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GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



March, 1918 



FROM THE FIELD OF EXPERIENCE 



Gleanings and elsewhere. The one I prefer 

 is to confine them in the hive with a piece 

 of excluder over the entrance. I take out 

 enough frames so I can set the cage right in 

 the hive, and before opening and placing it 

 in I sprinkle the bees with thin syrup or 

 even with just plain water. This holds them 

 in while I make an opening in the cage 

 to release them and get the cover on the 

 hive. If the queens come caged I re- 

 lease them also at this time. 



Garland, Utah. Joseph H. Peterson. 



[This is a very important question. To a 

 certain extent the whole industry for the 

 coming season hangs upon the successful 

 shipment of bees in package form. There is 

 nothing more discouraging or more exas- 

 perating than to have half or all of the bees 

 arrive dead. This causes more or less con- 

 troversy between shipper and consignee and 

 by the time that a second shipment is sent 

 thrvi it is too late. The writer was the one 

 who first suggested the use of the water- 

 bottle in pound cages; but in view of the fact 

 that some very successful shipments were 

 made by Southern beekeepers without the 

 water-bottle, we had almost come to the con- 

 clusion that it was an unnecessary expense. 

 But the experience of a number of breeders 

 of bees has seemed to indicate that on long- 

 distance shipments, especially in hot wea- 

 ther, the water-bottle is a necessary 

 and an important factor. The evidence pre- 

 sented by our correspondent is invaluable 

 and we hope that bee breeders of the South 

 will read this article very carefully. The 

 makers of pound cages should so construct 

 them that the water-bottle may or may not 

 be used. — Editor.] 



COSTLY EXPERIENCE 



Sow Sweet Clover Right Where You Are — Lots of It 

 and Keep at It 



Sweet clover will eventually revolutionize 

 the whole bee-business. There are millions 

 of acres of land in this country that v.'Jll 

 grow sweet clover and that are absolutely 

 fit for nothing else. Why do not the bee- 

 keepers utilize some of this land? 



There are many beekeepers living close to 

 towns where there are hundreds of acres of 

 waste lands in town lots that could be used 

 for sweet clover. There are thousands of 

 beekeepers that live in se.'tions where there 

 is old, poor, worn-out land that the OAvners 

 would be glad to have sown in sweet clover. 

 Why not sow it nowf I get letters from the 

 seven corners of the United States wanting 

 to know of the honey prospects in tJiis sec- 

 tion — letters from parties th^t- are willing 

 to put up several hundred doPar'^ to try out 

 a new country. I want to t^ive to all of 



these inquirers this advice: Instead of put- 

 ting this money in the coft'er-3 of the rail- 

 road companies, put it in sweet clover seed, 

 and build up your own location. 



I had a call recently from two Michigan 

 beekeepers, looking for new fields. Their 

 own locality yielded more honey than mine. 

 Now add sweet clover to their location and 

 you have a bonanza. I also had a call from 

 a dentist beekeeper. His dental trade paid 

 $3,000 a year. He wanted to keep 200 colo- 

 nies of bees. His old location gave 40 p'lunds 

 per colony. Now add sweet clover and he 

 will have a location that will give 100 pounds 

 per colony. 



Thousands of beekeepers try to increase 

 their yield of honey by adding some fool 

 contraption to the new, mouern, up-to-date 

 fixtures now on the market. Let these invest 

 their time and spare cash in sweet clover 

 seed. Any white clover location can be 

 doubled in value from a beekeeper 's "^ iew 

 point, by adding sweet clover. 



I moved to this country four years ago. 

 I left a good, average white clover country. 

 I now have a sweet clover location with no 

 white clover to speak of, which yields 75 

 pounds per colony. Now if I could have my 

 old white clover, too, I would have a loca- 

 tion that would give 125 pounds per colony. 

 This is impossible to obtain here, so I now 

 f'.ee my mistake. The money I put in moving 

 SO miles to my present home, if it had 

 been put in sweet clover seed and sowed on 

 my old location, would have given me a lo- 

 cation 40 per cent better than my present 

 one. In my old locality farmers are 

 sowing sweet clover by the thousands of 

 pounds. Only yesterday I had an inquiry 

 from one of the most progressive farmers in 

 the county, for enough sweet clover seed to 

 sow 150 acres, on land worth $200 per acre. 

 (There is a moving bee beginning to buzz 

 in my bonnet again.) 



When I say " sow sweet clover to makd 

 honey," I mean sow the railroad right-of- 

 way; sow the highways; sow the byways; 

 sow the vacant lots; sow the farmers' fertile 

 fields; sow the barren spots; sow the cliffs. 

 Sow 10 pounds of yellow and 10 pounds of 

 white for each colony. Sow one-half of it 

 this spring; then do it again next year. D"g 

 down in your jeans; shell out your green- 

 backs. A hundred pounds is money wasted, 

 — sow it by the thousands. Make your busi- 

 ness stand alone; make your business gi-"e 

 you a commercial rating; get out of the rut: 

 do not let the Editor of Gleanings mako you 

 believe that sweet clover is a slow yielder 

 of honey. He never saw a sweet clover lo- 

 cation. Get 200 acres in reach of your hun- 

 dred colonies; get conditions right; watch 

 8, 10 and 12 pounds, day after day, go into 

 your supers; then get busy. 



I have no seed for sale. I am not inter- 



