924 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Dec. 15. 



flat pea do go down a great way, doctor; in 

 fact, 1 have never been able to ascertain how 

 far. All I meant to complain of was that the 

 plants did not stand drouth, at least not on our 

 clay soil, as we had been led to suppose they 

 would. They kept alive, it is true, but they 

 got awful yellow and sickly-looking.— A. I. R.] 



It's a clear case, that the general good de- 

 mands that bees be kept out of candy-factories, 

 cider-mills, and such places, and it's nearly as 

 clear that the owners of such places should 

 fasten them out rather than to have bee-keep- 

 ers fasten them in, and there's no reason why 

 bee-keepers of this country should not at once 

 be up with the Frerith in demanding proper 

 laws on the subject. 



In one respect, bee-escapes to be left on over 

 night will not be as good in the future as they 

 are now; for when they have been used longer 

 it will become known to some of the light- 

 fingered gentry, and it will be very convenient 

 to come in the night and carry off a few supers. 

 [It will be seldom, I think, that the " light-fin- 

 gered gentry" will know enough about bees or 

 escapes, even when these articles come into 

 more general use, lo know when they are nn, 

 and some escapes don't show from the outside. 

 But suppose these chaps do come to know the 

 purpose of the escape: that knowledge would 

 also imply a knowledge of how to get tlie honey 

 off, escapes or no escapes. — En. J ' 



When some one dies there's more commo- 

 tion about his death than about his birth. Just 

 the other way with bee-journals. There's a 

 big hullabaloo at their birth, but not a word 

 said about their final illness, and generally you 

 never hear they're gone till they've been dead 

 a long time. Been several deaths lately. Died 

 very peacefully. [Let's see. Four have died 

 in almost as many months. The publisher of 

 one of them specially requested that I forbear 

 mentioning its demise, perhaps because he 

 couldn't bear to see its obituary.— Ed.] 



Can bees keep gently on the move all winter 

 long in the hive, and remain healthy? Or if 

 at the right temperature, do they lie motionless 

 and entirely quiet most of the time, awaking 

 and moving about by spells ? If the latter, how 

 far apart are the periods of activity ? Or how 

 does a colony wintered in best condition spend 

 its time in winter, any way? If those who 

 have bees in cellar would take notes this win- 

 ter, and report, we might have something set- 

 tled by spring. Friend Taylor could help out. 

 [Mr. R. McKnight has something on this sub- 

 ject in this issue.— Ed.] 



Shamrock, the national emblem of Ireland, 

 is nothing more nor less than our much-valued 

 white clover. It is worn in honor of St. Patrick, 

 who is said to have plucked a leaf of this plant 

 to represent the Trinity. The botanical name 

 is Trifolium repens. It is also called Dutch 

 clover, white trefoil, white meadow trefoil. 



creeping trifolium, creeping clover, stone clover, 

 honeysuckle- grass, honeysuckle-clover, and, in 

 Germany, sheep-clover, field, bee, and little 

 clover. The French name is triplet, trefle 

 blanche, or blanc; Spanish, trefol bianco; Ger- 

 man, weisser Klee; Italian, trifoglio. 



Say, Mr. Editor, there's no charge against 

 the Atchleys in that Straw about the series 

 copied from American Bee Journal. I think 

 the Southland Queen mentioned that it was so 

 copied; but I thought you hadn't recognized it 

 in its new setting. [Why didn't you say the 

 Queen acknowledged the source of the lessons? 

 Yes, I find that the Atchleys did give credit 

 to the American Bee Journal in their Septem- 

 ber issue, but not in the October number to 

 which I referred. Now, doctor, as you helped 

 me " put my foot in it." will you help me pull 

 it out? I hereby tender my apology to Tlie 

 Queen for not being better acquainted with its 

 columns. — Ed.] 



Bottom raks. " If wider than % inch," says 

 the edilu). [). 888. "there is almost sure to be a 

 useless bee space between the bottom edge of 

 the comb and the bar." What proof have you, 

 Mr. Editor, that such spact' will be any worse 

 with I3i8 inches than with ?^ inch? [Only ob- 

 servation. I have noticed that, the narrower 

 the bar, the morn inclined the bees are to build 

 down to and fasten to it. We have a good 

 many bars % incli wide, with the combs attach- 

 ed to them. We had a few such comb attach- 

 ments when tlie bars were % inch wide. We 

 at one lime had a few frames with bottom bars 

 one inch wide. I think there were no combs 

 attached to these. We never, that I remember, 

 had bottom bars ]}s inches wide; but the fore- 

 going would indicate that they would be worse 

 htill.— Ed.] 



LARGE VS. SMALL HIVES. 



Stop the hive discus- 

 sion! oh, stop it! I am a 

 ruined man — entirely 

 mined! or I have made 

 my fortune! After the 

 discussion had gone on 

 some time I saw clearly 

 that I was using too large 

 a hive. The majority in 

 Gleanings said so, and 

 the majority must be 

 right. So I went to work 

 and sawed off 4 inches 

 from the back end of my hives. Then I settled 

 down and was contented. But I watched 



