1896 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



355 



had to cross, but that was too much for them. 

 The dense growth of clover threw both horses 

 down and stopped them, breaking the tongue 

 out of the sulky cultivator. If the clover had 

 not been there I think they would have run 

 right into the barbed-wire fence and perhaps 

 ruined one or both horses. I don't think that 

 any two-horse team with a vehicle could run 

 through the length of that clover-patch. 



I sow early in the spring, about 10 lbs. of seed 

 to the acre, with oats; but I think it is better 

 alone. I am saving about two bushels of seed 

 to sow in the corn at the last cultivating. I 

 tried about four acres about the last of August, 

 1895, but it did not come up. Hoi'ses like it 

 first rate when they get used to it. Bees won't 

 work on any thing else while the sweet clover 

 is in blossom. Joseph Shaw. 



Strong City, Kan., March 23. 



Farmers are beginning to find out that sweet 

 clover is a valuable plant besides being a good 

 honey-plant. C. H. Dibbern & Son. 



Milan, 111., Mar. 22. 



CROSS-FERTILIZATION OF FRUIT -BLOSSOMS BY 

 BEES. 



As to the honey-bees as an aid to fertilization, 

 we fruit-growers of Burlington Co., N. J., en- 

 courage the rearing of the honey-bee for pur- 

 poses of fertilization. We find that some vari- 

 eties of pears will not bear at all unless cross- 

 fertilized by the bees with other varieties of 

 pears; also, that all variety of fruits and ber- 

 ries are greatly benefited by the same process 

 of fertilizing; and it has been clearly proven 

 with us that, the more honey-bees, the more 

 and better fruit and berries we have; and, as 

 the gentleman in England mentioned in Glean- 

 ings, Feb. 15, we now want the honey-bee with 

 us. They work for us for nothing, and board 

 themselves. Lewis Williams. 



L Parry, New Jersey. 



DOUBLE-WALLED HIVES MOKE ROBBER PROOF 

 'THAN SINGLIi-WALLED. 



Is it not true that a chaff hive is a partial 

 safeguard against robbing? I commenced bee- 

 keeping some twenty years ago with black bees, 

 in American single-walled hives. Robber bees, 

 from a distance, were so annoying and so per- 

 sistent in their attacks that sometimes my best 

 colonies would succumb. I was disheartened, 

 and sold my stock. Not being satisfied without 

 bees, I commenced again, with Italians and 

 chaff hives, walls five inches thick, and have 

 but little trouble with robbing since. I have 

 attributed it largely to the change of hives. 

 The stores, being farther away, are not quite so 

 tempting; and the gauntlet to run (five inches 

 instead of one) is not so promising. You may 

 say it is the bees; but there being blacks near 

 by, I can not keep mine pure. Some of them 

 get black; still, they are proof against robbers. 



I prefer not to have them warmed up and 

 tempted out the first spring sunshine, to be 

 chilled and lost, but would rather keep them 

 indoors until the air is warm enough to let them 

 fly and return, without freeze or chill, and thus 

 measurably prevent spring dwindling. Double 

 hives or none for me. J. D. Gill. 



Philipsburg, Pa., Mar. 24. 



DOUBLE VS. SINGLE-WALLED HIVES FOR OUT- 

 DOOR WINTERING. 



Dr. Miller's answer to George L. Vinal's 

 question on page 223 has been somewhat of a 

 puzzler to me. I can hardly believe that the 

 doctor would wish to go on record as an advo- 

 cate of single-walled as against double-walled 

 chaff-packed hives for wintering on summer 

 stands, especially where the thermometer drops 

 to 20 below zero. If I am not mistaken, the 

 experiments at the experiment apiary of Mich- 

 igan, which the doctor refers to, was not a 

 question of wintering, but only of spring pro- 

 tection of bees that were wintered in the cellar. 



My own experience in the use of double- 

 walled chaff-packed hives, covering a period of 

 17 years, a part of that time where the ther- 

 mometer frequently dropped to 38 below zero, 

 and remained below zero for weeks at a time, 

 has forced me to the conclusion that, all things 

 considered, they are a little safer than any cel- 

 lar. I would not attempt to winter bees in 

 single-walled hives on summer stands where 

 the thermometer drops to 20 below zero. 



The increased weight, which Dr. M. objects 

 to, is not so serious an objection, after all, as 

 the Dovetailed chaff hive is but little if any 

 heavier than the common ten-frame hive. If I 

 am mistaken in the above conclusions, will the 

 doctor please set me right? J. E. Hand. 



Wakeman, O., Apr. 10 



[Your ideas coincide with mine. The double- 

 walled Dovetailed chaff hive, made of ;V-inch 

 lumber, is but a trifle heavier than the single- 

 walled hive. It costs a trifle more, but this 

 will be more than offset by the better condition 

 in the spring, even if the hives are put indoors 

 for winter. This hive can be put in the cellar, 

 and handled as easily as the single-walled 

 hives; and although it allows two inches of 

 packing all around, it will take up in the cellar 

 only about a third more room. It has been 

 tested for several winters outdoors, with the 

 best of results.— Ed.] 



HRALTHY BEE-STINGS; HEALTHY MAN. 



Early this year you suggested in Gleanings 

 a desire for reports in personal experience of 

 bee-stings. I thought of replying soon, but just 

 about that time I had an uncomfortable visit 

 from that throttling fiend the grip, which per- 

 suaded me to postpone the contemplated reply. 

 But now that I have apparently overcome the 

 stubborn garroter I briefly state that my fre- 

 quent and pungent experiences, both with Ital- 

 ian and German — I can't for the life of me see 

 a particle of difference in their hilarious par- 



