128 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Feb. 1."). 



tried to improve on these well-known old-fash- 

 ioned names by advertising "Golden Carnio- 

 lans," "Funics," "Five-banded Italians," and 

 " Red-clover " queens that "just rolled in the 

 honey." Well, the "rolling" business struck 

 most of us, who had met so many disappoint- 

 ments, very favorably, and many of us sent off 

 our money-orders and received the coveted 

 queens in due time. But again the poor sea- 

 sons soon taught us that even the most indus- 

 trious bees could not " make" honey. 



Then it was thought that, by manipulation, 

 the desired results might be secured. Then the 

 non-swarming craze, the doubling-up plan, and 

 non-swarming devices; making two swarms 

 work in the same set of supers had its day: but, 

 strange to say, not much is heard of them of 

 late. 



Now. I believe most bee-keepers who have 

 been engaged in the pursuit for 15 or 20 years 

 have had just about the experience here relat- 

 ed, and I do not wish to be understood as run- 

 ning down these efforts to improve our calling. 

 I fully believe that all these things have been 

 of great advantage. The hive, foundation, the 

 kinds of bees, the manipulation, are subjects 

 that can not be overlooked by the person who 

 may hope to be successful. 



I think that most of us have learned that, 

 really, there is no short cut to success in bee- 

 keeping. The desire, however, to advance, and 

 take advantage of every suggestion and im- 

 provement, if it really is an improvement, is a 

 laudable one, and should be encouraged. It 

 has long appeared to me that the most promis- 

 ing field to increase our surplus-honey yield 

 was to increase our honey-yielding flora. It is, 

 perhaps, well enough to hunt to " the ends of 

 the earth "for better bees; but why not send 

 practical bee-men to study the honey-plants of 

 other countries, with a view to introducing 

 them here? It must be that some of the plants 

 that yield so abundantly in other countries 

 would do equally well here. Our linden is rap- 

 idly disappearing; and the white clover, owing 

 to our scorching summers and snowless winters, 

 is almost a thing of the past. It is becoming 

 quite evident that something must take their 

 places, if we may expect honey-yields in the 

 future. 



Some fifteen years ago I commenced sowing 

 honey-plants in waste places, about stone-quar- 

 ries, along creeks and rivers, wherever a suit- 

 able place offered, and where no objection 

 would be likely to be raised. I have tried about 

 all the honey-plants that have attracted atten- 

 tion, including Simpson, Dr. Tinker's golden. 

 Chapman's, Rocky Mountain, etc., and I now 

 find some of these plants growing in the most 

 unexpected places. The plant, however, that 

 has given decidedly the best results, and one 

 that is able to hold its own against all the 

 world, is sweet clover. It is a "dandy," as Mr. 

 Muth says, and, no matter what the season or 



the weather, it can be depended on to furnish 

 a fine quality of honey. 



Some years ago I rented from three to five 

 acres of land adjoining my apiary, and kept it 

 in sweet clover for a number of years. While 

 so small a field did not give a yield of surplus 

 honey to 1.50 to 2.")0 colonies of bees during poor 

 seasons, yet it kept up brood-rearing, and often 

 gave me some surplus from fall flowers that I 

 should not have secured otherwise. Strange as 

 it may seem, the sweet clover has now spread 

 for several miles, growing wherever it can gain 

 a foothold; and in a few years more it will, no 

 doubt, be the main honey-plant in my locality. 

 I am glad to see such men as M. M. Baldridge 

 write about sowing 80 acres to this plant, and 

 shall anxiously watch the result. I see no rea- 

 son why Mr. B. could not make it a paying crop 

 for seed alone; and 80 acres of sweet-clover 

 bloom, in the immediate vicinity of an exten- 

 sive apiary, is a factor not to be despised. I 

 have often wondered why farmers did not make 

 more use of sweet clover as a forage plant and 

 for fertilizing. I know of several hog-lots, of 

 from 10 to 20 acres, that have produced nothing 

 but dog-fennel for the past ten or fifteen years. 

 Why not plow up, say, half, plant to sweet clo- 

 ver, and keep the hogs oft' for the first year? 

 The next spring, plow and seed the other half 

 and turn the hogs in to live on the tender clo- 

 ver-shoots. If not overstocked, enough clover 

 would bloom and seed the ground to keep it 

 from running out. Incidentally the neighbor- 

 ing bee-keepers would be benefited. Who will 

 try my plan? 



Of course, it is always a good plan to do what 

 we can to induce farmers to sow alsike clover, 

 buckwheat, and other honey-producing plants. 

 One trouble with this idea is, that usually, 

 when clover, alfalfa, etc., begins to bloom, the 

 farmer appears with his mower and cuts it 

 down. But it often happens that, if you can 

 convince the farmer that the seed of the alsike, 

 alfalfa, etc., will pay well, he may be induced 

 to let it stand till done blooming, and ihus 

 give the bee- keeper the full benefit of the bloom. 



Milan, 111. 



[As. Mr. D. says, there is no short cut to suc- 

 cess in bee-keeping. But there are a great 

 many conveniences or "little comforts," as 

 some have called them. A good point is made 

 in utilizing the waste weed - patches. Sweet 

 clover is a sort of weed; but if nothing but 

 weeds will grow in these places, put one there 

 that will be worth something. Dr. Miller is a 

 firm believer in this doctrine: yes. he practices 

 what he preaches; but don't tell him that I 

 said so.— Ed.] 



-^m — I ^ 



HONEY-PACKAGES FOR EXTRACTED HONEY. 



WHY HONEY-BARKEL8 LEAK SOMETIMES; THE 

 remedy; ANOTHER VALUABLE ARTICLE. 



By E. France. 



In Gleanings for 1894, page 633, the editor 

 makes a plea for tin cans. I think cans are all 



