1910 



GLEANINGS IX BEE CULTURE 



421 



nectar, perhaps a few words in regard to it 

 would be of interest. 



Throughout the timbered regions of West- 

 ern Oregon and Washington, portions of 

 California, and of British Columbia, this is 

 one of the most important honey-producing 

 plants. The honey made from it is of a 

 medium to light amber of delightful aroma, 

 and possessing none of the cathartic elTects 

 of the bark of the tree, which is taken here 

 by the ton and sold to dealers in its dry 

 state at about 5 cents a pound. When the 

 honey is fully ripened it is too thick to ex- 

 tract successfully, the combs breaking, and 

 tue lioney not flowing readily enough to 

 secure as much as possible with other va- 

 rieties. The flow from this source is just 

 commencing, the accompanying illustra- 

 tions having been made from blossoms se- 

 cured yesterday, May 14. 



In most places where honey from this 

 source is secured it is a difficult matter to 

 get it in a pure state as there are so many 

 other nectar-producing islants and trees. 

 For instance, the vine-maple flow is just 

 closing; wild blackberry is producing very 

 well: huckleberry, salal, and thimbleberry 

 are producing something, and white clover 

 is just coming into blossom. 



Mapleton, Oregon, May 15. 



YELLOW SWEET CLOVER SOWN IN NO- 

 VEMBER. AND IN FULL BLOOM 

 THE FOLLOWING JUNE. 



BY A. I. ROOT. 



[The following was written lor the new edition of 

 our booklet on sweet-clover growing: but being of 

 general interest to bee-keeper.s at this time, we de- 

 cided to use it here. — Ed.] 



.June 14, 1909, Mr. Philip Bohley, a man 

 in our employ, larought me a stalk of yellow 

 sweet clover 5 ft. tall, covered with bloom. 

 He said the plant came from seed that he 

 sprinkled along the roadside in November 

 the fall before. He did not notice whether 

 the seed came up in the fall or not. All he 

 could say was that there was no sweet clover 

 in that place the year before. The circum- 

 stance was so remarkable that myself and 

 Ernest took a trip there to see it; and the 

 picture adjoining is supposed to be myself 

 standing among the sweet-clover plants. I 

 took off my fur cap and donned Ernest's 

 hat, and that is one reason why I do not 

 look natural. The matter was mentioned 

 in Gleanings for July 1, 1909, p. 418, and I 

 then inquired if anybody else had secured a 

 successful stand of sweet clover, either white 

 or yellow, when the seed was sown as late 

 as November. Several letters informed us 

 that the same thing had been done by sow- 

 ing the seed in August and September, but 

 none as late as November. Mr. Bohley says 

 the horses grab for it every time they go 

 past it. Remember this seed was not in 

 cultivated soil, nor had any effort been made 

 to cover the seed in any way. It was just 

 scatterel along the roadside adjoining his 

 own premises. If this thing can be dupli- 



cated it would seem to indicate that yellow 

 sweet clover will furnish a large amount of 

 good food for stock, or for plowing under, in 

 a shorter time than any other legume or any 



thing else. 



THE LONG-IDEA HIVE FOR EXTRACTED 

 HONEY. 



BY GEO. SHIBER. 



I have been interested in the articles by 

 F. Dundas Todd that have appeared in 

 Gleanings of late, especially the one on j). 

 489, July 15, 1909. He says he is preparing 

 to raise extracted honey — that he has adopt- 

 ed the eight-frame width of hive, and that 

 he has cool nights during his honey-flow. 

 To this last point our friend says he has 

 given long hours of thought. He also say.' 

 he does not feel that he has in any wise ar- 

 rived at a solution. I began my bee expe- 

 rience 23 years ago, and 1 have been doing 

 the same thing every year, thinking anJ. 

 planning, then often finding that I had 

 reached no solution. He also says he has 

 adojited the divisible hive. Now what I am 

 about to say is the outgrowth of experience 

 in many plans which I have tried; some 

 have been good, otliers bad. 



Let's analyze the above combination. 



1. Extracted honey. 



2. Eight-frame-width hive. 



3. Cool nights during flow. 



4. Divisible hive, 5^4 inches. 



1. In raising extracted honey we must 

 have a large hive. Many times we must 

 have the equal of thirty to forty L. frames. 

 Now pile up those shallow (5^4 -inch) cases 

 until this capacity is reached. You will 

 then have a tall narrow pile, at night the 

 heat radiating from the sides and ends (it's 

 y& inch, probably) ; so the extra-warm cover 

 he uses will not amoimt to much to prevent 

 the cooling of the super part of the hive. 

 What happens in a hive when this occurs? 

 AVhy, the bees draw down, down, to the 

 brood-nest, leaving the supers nearly or 

 quite bare of bees. Surely this is not the 

 right condition of affairs for the securing of 

 a maximum yield. I might say right here, 

 that, as I live in New York State, and he in 

 the extreme Northwest, perhaps our locality 

 being different the plan might succeed bet- 

 ter than the one I recommend. 



2. Eight-frame width. This would be ob- 

 jectionable, as it would increase the radiat- 

 ing surface over the ten-frame size. 



3. Cool nights. If the nights are cool dur- 

 ing the flow, the hive must be made warm 

 enough so the bees will occupy all the super 

 room which they occupy during the day, 

 that the nectar may be properly ripened. 



4. These would, I think, be better ten- 

 frame width; but wc will drop the part for 

 the present. 



Most progressive bee-keepers know of the 

 "Long-Idea" hive. It is not new; in fact, 

 it was very old when I began reading bees 

 in 1886. Let me name some of the advan- 

 tages of this hive for extracted honey. The 



