564 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



July 15. 



tinued as formerly, and will be managed, prob- 

 ably, by (i. B. Lewis and his sons. 



CRIMSON CLOVER AS A HONEY-PLANT. 



tWe clip the following from a recent issue of 

 the Farm and Fireside: 



Crimson clover, sown the middle of August on the 

 writer's experiment plot, commenced blooming the 

 first of May and ripened its seed early in June. For 

 four weeljs the honeybees hummed joyously over 

 its beautiful blossoms. Wherever it can be grown, 

 crimson clover is a honey-plant of great value. It 

 is the first of all the clovers to bloom. Where the 

 bee-keeper has white clover or alsike clover, he can 

 add one month, at least, to the length of the honey 

 harvest by a field of crimson clover. 



I could not make out from the paper either 

 date or locality; but the paper is published at 

 Springfield, O. 



NtJMBRR-TAGS FOR HIVES. 



In another column Dr. Miller inquires re- 

 garding the cost of tin tags, numbered, to put 

 on hives. In our last issue this form of tag 

 seemed perhaps the most feasible; but since 

 that time I have called to mind how queen- 

 nursery cards, of which we used to sell a good 

 many (a card of ordinary cardboard manilla, 

 having certain printed matter on its face), have 

 stood the test of year after year of weather; 

 and I have been wondering if a tag-board 

 manilla would not be far better— or at least as 

 good, and far cheaper. We know that paint 

 does not stick readily to tin. In four or five 

 years it will either rub or flake off, and the tin 

 will turn to a dead, rusty brown, leaving the 

 figures in black in poor and indistinct contrast. 

 Manilla tags, something like what are used on 

 express packages, when neatly tacked upon the 

 hive, and printed with a bold-faced type, with 

 common printers' ink, will stand the weather, 

 and outlast the painted tin tags. Git is pos- 

 sible that it might be advisable to treat !such 

 tags, after being printed, to a solution of oil, 

 but I hardly think it necessary. Well, such 

 tags can be gotten up for one-fourth or even a 

 fifth of what ordinary tin tags would cost; 

 they would last as long, or longer, and could be 

 easily duplicated, when necessary, at a slight 

 cost. 



GLEANINGS UNPRE.JUDICED. 



If there is anyone thing that the editor of 

 Gleanings is trying to do, especially since, as 

 publishers, we are interested in a large supply 

 business, it is to select fairly, impartially, and 

 honestly, matter that shall give an unpreju- 

 diced view of bee-keeping. It is easy and nat- 

 ural for a trade- journal to be prejudiced to- 

 ward its own business; and while, perhaps, we 

 may possibly have been unconsciously guilty 

 in this respect, we strive earnestly to give 

 every side a fair hearing. The whole bee- 

 keeping world seems to have settled down, in 

 the United States at least, on the idea that the 



Langstroth hive is about right; but here come 

 along some very prominent, influential, and ex- 

 pert bee-keepers, giving some solid arguments 

 in favor of a deeper or cubical hive. It is with 

 pleasure that I give you the benefit of their 

 opinions in this issue. Should these opinions 

 prevail, and carry that bee-keeping world with 

 them, it would make a howl among supply- 

 dealers. While we might "howl" with the 

 rest, we propose to let the truth come out. 



Again, I have tried to, and propose to let the 

 advocates of the double brood-chamber give 

 their honest opinions concerning the merit of 

 that form of hive. And, still again, I propose 

 to let the ten and twelve frame folks advocate 

 their ideas. While I do not think it would be 

 wise to continue this discussion indefinitely, 

 enough has been said to call out more, and to 

 lead us nearer to the goal that we are all seek- 

 ing — the kind and shape of hive that will give 

 us the most honey or money with a minimum 

 of labor. 



FOUL-BROOD INFECTION FROM COMBS; AN AG- 

 GRAVATING CASE. 



A PROMINENT bee-keeper, whose name I do 

 not mention for fear he would not desire to 

 have the facts made public, writes that one of 

 his out-yards is badly affected with foul brood. 

 It seems he purchased some combs of a party 

 who lived at some distance. These combs were 

 shipped in open hive-bodies, with only slats 

 nailed over the top. They arrived at the 

 station on Saturday night, and unfortunately 

 the out-yard in question of our friend was 

 within a short distance of the freight-house. 

 Of course, it was not bee-proof, and a window 

 was broken out. Our friend being entirely ig- 

 norant of their arrival, the bees on Sunday had 

 a regular "pow-wow" over those combs, be- 

 cause they were dripping with honey; and the 

 agent, arriving, threw the freight-house doors 

 wide open to " let the bees out." Of course, 

 this made matters ten times worse. He sent 

 notice to the owner of the out-yard, but it 

 seems he did not receive it — or, at least, not un- 

 til the next Monday morning, when all the 

 mischief had been done. At that time he re- 

 paired hastily to the scene, examined the 

 combs, and found them to be badly affected 

 with foul brood. Well, in just three weeks' 

 time the disease manifested itself in various 

 quarters of the apiary, just as we should expect 

 it to do. Our friend managed to keep it down 

 somewhat by cutting out diseased cells as fast 

 as they appeared, as he did not wish to resort 

 to the heroic treatment of destroying all combs, 

 brood and all, until after the harvest. This 

 procedure, it seems, kept the disease under 

 control, but it kept breaking out elsewhere. 

 His plan is now to put all the diseased colonies 

 in an isolated location, and prune the diseased 

 brood out, or destroy entirely the combs badly 

 affected. 



