1893 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



179 



A PLAN FOK KEEPING DOWN INCK1;ASE. 



Editor Oleanings: — Not desiring further in- 

 crease, I wish to ask you and ihe readers of 

 GI/EANINgs what you and they think of the 

 following plan to keep down or prevent in- 

 crease: My hives are all two stories. About 

 the time the beesstartqueen-cells in the spring, 

 take the upper story (with an extra cheap top and 

 bottom); place it at the side of the hive, and in 

 this place the old queen, with about one-third 

 of bees and brood. Give the two sufficient 

 combs; then when the iw.w queen commences 

 to lay, destroy the old queen and unite the two. 

 You will confer a favor by pointing out any 

 objection to the above plau, and I should be 

 pleased to hear from many of your advanced 

 bee-keepers on the subject. E. P. Ckanston. 



Keating. Oregon, Jan. 2r>. 



[We think the plan would discourage increase, 

 if not prevent it, in most cases, altog(^ther; but 

 when bees once get the swarming mania it 

 seems as if nothing would stop them. In such 

 cases, let them swarm; hive them in a hive on 

 frames of foundation, and put this hive and all 

 on top of the parent colony, with a bottom - 

 board Ijetween. so that there is no connnunica- 

 tion between. After the honey season, remove 

 the dividing bottom and let them unite. We 

 did this one season, and it worked very well. 

 Of course, in the parent colony we cut out all 

 the queen-cells but one before the swarm with 

 its hive was placed on top.] 



NO BURK COMBS ON THE NEW HOFFMAN 

 FRAMES. 



I see you wanted to know our experience in 

 regard to brace and burr combs on the new 

 Hoffman frames. With me th(>y are complete. 

 I do not think there is one on the 350 bought of 

 you last spring. I used full sheets of medium 

 foundation. The Dovetailed chaff hive is near- 

 ly perfi'ct. I have had a hard winter, but the 

 two colonies out of doors are alive yet in them, 

 and 3.5° below zero. W. E.L. Mii.i.s. 



Lac-qui-Parle, Minn., Feb. 15. 



SCARLET (OR ITALIAN) CLOVER. 



ITS VALUE AS A HONEY-PLANT AND AS A 

 CLQVEK TO BE PLOWED UNDER. 



Mr. Root:— I inclose a circular from the 

 Western Seed Co. The country is being flooded 

 with them, and some of our farmers are invest- 

 ing. Please give your opinion. Our altitude 

 Is 3300 feet: and I tell those who ask my opin- 

 ion, to invest on a very small scale, as it will 

 hardly be a success herr. J. L.'^MrKKXziE. . 



Howesville. W. Va., Jan. 13. 



We give below the contents of the circular 

 referred to: 



Scarlet clover is an annual, and shoidd be sown 

 between July 15 and October 1. It ^eriniiiates 

 quickly, g-rows very rapidly through tlie fall and 

 winter (where tiie winter is not too severe', making' 

 excellent winter pasture. It hlossoms between tlu* 

 middle of April and the middle of May (according- 

 to latitude), and matures seed in June. This clover 

 can be sown after crops have been removed from 

 the ground, such as wheat, oats, millet, beans, po- 

 tatoes, or, in fact, on any vacant ground, or can be 

 sown in corn at last working-, or later by tirst 

 stirring- tlie ground. In lliis way it will prove of 

 inestimable worth in holding thi! valuable nitrates 

 in the soil that are otherwise washed out of bare 

 ground, while at the same time it furnishes tlie very 

 best of fall, winter, and siiring i)asture, and enriches 

 and .stores up plant-food for the next crop. 



Scarlet clover grows from IX to 3 feet high, with 

 magnificent root formation, extending from four to 

 six feet deep, even in unfavorable soil. It can be 



turned under as a fertilizer for any crop early in 

 the spring, or will produce eight tons of green fod- 

 der on good ground by the middle of May, or from 

 two to three tons of supei-ior hay. The yield of seed 

 is from eight to flfteen bushels per acre, weig-liing 

 60 pounds to the t)ushel. It flourishes on iioor soils 

 and furnishes for them more i>lant-food in a short 

 time than could be secured in any other way. 



Scarlet clover can not grow with wheat or rye, as 

 it grows wiiile they remain dormant, and takes the 

 ground. It can be sown with timothy. It may be 

 sown in the spring, but the lesult is a shorter 

 growth and late liloom, but makes a most desirable 

 bee-pasture. 



Being- a supplementary and extra, or " stolen 

 crop," no other crop need be omitted to grow it; 

 also, it grows quicker and adds more fertility to the 

 soil than does any other known plant in so short a 

 time. We believe its spread through the country 

 will add materially to the prosperity of the agricul- 

 tural classes. The price of seed is as follows: Per 

 bushel, $10,00. f. o. b.; per half-bushel, $5.30, f. o. b. 

 For all quantities less than half a bushel, 30 cents 

 per pound. The Western Seed Co., 



South Bend, Ind. 



[The above plant has been for years in our 

 seed catalogues, among the list of honey-pro- 

 ducing plants; and we have grown it, to a 

 small extent, for several seasons. I have no- 

 ticed of late, through the agricultural papers — 

 especially the Country Gentleman— thai a good 

 deal is said about using it in place of other 

 clovers. It certainly is a great advantage if it 

 can be put in in the latter part of July or fore 

 part of August. I very much doubt whether it 

 will take root so as to stand the winter, if put 

 in during the latter part of August. Perhaps 

 in favored localities it would do to put it out in 

 September. It certainly is a rank grower. A 

 little bed of it in our rich marl<et-garden 

 grounds attracted the attention of farmers as 

 they passed by; and quite a number asked why 

 it would not be a splendid clover to turn under. 

 I have never tested it in this way. All our sow- 

 ings have been in May and June. I have never 

 paid enough attention to know whether it win- 

 ters over with us or not. If it does in South 

 Bend, Ind., it certainly does here. I do not 

 think I ever saw any as much as two feet high; 

 and the statement that it will produce eight 

 tons of green fodder per acre, it seems to me, 

 must be an exaggeration. Perhaps on the very 

 richest ground, during the most favorable sea- 

 sons, it might come pretty near it. My experi- 

 ence is, that it will not flourish on poor hard 

 clay ground, any thing like sweet clover. I 

 can not tell how much seed should be sown 

 to the acre. Perhaps some of our readers can 

 give us a litth; information. It has been ad- 

 vertised quite extensively in the Country Gen- 

 tleman, nnd in other papers, at !?C).00 a bushel. 

 We can furnish any quantity of clean tested 

 seed at the above hgures; and for large lots we 

 could make the price, at present Avri ting. $5.50, 

 or even $5.00. Frieii(l M. is very right in ad- 

 vising farmers and everybody else to test a 

 small patch of it lirst, ix'fore going into it 

 largely. Besides, these people who are tempted 

 to invest in new things of this sort should look 

 over their catalogues, or go to their seed mer- 

 chant to look it up and give them the proper 

 price. While we can not pronounce the circu- 

 lar a humbug or a swindle, it certainly is a 

 schetne to get more than the market value for 

 a farm product that is comparatively well 

 known. 



With the present interest that has been called 

 forth within the last year or two, it is destined 

 to be pretty thoroughly tested. It is such a 

 great beauty that it ought to be given a place 

 around our homes as an ornamental plant, if 

 for nothing more. When in full bloom it looks 

 more like a wonderful crop of strawberries than 

 almost any thing else, the color of the clover- 

 heads being much like that of a beautiful ripe 



