236 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



Apr, 1 



SPRING FEEDING BY PLACING COMBS OF HONEY IN THE 

 HIVE. 



After studying what has been written about spring 

 feeding I should like to try a plan recommended by 

 Mr. Gray, of England, in GLEANINGS for 1908, p. 1200. 

 He advises placing a frame of honey in the center of 

 the brood-nest about the tirst of May, and then, four- 

 teen days later, giving them two other frames; and 

 after other fourteen days, two more. I should like to 

 hear from any one in this country who has tried Mr. 

 Gray's plan and can tell how it works. 



TWO COLONIES IN ONE HIVE. 



I have a few colonies of bees in the cellar that are 

 weak. When they fly in the spring I intend to put 

 two colonies into one hive with a division-board be- 

 tween them. The division can be made of veneer 

 tacked to top and bottom cleats. This arrangement 

 will conserve the warmth. 



Ridgewood, N. J. Wm. Leitch. 



[England has a much milder climate than most sec- 

 tions in the Northern States. Putting a comb of honey 

 in the center of the brood-nest by May 1 might be too 

 much of a good thing. In many localities it would be 

 far better to put the comb of honey at the side of the 

 brood-nest by May 1. Later on it might do to put it in 

 the center. Before a brood-nest is tampered with very 

 much there should be settled warm weather.— ED.] 



cality. It is a fine-growing shrub, never over four 

 feet high, with a small pink bell-shaped flower that 

 produces an abundance of water-whiie honey in June. 

 The seed is produced in white berries that hang on all 

 winter. I have a bottle of this honey mixed with clo- 

 ver three years old that has frozen repeatedly, and has 

 just commenced to granulate. 

 Eraser, Idaho, Feb. 16. F. F. GEORGE. 



SKUNKS KNOCKING ON THE HIVES. 



I have been experiencing considerable difficulty in 

 keeping the triangular entrance-blocks in place. I 

 had the same trouble during previous winters, but 

 worse this one. I could not believe they had been 

 worked away by the wind so frequently, for on many 

 occasions I had found them displaced when I knew it 

 had been comparatively quiet. I became suspicious 

 that chickens, rats, or some other animal was respon- 

 sible, and was on the point of setting a trap. Last 

 night, about nine o'clock, my wife discovered some- 

 thing knocking at one of the hives. This hive rests on 

 pieces of brick about two inches from the ground. It 

 was covered with a light box for shade. Stealing qui- 

 etly to the hive I listened for some time to the drum- 

 ming, which was as regular as any bee-keeper ever 

 produced. I finally discovered that the drumming 

 was beneath the hive. By stooping I could discern 

 the animal by the bright moonlight, and every little 

 while it would poke out its head. A lantern and a rifle 

 were brought, and with the added light of the lantern 

 the drumming still continued. The animal would 

 pause and stick out its head, and I took advantage of 

 this exposure and gave it a ball. I do not know how 

 it could have produced this drumming unless with its 

 head. The bees did not seem much disturbed. They 

 had probably been drummed in this manner so fre- 

 quently that they were used to it. I suppose the pur- 

 pose was to cau<!e the bees to fill themselves with 

 honey and then attract them to the entrance by scratch- 

 ing, where they could be caught. 



Geary, Okla., Jan. 28. N. F. Gardiner. 



[Skunks may have learned the trick of bumping on 

 hives to draw the bees out at the entrance. Say ! you 

 didn't tell what happened- after you shot the skunk. 

 We have been informed that, unless the shot instantly 

 kills or paralyzes, the animal will scent up the neigh- 

 borhood. We infer that you made a good shot.— Ed.] 



HULLED SWEET-CLOVER SEED SETS AS QUICKLY AS AL- 

 FALFA, ALSIKE, ETC.; THE HULLED REQUIRES 

 SIX MONTHS. 



The articles in GLEANINGS on the subject of sweet 

 clover are very interesting. I bought a few pounds of 

 The A. I. Root Co. in the fall of 1909. The yellow was 

 hulled, the white was unhu'led. I sowed both varie- 

 ties in September. The yellow hulled seed came up in 

 ten days but the white showed no life. On page 828, 

 June 15, 1907, J. A. Green says the white hulled seed 

 came up very promptly, while the yellow unhulled 

 came up best the following spring. I think our com- 

 bined experience shows that hulled sweet clover seed 

 of either variety will germinate just as quickly as al- 

 falfa, alsike. or any of the clover family, while the un- 

 hulled seed requires six months, or time to rot the 

 hull before it comes up, thereby removing the ban 

 that has been following sweet clover — that is, that it 

 invariably takes six months to germinate. 



As clovtr honey granulates quite readily the apiarist 

 is fortunate if he lives where gallberry (holly), moun- 

 tain sage, or snowdrop grows. The snowdrop errows 

 on the open hills or in dense forest growth in my lo- 



A LEGAL CONTROL OF BEE TERRITORY WOULD BE UN- 

 CONSTITUTIONAL. 



Referring to the article on page 41, Jan. 15, about the 

 control of bee territory, I can not see why a bee-keep- 

 er should claim exclusive right to any territory any 

 more than a person engaged in any other business. 

 Has a physician or a lawyer an exclusive right to any 

 territory, to the exclusion of others in the same pro- 

 fession who may choose to enter that locality to try to 

 make a living? Even though the meat or grocery 

 business of a certain place is overdone, who shall 

 claim that no one else has any right to start in the 

 same business there? Because a certain dairy can 

 supply all the milk demanded by a certain communi- 

 ty, does that fact forbid any one else starting a dairy if 

 he so desires? If the bee-keepers of Imperial Valley 

 have formed a " trust " to keep out all intruders, how 

 are they any better than the Standard Oil Co.? Do not 

 their methods savor somewhat of those of the Western 

 Federation of Miners? So far as legislation to give 

 any bee-keeper control of certain territory is con- 

 cerned, I think it would be unconstitutional from the 

 very bottom, and contrary to the rights of every free 

 citizen. I regard bee-keeping as similar to any other 

 business. The man who starts it does so to make it 

 pay, ordinarily, and I can not see why laws should be 

 passed to protect him especially against any one else 

 who might wish to engage in that business in the same 

 locality, any more than that laws should be passed to 

 give a blacksmith control of all the territory within a 

 given number of miles from his shop, to the exclusion 

 of all other prospective blacksmiths. Dr. Miller says 

 there is no conflict about a cow-pasture, and asks why 

 there should be about a bee-pasture. I grant the first 

 part. As a rule the owner of the cows owns the pas- 

 ture also ; but suppose those cows had wings and 

 could fly all over the country, feeding where they like. 

 I fear that then there would soon be trouble. In the 

 same way, if the owner of an apiary owned all the land 

 within the limits of the bees' flight there wou'd be no 

 cause for trouble; but such a condition is almost un- 

 heard of, and the bees must pilfer from many land- 

 holders. 



I do not in any way favor the Australian system un- 

 less the payment is made to the owners of the bee- 

 pasture. What right, moral or otherwise, has a State 

 or county to collect revenue by granting to one per- 

 son the privilege of allowing his bees to steal nectar 

 from the flowers belonging to others, and forbidding 

 such owners to keep bees to gather the nectar from 

 their own fields and orchards? 



A man may plant a great fruit-orchard or tract of al- 

 falfa, and establish a few hives of bees for insuring 

 fertilization. Along comes Mr. Special Privilege, bee- 

 keeper, and says, " Here! you must not keep bees, for 

 I have bought the right for this locality." 



"But," says the orchardist, "it is my land, my or- 

 chard, and therefore I consider it my honey if my bees 

 gather it." 



"No." says the other, " you must give the honey to 

 my bees, for I have bought the privilege, and you 

 would be interfering with my business." 



What sort of justice is that, to compel a man to give 

 the nectar from his orchards and other flowers to 

 some "protected " bee-keeper? Dr. Miller's compari- 

 son of stock-raising and bee-keeping will scarcely 

 stand; for not much stock is allowed to range wholly 

 free as are bees, but in most cases it is kept within 

 certain definite limits. 



Fort Casey, Wash., Feb. 17. Erle Sargent. 



QUESTIONS ON BEE DISEASES. 



I have received lesson 13. Please send me lesson 14, 

 and at the same time answer the following questions: 



1. By "spring dwindling" do you mean the act of 

 bees flying out too early and chilling, never to return 

 again, or dying from old age without leaving the hive? 



2. What IS sorghum syrup? 



3. By curing paralysis does O. O. Poppleton sprinkle 

 the sulphur on the bees and combs dry, or does he 

 mix it with water? 



4. Where can I And any information in regard to 

 queen cramps? 



