1882 



GLEANI2^GS IN BEE CULTURE. 



6'7 



They were in box hives, and were wintered out- 

 doors, on their summer stands, without protection. 



TEMPERATUKE OP CELLARS FOR WINTERING BEES. 



Between the years 1861 and 1870 I wintered a few 

 colonies of bees in a bin in one corner of my grana- 

 ry. They were in box hives, and when they were 

 put in, the hives were inverted. For four or five 

 winters the bin was nearly full cf hives. The heat 

 from the bees kept the temperature in the bin above 

 the freezing-point during the coldest weather; when 

 it was too warm outside to freeze, the bees in the 

 bin would be all over the outside of the hives; and 

 when it was warm enough outside for them to tly, 

 they would hang on the underside of the boards, 

 covering the bin in clusters as large as a half-bushel 

 basket. During the seven or eight winters that I 

 kept them there I did not lose a colony or queen, 

 and tbey wintered with but a trifling loss of bees. I 

 have never attempted to winter bees in a cellar; but 

 after my success in wintering them in this warm bin 

 I would like to ask the readers of Gleanings who 

 have had experience in wintering bees in cellars, 

 why they find it neccssary to keep the temperature 

 of the cellar down to from .'-5 to 45 degrees (Mr. Ax- 

 tel, I think, says from 35 to 3S degrees), while, from 

 my " standpoint," I can see no real benefit resulting 

 from keeping the cellar so cool. I think I can see 

 how it might be the cause of serious loss by condens- 

 ing the moisture thrown otf by the cluster of bees 

 on the outside combs; making the honey thin, wa- 

 tery, and, as I think, poisonous to bees, producing 

 dysentery, and its twin, spring dwindling; unless the 

 hives were made sn small (by taking out part of the 

 combs and using a division-board) that the bees 

 would fill the entire space, and with their own heat 

 expel all moisture from the hive. 



Jackson, Mich. J. H. Townlev. 



I believe it has been shown, in past vol- 

 umes, that bees have always died, more or 

 less, the way they do now ; but as there were 

 no large apiaries In years back as there are 

 now, it made less of a sensation when a man 

 lost all he had . If I am correct, plenty of 

 fresh air is more essential in cellar winter- 

 ing, than any precise temperature. Good 

 results have been obtained all the way from 

 30 to 5U-, and bad results have been obtained 

 from the same temperature, with bad air or 

 bad food. 



BUCKW^HEAT. 



ITS CULTIVATION AND VALUE. 



^jJ5^UCKWHEAT is a crop which costs but little, 

 jW)^j) either for manure, labor, or seed, and it is a 

 very convenient crop wherewith to occupy 

 land that could not be planted with any spring crop 

 in proper season, on account of the hurry of spring 

 work, unfavorable weather, or want of help. Be- 

 sides, the grain can always be readily marketed, 

 and at prices generally much more i-emunerative 

 than those of the corn crop, when the extra labor of 

 cultivating the latter is taken into consideration. It 

 has been remarked, that buckwheat "favors slack 

 husbandry, being proverbially the lazy man's crop." 

 This may be true to some extent, as fair crops are 

 sometimes grown on quite Inferior or worn soils, 

 and with but very little preparation. In f»ct, the 



opinion appears to prevail among many farmers, 

 that this crop will do well on land hastily and imper- 

 fectly plowed, at any time when most convenient, 

 and put in in a slovenly, ship-shod manner, without 

 the oi-dinary care and labor bestowed on other and 

 perhaps less important crops. It deserves good cul- 

 tivation, however, and I think my btc-keeping 

 friends will find that the increased yield will amply 

 repay for all extra labor performed. 



My own practice is to plow as soon as possible aft- 

 er corn-planting — usuallj' about June first— and 

 then harrow occasionally to get the land clean and 

 fine by sowing time. This is very important in dry 

 seasons, the mellow surface retaining the moisture, 

 as was clearly proven during the extreme drought 

 of last summer, where yields treated in this way 

 came up finely and produced air crops, while neigh- 

 boring fields, turned over just before sowing, scarce- 

 ly sprouted at all, and the crop was an entire fail- 

 ure. Buckwheat thrives well on a wide range of 

 soils, and will give a tolerable crop, in some cases, $ 



on fields which would scarcely produce any thing- 

 else of much value. If manure is to be applied, it is 

 best put on the previous year; yet fair crops maj' 

 be grown on very light and quite inferior soils with- 

 out manure. Bringing the soil into fine tilth, and 

 rolling the land after sowing the seed, especially on 

 light, dry soils, will improve the growth of the crop, 

 and increase the average product. It is a cleansing 

 crop, of the nature of a fallow, subduing or choking 

 out troublesome weeds. Instances have come un- 

 der our observation where dock, sorrel, charlock, 

 and even quack-grass and Canada thistle, have been 

 pretty well subdued by crops of buckwheat,. One 

 reason why this crop kills out or subdues weeds and 

 grass is, that the land for growing it is plowed and 

 harrowed in midsummer, by which process the 

 roots of the weeds and grass are exposed to the 

 scorching rays of the sun; and then, after the seed 

 is sown, it grows so rapidly that it gets the start of 

 all other vegetation, overshadowing and smothering 

 every thing that springs up. 



Besides furnishing food fur man, buckwheat is an 

 excellent food for almost all domestic animals, and 

 has been highly recommended by experienced farm- 

 ers for feeding purposes. It is also valuable for bee 

 pasturage, being in blossom at a season when honey- 

 producing plants are scarce — not so much on ae. 

 count of the quality of its honey, but for the fact 

 that it keeps the bees breeding late in the season, 

 putting them in better condition for successful win- 

 tering. I have sometimes thought, that being near 

 to a considerable area of this crop, has had much to 

 do with my success in wintering, when others, in 

 less fortunate localities, have lost heavily. 



Buckwheat may be sown from the middle of June 

 to the middle of July in latitude north of forty de- 

 grees. It runs the risk of being injured by early 

 frost, if sown much after the ith of July. It is usu- 

 ally cut with the cradle, and, to avoid loss of grain 

 by shelling when very ripe, it may be cut when 

 damp, as in the morning or at evening. Being slow 

 to dry out, it should never be slacked or mowed 

 away in large quantities together. A better way is 

 to thrash it as it is drawn in, on a dry warm day. 

 The average yield is from fifteen to thirty bushels 

 per acre. Under favorable circumstances, and in 

 favorable seasons, from thirty to forty-five, and even 



fifty bushels, have been obtained. 



L. M. Bogehs. 



Oneida Valley, Madison Co., N. Y., Dec. 15, 1881. 



