804 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Nov. 15. 



Mr. W. K. Ball, of Reno, Nev., came up with 

 a carload of honey— that beautiful alfalfa that 

 is pronounced by every one who tastes it the 

 finest-flavored honey in the world. It is beau- 

 tifully rich and thick— so thick, indeed, that it 

 is fairly waxy. In answer lo my question as to 

 what kind of season he had had, he said it had 

 been rather poor with him for the last two 

 years. 



" Rather poor?" said I; '• and what was your 

 average? " 



"About 150 lbs., extracted." 



Neighbor Chase, who stood by, turned to me 

 with a smile, and said that, if he could average 

 oO lbs., to say nothing of the 100, in good years, 

 he would be satisfied. You see, Mr. Ball de- 

 pends upon alfalfa that is watered by irriga- 

 tion. The problem of wet and dry seasons is 

 one that they do not have to contend with. 

 The amountof moisture is regulated artificially 

 by man, and you might almost say the flow of 

 nectar from alfalfa, lasting for three months, 

 is regulated in the same way. 



A few years ago Mr. Ball thought the locali- 

 ty could not be overstocked; but in later years 

 a good bee range there is pretty well stocked 

 with bees already. But there are portions of 

 Colorado (Brush, Morgan Co., for Instance), so 

 Mr. Ball tells me, that sell for from twenty to 

 forty dollars an acre, with water, that would 

 do just as well. Here they get three cuttings 

 of alfalfa per season. It is as fine a grain coun- 

 try as he ever saw. 



Mr. Ball owns some 300 colonies, and is using 

 exclusively the eight-frame Dovetailed hive 

 containing Hoft'man frames. While here I 

 asked him if these frames gave entire satisfac- 

 tion. He replied that they did. In answer to 

 the question whether he was ever troubled with 

 burr-combs, he said not, provided he kept ahead 

 of the bees. I showed him at the oflSce some 

 self-spacing frames with metal projections; 

 but he shook his head, and said he preferred to 

 have the wood instead. 



When I told him there was a sort of demand 

 for a self-spacing frame with metal projections, 

 and something that can be separated a little 

 more easily than the Hoffman, he said he want- 

 ed his frames to be stuck together so that he 

 could handle his colonics by the hive. He 

 admitted that queen-breeders might prefer a 

 frame that would require no prying. 



The super that he uses is the regular Dove- 

 tailed containing section-holders. The wide 

 w^ooden separators and the keying up are fea- 

 tures that he valued. As Mr. Hall produces 

 tons and tons of honey every season, sending it 

 east by the carload, his testimony along these 

 points was valuable. 



The bees he uses are ordinary leather-colored 

 Italians, and hybrids. He has been trying five- 

 banded bees and Carniolans. The former were 

 too cross, too much inclined to rob, and gather- 



ed only about half as much honey as the other 

 bees. The Carniolans were gentle, but swarmed 

 altogether too much. 



A VISIT FKOM BEKT COOK, SON OF I'KOF. A. .J. 

 COOK.. 



A COUPLE of weeks ago a young man dressed 

 in the garb of a bicyclist was brought up to the 

 office by one of our men, and introduced to the 

 writer as Mr. Cook, of Owosso, Mich. He knew 

 my father quite well, he said, and had taken 

 e.-pecial interest in my wheeling-tours among 

 bee-keepers, as reporied in these columns. I 

 was busy at the time, but asked him lo take a 

 seat, and prepared myself tu extend to him the 

 ordinary courtesies of a brother-wheelman. It 

 is true he was introduced to me as '• Mr. Cook, 

 from Owosso, Mich.;" but as there are a good 

 many Cooks I thought nothing of it; and in the 

 course of our conversation he made a number of 

 inquiries in regard to A. I. Root, gardening, and 

 especially in regard to potato-growing. I had 

 to confess I knew little or nothing about it, and 

 that he would have to see A. I. R., who, I 

 said, was over home taking supper. He politely 

 excused himself and said he would like to call 

 and see him later if agreeable. 



There was a gentlemanly and scholarly bear- 

 ing about him that impressed me favorably, 

 and I said to myself, "Who can he be?" as he left. 

 So a few minutes afterward I called over to 

 the house and told father there was a potato- 

 man over there who seemed to be well up in the 

 art of potato- growing, and that he knew Terry 

 and himself pretty well, and that his name was 

 Mr. Cook, of Oisego, Mich. "Otsego," said 

 father, "I don't remember of any Cook there." 

 I had got Owosso and Otsego mixed up, and so 

 he did not recognize the identity of the name 

 or locality. An hour or so afterward, he came 

 over to my house, a comical smile playing on 

 his face, remarking, " You are a bright one, you 

 are. That young man you were telling me 

 about was Prof. Cook's son." 



••Prof. Cook's son!''' said I. surprised. 



"Yes, indeed. Come over and see him. We 

 have all been enjoying his company." 



" Well," I said, "he could hardly have thought 

 I was extending him ordinary courtesy to let 

 him go off to a hotel for his supper in that way, 

 and he a son of Prof. Cook. I will go over and 

 apologize." 



It seems he had told me his father was A. J. 

 Cook; but 1 presume I did not hear him say so; 

 but I was made to feel that no apology was nec- 

 essary, for he had had a " real good Dutch sup- 

 per" at the Germania House. 



Mr. Cook, Jr., although a college graduate, 

 and a man of more than ordinary attainments, 

 I should say, thinks farming is none too humble 

 a calling for him. He is at present running a 

 farm belonging to his father, near Owosso, 

 Mich., somewhat after Terry, and he is making 

 a great success of it. He is a warm admirer of 



