and buckwheat. As the frosts of autumn
nip these, the golden rod and the various
varieties of the wild ~asters, with their
rich masses Of bloom, gladden. field and
the bum Of industry is still heard.
these are Il few oil the most important
OF the honey producing plants 10 our
State, and 1t is very interesting to notice
how the wants OF the bees are met from
early spring till late in autumn. Of
these plants, fruit trees, red raspberry,
clover and Eastwood furnish most of the
honey in the section in which | reside.
L will not attempt to estimate the
amount of honey that is annually pro-
duced and wasted for lack of honey.
gatherers to secure it. | know it to be
immense. | shall in this paper rather
attempt to show how it may be secured,
and thus furnish employment to a large
number OF persons who may not have the
necessary strength or capital for other
occupations. And now for the question.
How may this large amount Of honey
that is now largely going to waste be
secured? answer 1t may be secured
by energetic, wide awake, intelligent bee
keepers in numbers sufficient that there
shall be at least one in every school dis.
trict in our State. OF course such will
use movable comb hives, the honey cx.
tractor, Italian bees, Sc.
l will now give very briefly my mode
Of management, and if it shall assist
others in this fascinating pursuit | shall
feel that my labor has not been in vain.
In the section in which | reside the
"honey harvest commences usually soon
after the white clover commences to
blossom, or about the middle Of June.
and closes with the Eastwood blossoms,
from July 10Th to August lst. During
this time in ordinary seasons honey is
very abundant. Now if every hive is
full OF bees aud brood at the beginning
OF the harvest, it is almost sure to give
large returns in honey or young swarms,
or both but il any stocks are very weak
at this time they will give little or no
profit and perhaps not store even enough
for winter. That | may get every hive
filled with bees and brood by the COM
Yupnppp1ppt NJ hrrvne. o,a,ao .r..l
the first warm days Of spring feeding in
shallow boxes rye meal or unbolted
wheat flour, which the bees will carry to
their hives in large quantities until they
can get pollen from natural sources. At
this time, also, | endeavor to 90 over all
my hives, carefully lifting the frames
from each one, and noting in a book the
amount of honey, bees and brood that
each one contains. Guessing will not
answer here, | must know. If in early
spring a hive contains a plenty of bees,
with the proper amount Of brood and
sufficient honey to last until the flowers
furnish a supply, it will need but little
farther attention before June. But where
many stocks are kept together some will
be found to be weak in numbers, or will
lack sufficient stores, or they may con.
tain a worthless queen or be altogether
queenless. If the queen is defective |
prefer to unite at once with some colony
that has a good queen. When a colony
only lacks food | exchange comb with
some hive that can spare it as well as
not, or resort to feeding. l am most
troubled by a deficiency of bees, and how
to increase them rapidly that al! Of my
hives may be full OF them by the time of
the commencement Of the honey harvest
the great question with me through
April, May aud early June. During
April and May | am careful to keep the
hives as close as possible, that all the
heat generated may be retained, and
thus assist brood rearing. | also feed a {
little liquid sweet every other evening to ]
stimulate them in their attempts 10 rear
young bees. AS the spring advances, a
Judlcious exchange OF combs is very
desirable. To illustrate / open a hive
that contains a swarm that covers four
combs with bees, and taking out a comb
from the outside of the bees, and then
dividing the cluster Of bees in the middle
insert the empty comb. If this change ,
is made at the right time the queen will
very soon ill it with eggs and brooding
proceed faster than it otherwise would.
But if the colony is not strong enough
for this, | take the empty comb and give
it to a strong colony, taking therefrom a
comb of mature brood just ready to hatch
and place it in the weak stock, aud in a
few days the population will be largely I
increased. This interchange of combs {
may be continued as long as may be
to bring about the desired I
|
Before the harvest commences the bee '
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