378 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



June 15 



vicinity; besides, the trouble began in the 

 hitter part of January, before there was a 

 blossom of any description. 



The bees at present are working on white 

 •clover, but they began on this only ten days 

 ago. Previous to that time, I am confident 

 that the only source of nectar was from the 

 jewberry blossoms, a plant much like the 

 blackberry, the fruit, however, being larger 

 and more sour. All of the honey in the 

 hive is very light in color and perfectly 

 clear. Furthermore, it all has a delicate 

 and delightful flavor. 



Just recently another colony has become 

 affected, but not yet so violently as the first; 

 but I notice some swollen bees, with abdo- 

 mens much elongated like small laying 

 queens, in this second colony. No bowel 

 trouble has developed so far; but there is 

 the same continuous fighting and uproar 

 around the entrance as at the first colony. 

 This is one of the most marked features of 

 the trouble — so much so that I am suspi- 

 cious of a third colony where I have begun 

 to notice a few bees fighting. There is no 

 robbing. 



The bowel trouble, which has not yet ap- 

 peared in the second colony, seems to have 

 ceased in the first, although the bees con- 

 tinue to die in great numbers, which loss, 

 were it not for an unusually excellent queen, 

 would have run the colony down to noth- 

 ing. 



My own idea is that the trouble is bee 

 paralysis. Many of the bees are abnormal- 

 ly black and shiny. Both colonies are hy- 

 brids — about half-blood Italians. I believe 

 that I notice a tremulous motion in the bees 

 that crawl in the grass, unable to fly. The 

 queen in the first hive has been caged ten 

 days, and to-day I sprinkled the bees and 

 combs with sulphur. Not knowing the na- 

 ture of the trouble, I feared to distribute the 

 brood among other colonies, although every 

 cell of it is sound. 



Thibodeaux, La. 



[From all the evidence presented it seems 

 reasonably clear that the trouble is bee pa- 

 ralysis. Yes, you can use the combs over 

 again. 



We would advise isolating the two colo- 

 nies afTected, and then follow out the Pop- 

 •pleton treatment as given in the ABC and 

 X Y Z of Bee Culture, or our booklet, " Dis- 

 eases of Bees." — Ed.] 



BUCKWHEAT -GROWING IN THE OZARK 

 MOUNTAINS. 



BY OTIS A. GRIFFITH. 



1 live in the heart of the Ozark Moun- 

 tains, and I am a crank about buckwheat- 

 growing. I sow my first crop the 10th of 

 May, and then cut it about the 15th of July. 

 After this I i)low and sow again as soon as 

 possible. The second crop does not always 

 produce nectar. On the average I get about 

 35 bushels of grain i)er acre from the first 

 crop, and about 25 from the second crop. 



Buckwheat is a fine fertilizer, as it leaves 

 the ground in much better condition than 

 does red clover or cow peas. For years I 

 have tried to get my neighbors to raise buck- 

 wlieat, and I am always ready to give away 

 seed; but the people who have always lived 

 here seem to think that bees will take care 

 of themselves out in a hollow log or any 

 place else. 



Nearly all of my neighbors keep a few 

 colonies in log gums; and when the logs 

 "get rich," as the expression is, they knock 

 the top off and take out every thing, down 

 to the cross-sticks. The people here work 

 about four months out of the year, and fish 

 and hunt wild game and wild bees the rest 

 of the season. They are good-natured, and 

 their wants are so few that they are the hap- 

 piest people on earth. Every man owns his 

 own place; each one has a rifle and a good 

 squirrel-dog, and a fidtUe with a horsehair 

 bow. 



This is the natural home of wild bees. I 

 keep 100 good strong colonies which yielded 

 90 lbs. each last season. There are many 

 different kinds of natural honey-plants that 

 grow wild in the mountains. 



Scholten, Mo. 



ANOTHER FAILURE IN VIEW FOR CALI- 

 FORNIA BEE-KEEPERS. 



BY M. H. MENDLESON. 



There will be another failure in the honey 

 crop in Southern California this season. 

 We are having ideal weather for a honey- 

 flow, but conditions are against us. The 

 first part of the winter we had favorable 

 rains until .January and February to nearly 

 March 15, which was a scant rainfall. The 

 soil dried down sufficiently to check and 

 dwarf badly the growth of the sages, and 

 especially the alfilaria and other small pro- 

 ducing flowers, the latter of which general- 

 ly stimulates and builds up colonies for the 

 sages. This dry s])eU checked breeding. 

 Then came a good rain in March and some 

 in Ai)ril. Hot east winds followed, shut- 

 ting off all prospects. What little swarm- 

 ing we have had will not fill up for the win- 

 ter, ami colonies that were left with abun- 

 dant stores last fall will probably fill u]> 

 for the winter. My scale hive has gained 

 only about 1)4 lbs. in a month; and should 

 another east wind come, those that left 

 their bees with limited stores will have to 

 feed. These same conditions exist south to 

 San Diego Co. 



With all these bad prospects, buyers are 

 still trying to press down prices, and it is 

 time that we ])ut a stoji to this work. 



\'entura, Cal., May 10. 



WEAK COLONIES BUII.T UP BY HAVING STRONG COL- 

 ONIES PUT OVER THEM. 



Ill the Alexander i)laii for makiug increase you 

 recommend putting: the strong colony underneath 

 and the weak on top. I have tried both ways and I 

 have much better success when I put the strong 

 colony on top and the weak one underneath. 



Coyle, ()kla.. March 15. Arthur Rhoads. 



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