660 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



Oct. 15 



more. The former 

 blooms first while the 

 latter comes in immedi- 

 ately after the white is 

 through blooming, thus 

 lengthening the flow. 



Its value to the farm- 

 er as a noxious-weed 

 eradicator deserves men- 

 tion. During June, 1906, 

 I sowed 10 lbs. of sweet- 

 clover seed on a plot of 

 ground of about an acre 

 and a half, which con- 

 tained Canada thistles. 

 The plot was not plow- 

 ed, the seed being sown 

 simply on the sod. In 

 due time the plants ap- 

 peared and grew luxuri- 

 antly in spite of the 

 drouth which overtook 

 it. It has been left 

 standing, and allowt-d 

 to reseed itself annual- 

 ly, until now it has be- 

 come an impenetrable 

 mass, having attained 

 a height of from 7 to 

 9 ft. on an average. This luxuriant growth 

 has almost entirely choked out every Cana- 

 da thistle and other weeds. 



I think bee-keepers and farmers would do 

 well if they would make use of their waste 

 places and fence-rows which are infested 

 with weeds, to sow sweet clover and allow it 

 to reseed itself and choke out the Meeds. It 

 might just as well be growing in waste places 

 and fence-rows as weeds, and it would sup- 

 ply the bees with abundant pasture. It 

 might be objected to, and termed a weed; 

 but it is no more a weed than the other clo- 

 vers; and if it is, it is a very valuable one. 



I am satisfied that sweet-clover seed will 

 be in demand in a few years, and the seed- 

 dealers will be compelled to carry it in stock, 

 owing to the increased acreage and its popu- 

 larity as a valuable plant of many uses to 

 the farmer, stocknian, ancl bee-keeper. 



In classing sweet clover I think it takes 

 second place to alfalfa, with the other clovers 

 following. 



I would urge every farmer and bee-keeper 

 to sow a trial lot and find out the good as 

 well as the bad qualities. However, in my 

 estimation it has no bad qualities. They 

 are all good. 



Ephrata, Pa. 



HOW TO TELL WHEN HONEY IS TOO THIN 

 TO EXTRACT. 



MITCHELL'S WAX-PREPS WITH WHICH HE SECURED 66 POUNDS 

 OF WAX FROM 200 COMBS. 



from clover, and it is left in the tank two or 

 three days, the thin honey will be on lop. 

 When we take off honey if any part of a 

 comb is unsealed, no matter for a space only 

 two inches square, we grip tlie comb in both 

 hands, and, holding it in a horizontal iiosi- 

 tion, jerk it up and down. If any of the 

 honey Hies out we stop extracting at once. 



SIXTV-SIX POUNDS OF WAX SECURED FROM 

 TWO HUNDRED. COMBS. 



Eight years ago I constru -ted the wax- 

 press shown in the enclosed engraving and 

 secured sixty-six pounds of wax from twenty 

 ten-frame supers, over3'4^ pounds per super. 

 This is as much as any one is able to obtain 

 with the very latest improvements up to 

 date. 



jNIolesworth, Ontario, Can. 



MOTHS INFECT NEGLECTED COMBS. 



BY HERMAN C. SHORT. 



BY CHAS. MITCHELL. 



During the season of 1909 we stopped ex- 

 tracting, although our combs were from 

 three-fourths to seven-eighths sealed. We 

 never extract unless the combs are entirely 

 sealed or unless the bees have been idle for 

 at least two days. Of course, if the honey is 



The combs shown in the illustration be- 

 longed to a farmer who lives near here, and 

 it shows the result of his neglect. 



Winchester. Ohio. 



[There used to be a number of so-called 

 patented moth-traps on the market, ex- 

 ploited as a sure remedy for moth-infested 

 hives, and many dollars were wasted before 

 bee-keepers learned the simi)le rule for pre- 

 venting moths — that of keeping all colonies 

 strong. Most bee-keepers have found, also, 

 that Italians i)rotect their hives much more 

 vigorously than the blacks, and so in later 

 years we no longer hear very much about 

 this enemy that results only from careless- 

 ness. — Ed.] 



