212 



GARDENERS' CHRONICLE 



Clover Honey 



H. W. SANDERS 



THERE is no flower that gives a better honey than 

 white or alsike clover, and the growth of the clover 

 plants by the roadside in the Spring and early Sum- 

 mer watched anxiously by the beekeeper in the Northern 

 States, for the yield from this plant is generally the larger 

 part of his income. The honey is nearly white, of good 

 body, and a delicious aroma, which always makes a keeii 

 demand and a good sale for it. Eor comb-honey it is the 

 whitest and always commands the highest price. 



June is the month that sees the clover coming into 

 bloom. The bees that have wintered well, and that have 

 been prospered by favorable weather since they were taken 

 from their Winter quarters, will now be crowding the 

 hives with colonies that number thousands and tens of 

 thousands, and the beekeeper will have to be very careful 

 in his management to prevent premature swarming. A 

 swarm iust as the honey from clover is being gathered 

 will be liable to cut the harvest in two, for 40,0C0 bees 

 in two hives will not store one quarter of the honey that 

 they would if kept in the one colony. Some increase will 

 of course be required, either to recover Winter losses, 

 or else for expanding one's stock of bees, but it is far 

 better to make this artificially, than to permit the bees to 

 swarm and spoil the clover crop. Should a swann 

 emerge, despite the care taken to avoid it, it should be 

 hived and the hive placed on the stand occupied by the 

 colonv from which it emerged, the latter colony being 

 moved to a new place. The efifect of this operation is to 

 cause all the older bees of the original colony to join the 

 swarm, for the\' will have marked the spot where theii 

 home stood and will return there the first time they fly 

 to the field. The colony will be so strongly re-inforced 

 bv these field bees that it will produce a larger crop than 

 the "pareiu colony" would have done. The parent col- 

 ony, being thus removed, will in due time hatch out a 

 young queen, and will be in excellent condition *or 

 wintering. 



How to prevent swarming? That is a question that 

 has given rise to more debate than anything else in all 

 the art and science of bee-culture. Of course, the mere 

 prevention of swarming is easy enough : the caging^ or 

 removal of the queen, will effectually prevent swarming 

 for the swarm will never emerge without her. but how 

 to prevent swarming and at the same time produce a 

 good crop of honey, and have a good bee-yard for Winter, 

 is by no means so simple a business. Where verv- large 

 hives are used and extracted honey is produced, swarm- 

 ing is much less of a problem, but with the standard hives, 

 and particularly with the production of comb-honey, a 

 good deal of care and attention is needed. 



It is essential to open the hives once a week, or at least 

 once in nine days, and to examine the combs for the 

 queen-cells that are alwavs the signs that a colony is 

 getting readv to swarm. For the busy man who keeps 

 a few hives as a side-line, it is better to have a certain 

 day of the week set apart for this duty, for then it will 

 not be forgotten. If the weather should be unfavorable 

 on that day however, the first opportunity thereafter 

 should be taken. A queen cell is .sealed over when the 

 embrvo queen is nine days old. from the time the egg 

 was laid, and usually a hive that is going to swarm may 

 be depended upon to do so on the first fine day after 

 the first queen cell is sealed over. So that if it is visited 

 at intervals of a week there should be no possibility of 

 a swarm coming out accidentally. 



Out- of the ifirst things a beginner witli bees think-^ 



he has found out for certain is that by cutting out queen- 

 cells he will prevent swarming. Occasionally it will, 

 and after the first lot of cells have been removed, or 

 squashed on the comb, there will be no more built, but 

 more often it will be found that the bees will imme- 

 diately start new ones, and will go ahead and swarm 

 on one fine day without waiting for these to be com- 

 pleted. So that it is not wise to try to prevent swarm- 

 ing by this means alone. Our own practice is to exam- 

 ine all colonies once a week, to cut out the first cells that 

 are constructed and to mark such hives and visit them 

 again in three days. If they have resumed the business, 

 then there is nothing else for it but to b'reak up the colony 

 to some extent. 



The usual method is to take the combs out of the hive 

 one by one. and shake all the bees off in front of the hive 

 and then to place empty combs within it. Thus the 

 brood is all taken away — sometimes one comb of brood 

 is left so as to prevent the bees deserting the hive, but 

 often the entire brood is removed and the bees have to 

 start just as if they were a swarm newly hived. The 

 brood is taken and placed in a second hive-body above 

 a weak colony.. The bees that emerge will then bring 

 this weak one up to full strength in a few weeks. The 

 temperature at night must be considered in connection 

 with this operation. If it is cold and the brood is all 

 given to a weak colony, some of it will perish by cold, 

 and in that case it is distributed between several of the 

 weaker colonies. If the weather is warm and the season 

 prosperous, the brood may all be given to one colony. 



If there are no weak colonies to be strengthened, the 

 "Alexander plan" is the best. A queen excluder is placed 

 over the colony, and the brood is placed in a hive body 

 above it. one or two combs and the queen being placed 

 below, with empties, or foundation filling up the rest 

 of the hive. By this means all the bees will emerge in 

 this colony and strengthen it, and the maximum of honey 

 will be secured, but the plan is not suitable for comb 

 honey, for the honey gathered is largely placed in brood 

 combs and nuist be extracted. 



Of course, with either of the above plans, the incipient 

 queen-cells must be destroyed at the time the brood is 

 transferred, and with the Alexander plan, they must be 

 destroved aLjain a week later. 



IN PRUNING SHRUBBERY 



/. Study the habits of each sl'ccics and act 

 accordingly. 



2. Shearing shrubbery is poor practice ahvays, 

 except in hedges, and is likely to lose the blos- 

 soms. 



5. A light cleaning 'with a pair of hand shears 

 iinincdiately after the floicering season will 

 usually serve a good turn. 



j. Instead of being headed back at the top, 

 most shrubs should be thinned out at the bottom. 



5. Instead of cutting out the suckers at the 

 base, the old wood should be removed and young 

 wood left. 



6. This Iieacy pruning is usually giz'cn in 

 March, but if zvell done every year can just as 

 well he "■''■<'" '"" Midsujumer. — F. .1. JJ\ 



