1893 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



520 



they arc needed; and vvlien there is no room 

 for them I cage them for a few days. 



The unexpected rush for queens, together 

 with the bees refusing to accept the Doolittle 

 cups, put me a little behind: and as I have but 

 one breeding queen I could do but little at 

 starting cells by the old plan of giving the cell- 

 building colony brood from her; but at last I 

 have hit it. T cut strips of black and hybrid 

 brood, like the Alley plan, and give them to 

 nuclei, and in two days I tind a nice lot of cups 

 with the royal food already in them. Thi'U I 

 pick out the " scrub "' larv;i? and put in some 

 from my breeding queen, and give them to the 

 four big colonies to finish up. I draw on the 11 

 other colonies for brood to keep the big ones 

 booming. S. F. Trego. 



Swedona, 111., June 9. 



[As we. too, never succeeded entirely with 

 the artificial Doolittle cups, we have decided to 

 adopt the plan in our yard. We tried it in a 

 limited way when Alley first suggested the 

 plan, and now propose to give it a more 

 thorough test. It is Dr. Miller also who pre- 

 fers the Alley plan.] 



KEI'ORT FROM CHAS. F. MUTH; PROSPECTS FROM 



CLOVER good; melilot not to be 



RECOMMENDED. 



This is our dullest supply season ever expe- 

 rienced. We sell nothing to compare with 

 former seasons. It seems that the disappoint- 

 ments of the last four years have made our 

 friends very cautious, so that nothing is bought 

 unless it is needed. 



If the growth of white clover all over the 

 commons, outside of our city, be taken into 

 consideration, our prospects for a good crop of 

 honey were never better than they are now. 

 All we need is dry weather, for a change, and 

 warm nights during June. It is a known fact, 

 that no honey will be developed in white clover 

 during the day when the thermometer was 

 down to 55° the previous night. Melilot has 

 run out of existence all white-clover sprouts 

 within our city limits, our hilltops, and their 

 near surroundings. It grows everywhere where 

 white clover used to grow; but its only merit 

 is, that our bees are kept breeding during July 

 and August, during which time they used to 

 have a rest; and no brood, almost, could be 

 found in our hives during the month of August. 

 With the new start of vegetation in September, 

 our bees would commence again to breed, and 

 go into winter quarters with plenty of honey 

 and young bees. Melilot has changed this state 

 of afifairs. Since it has taken possession of our 

 commons and hilltops, white clover is there no 

 more; bees keep up breeding until late in fall; 

 have no stores for winter, as used to be the 

 case, and, unless they are fed libei'ally, there is 

 a chance for starvation during winter, or, at 

 least, by the time that honey comes in again. 

 We all have seen honey from melilot; but who 

 ever saw a crop of the melilot clover? Don't 

 recommend melilot any more as a honey-plant, 

 Bro. Root. It does us more harm than good. 



Cincinnati, O., June 7. Chas. F. Muth. 



THE LAMP OF OUR FOREFATHERS. 



Friend Boot;— I send vou a sketch of a relic 

 of the past, the light of our forefathers, think- 

 ing it may be of interest to the readers of 

 (Jleanings. It is made of a soft cotton string 

 dipped in melted wax, and a corncob. Melt the 

 wax by gentle heat, and get two of the children 

 to draw the string through it, while you hold 

 it in the wax with a forked stick. The string 

 should be about 1.50 feet long. Draw it through 

 the wax twice, to give it a lieavy coat. I'se a 

 cob with the small end broken off, and punch 



the pith out. Wind a layer of the waxed 

 string around the cob. When you get to the 

 end with the first layer, turn and put a layer 

 on lengthwise the cob. letting it pro,iect ^.i inch 

 at each end of the cob: then wind around again, 

 then lengthwise again, and so on until finished, 

 letting each lengthwise layer extend l-i inch 

 more than the last; also make the layers that go 

 round the cob shorter each time. When all is 

 wound except one foot, push the end through 

 the hole in the cob. letting it extend about 6 

 inches above the top of the cob. Bend all the 

 projecting layers outward, giving it an appear- 



ance as handsome as a vase. The wax can be 

 tinted any color you choose, with any of the 

 aniline dyes used for dying cotton. This makes 

 a beautiful soft light, and will last for several 

 weeks. R. W. Stewart. 



Bowls, (Ja., March 15. 



KRUIT-CANNKIJIES AND GLUCOSE: WHAT IS RE- 

 PORTED as HEING DONE IN CALIFORNIA. 



I take the liberty of addressing you on a sub- 

 ject that is becoming a very important one to 

 me and to my brother bee-men in this locality. 

 Although I am a perfect stranger to you, yet to 

 me your name is very familiar—so much so I 

 almost imagine that I ilo personally know you. 



For some years back the fruit-canneries have 



