13:2 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Feb. ir.. 



Fl(i.:«).— COKN CoiKLK 



iiralsize; h. imiHiiifieil 



Fic. :il.— WiiiTK Clover. 

 —a. natural size ; li. side 

 views. sliowiiifT rootlet; i'. 

 profile. 



# 



Rrd-clm-crseed is not now imported fiom Europe. 

 The most common adulterants are quartz grains, 

 which can be detected 

 ^ ^ ^^ by using a magnit'ying- 



1 h o ^^^R^liiss. Uncleaiied red- 



lover seed is probably 

 tlie foulest seed on the 

 market. The most com- 

 mon impurities found 

 are plantain (Fig. 18), 

 sheep sorrel (Fig. 19), 

 pigeon-grass (Figs. 21, 

 32), ragweed iAinhrnxiii 

 FlG.H-i— SpiRKY.— a.uatmal sjze: artenm(efiili(t (Figs. 27. 

 1>. 0. .1. (liflferent views, nrnjinifieil. gg^^ ransied-weed (Lili- 

 nrifi vulgaris. Fig. 28). corn cocTi\e {AaroxtrmiiKi ijitli- 

 Of/o, Fig. SO), dog-fennel. o.\-eye daisy, and wild car- 

 rot. Dodder (Fig. 24) is also apt to be present in 

 samples of red clo- 

 ver, though not so 

 frequently as with 

 lucerne. The least 

 trace of dodder-seed 

 should condemn the 

 sample. 



n'hite-chwrr seed— 

 shown in Fig. 31— is, 

 to some e.xtent. im- 

 ported from Europe, 

 and it is sometimes 

 adulterated witli old 

 and dead seed, color- 

 ed and doctored with 

 sulphur, to resemble fk;. :!.!.-S.tiNKoi.N.-K. e. tju- huiie.i 



fresh seed. Quartz seed; l). d. tlie naked seed: a and li. 



grains, eitlier plain "atnrai size. 

 or colorejd, are used for tlie same purpose. 'I'he most 

 common impurities in badly cleaned samples are 

 plantain (Fig. 18), sheep sorrel (Fig. 19). and spurry 

 (Siierijula nrvnisis. Fig. 32). Dodder may be present 

 in samples of white clover, but it does not affect this 

 species as much as it does red clover, alsike clover, 

 and lucerne. 



THE SEALED -COVER QUESTION REVIEWED. 



WHY THEY WERE CONDEMNED. 



Bii A. S. Martin. 



Friend Root:—l would ask those who make 

 such a handle of bees wintering in cracked 

 hives and rent hollows of trees if they ever took 

 the trouble to observe the situation of the cluster. 

 Were the bees really exposed to the draft from 

 those crevices? Pshaw! nonsense! they can 

 not be induced to form their cluster in the 

 midst of an upward draft, if they can possibly 

 avoid it. In all these cases it seems certain they 

 were able somehow to shun it. Those reports 

 in Gleaninos, seemingly so adverse to sealed 

 covers, appear to me exceedingly defective and 

 unsatisfactory. Thoy almost, without excep- 

 tion, ignore bottom ventilation. How can such 

 reports give the "black eye" to sealed covers, 

 or "seal their fate"? The trouble seems to 

 have been with the sealed or partially sealed 

 bottoms. The interior of a hive with close 

 walls and scaled cover is practically a dead-air 



space, subject to no fluctuations but such as the 

 bees themselves create, provided the hive is as 

 it sliould be, sheltered from the wind. In such 

 a hive, bees have perfect control of ventilation, 

 as* Nature evidently designed they should 

 have. They will ventilate perfectly such a space 

 if they have free access to the external air. 

 They do it in summer, and why not in winter ? 

 They are not then helpless hybernants, as some 

 seem to suppose. They arouse at intervals and 

 attend to their needs, and are never all a«leep 

 at the same time. You can hear them at all 

 times. 



Mr. Quinby's reversed hives had no upward 

 ventilation. Mr. Taylor's results with lots 1 

 and 2 (see June 1st Gleanings, of l^U^) prove 

 nothing more than that such methods may be 

 practiced with impunity in a temperature of 

 42°. In summer he can go still further — leave 

 both tops and bottoms off. and his bees will not 

 perish if he will only give them shade and 

 shelter. Hut what shall I say of lot No. 3? 

 The damp interior, the wet moldy combs, the 

 dead bees, conjure up visions of the Black 

 Hole, of Calcutta. Mr. Boardman and others 

 use sealed covers and have no such results. 

 Why ? Because they provide sufficient bottom 

 ventilation. IJees must have fresh air. and 

 plenty of it; but how can you by upward ven- 

 tilation adjust the supply to their needs ? You 

 can't do it, and needn't try — too much or too 

 little. In either case your bees are injured, if 

 not destroyed. The mere fact of their living 

 till spring is no proof that they have not been 

 injured. Discomfort, sleeplessness, the wear 

 and tear of their efforts to keep warm, fit them 

 admirably for the process of spring dwindling. 



Bees do well under sealed covers in Virginia. 

 I have kept them thus 4.5 years, and have never 

 lost a colony in winter but by starvation or 

 thieving. Perhaps Nature did not design them 

 to live in more northerly climes, hence their 

 propolizing instinct is there at fault. In order 

 to do well they should there be endowed with a 

 penchant for such abodes as disused chimneys 

 and stovepipes, and, like bumble-bees, roof 

 their nests with old rags, moss, and bits of 

 stubble. 



Dear brothers, I am not trying to ridicule any 

 of you; but I can't help pointing a jeering 

 finger at the long ears of this ridiculous thing 

 called upward ventilation. If you will stick 

 to upward ventilation, suppose you try the 

 cracked-hive plan. Seal a cover over .*« or '}<{ 

 of the frames, or of their length, and then cov- 

 er this and the remaining space with your 

 absorbents, cushions, etc. May be this will 

 prove a happy compromise. I use heavy cotton 

 cloth, thoroughly saturated with melted bees- 



*Wlien a niedi<al student 1 was taught to follow 

 the indicatiotis of Nature. I have ever found tliis 

 to be a safe rule. There are those who scorn it. 5! But 

 Nature appears to me a something sparkling all 

 over, and radiant through and through with intelli- 

 gence. 



