. American bee journal. Bee culture; Bees. FIG. ON A ROADSIDE FENCE A Venture in Southern Bee- keeping- The Season's Work BY J. F. ARCHDEKIN. (Continued from February number.) THE spring of 1915 was a very back- ward one all over the South. Old residents of this section told me that it was the latest spring in 30 years. Our bees had a fair amount of stores, but as soon as brood-rearing started in strong and the population of the colonies began to increase, these stores diminished rapidly. There was some bloom out, but it was so cold and cloudy that the bees could hardly get a chance t
. American bee journal. Bee culture; Bees. FIG. ON A ROADSIDE FENCE A Venture in Southern Bee- keeping- The Season's Work BY J. F. ARCHDEKIN. (Continued from February number.) THE spring of 1915 was a very back- ward one all over the South. Old residents of this section told me that it was the latest spring in 30 years. Our bees had a fair amount of stores, but as soon as brood-rearing started in strong and the population of the colonies began to increase, these stores diminished rapidly. There was some bloom out, but it was so cold and cloudy that the bees could hardly get a chance to fly. When a nice day did happen along they brought in large quantities of pollen from a small yel- low flower that grows all over the fields and from wild berries and wil- low. But the nectar secured was neg- ligable, so that by the middle of March we had to begin feeding sugar syrup. The feeding was done in the open from wash tubs, so the wild bees, of which there are immense numbers in the woods, were fed gratuitously, I was kept busy every day making syrup and looking after the yards, so that shop work had to be neglected. It was very discouraging, to be sure, but as the old saying !goes, " Every cloud has a silver lining," we determined to see the game through. By the first of April a good part of our colonies were in fair shape as to strength, but none of them had more than two or three days' supply of stores. They were down to their last biscuit, so to speak. If only the tupelo. whose buds had been swelling since March 1 would open, all would yet be well. Then all at once the weather cleared. Willow, which had been in bloom for some time, began to yield. A day or two later the tupelo opened and such a scramble I never saw among bees. In just three days colonies which had been in a starving condition were crammed with honey and the queens honey bound. An apiary was the bus- iest place I had ever been in. To hear the noise one would imagine a first- class job of
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Keywords: ., bo, bookcentury1800, bookdecade1860, booksubjectbees, bookyear1861
