288 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Apr. 



FROM DIFFERENT FIELD 



AI.FALFA AND BEES IN IDAHO. 



We were told that bees could not live through the 

 winter here; that a number of people had tried, but 

 always lost them. We got about 300 lbs. of honey 

 in 1-lb. sections, as nice honey as I have ever seen. 

 Near the water-courses there is an abundance of 

 willows. On the mountains there are flowers. 

 Then we have lucern (alfalfa) all over the country 

 <in the fields), alsifie, and other clovers; also a plant 

 that is called here stinkweed, that is rich for bees. 

 We should be glad to know its botanical name. 

 Sweet clover is getting a start here, but many of 

 the farmers don't like to see it. They consider it a 

 pest. A. J. Flack. 



Franklin, Idaho, Feb. IT. 



Friend F., I do not see why bees should 

 not winter with you. If the winters are 

 very severe, all you need is good cellars ; 

 and these are a necessity in Wisconsin, 

 Minnesota, and other cold regions. 



GIVING BEES A SUN-BATH INDOORS. 



One week ago I prepared a device which I called 

 the winter sun-bath, to test its results with a single 

 colony. By the use of hinges I widened the alight- 

 ing board to one foot, of a Langstroth. Then I 

 made a gauze awning, with triangular sides of drill- 

 ing. Then when the day was warm I placed the 

 hive in front of a south window, and let the sun 

 shine upon them. In a few minutes the bees came 

 out freely, and I fed them some honey candy which 

 I made that was not sticky, of which they ate free- 

 ly. Soon they commenced to void, and littered the 

 whole front very much. At first there was great 

 eagerness to get out and fly away, so I opened the 

 window and let two go. In about a quarter of an 

 hour one returned and alighted upon the awning; I 

 took it with my handkerchief, drew up the elastic, 

 and placed it beneath the awning, when it immedi- 

 ately entered the hive. In the course of two hours 

 the bees commenced the work of clearing the hive 

 of dead bees, but did not work with avidity. As it 

 grew cooler I darkened the window, and the bees 

 found their way into the hive, when I cleaned the 

 alighting-board, and decided to give them another 

 playspell the next day. I am in doubt whether it is 

 a good thing for the bees, unless it is near spring 

 time, as the action of the workers might hasten the 

 development of the queen for laying, and, there not 

 being the proper food to be had for brood pro- 

 duction, it is possible that it might result disas- 

 trously. However, I find the awning a splendid 

 thing in the dark, at a time when the weather is so 

 warm as to set the bees in commotion, for many 

 will come out of the hive and not be able to get 

 back; but by preventing their leaving, none die by 

 getting outside of the hive, as they all can find 

 their way back again. F. D. Lacy. 



Nirvana, Mich., Mar. 7. 



Friend L., the above arrangement is sub- 

 stantially the satne as we used years ago, 

 when we were troubled with spring dwin- 

 dling and dysentery. A little tent of cheese- 

 cloth was put over the top of the hive ; then 

 newspapers were laid over the frames, so as 

 to prevent soiling the top-bars. After the 

 bees had flown inside of the tent, and emp. 



tied themselves, and gone back on to the 

 combs, the tent and papers were removed. 

 Very likely some colonies were saved that 

 would not otherwise have lived through un- 

 til spring. Such treatment may, without 

 doubt, answer nearly as well as a flight in 

 the open air ; but ordinarily I think that 

 bees may remain for months in the hive 

 without detriment ; and even taking them 

 out of the cellar to give them a flight, in 

 pleasant weather in the middle of the win- 

 ter, I believe is now mostly abandoned. 

 Some of our veterans have decided that, 

 even if some colonies are saved by such 

 means, in the end it costs more than it 

 comes to. Fix them up in the fall, so that 

 they will not need any tinkering or care un- 

 til they can be set outdoors in the month of 

 April. 



frame-spacing; carniolans. 



I have experimented a good deal with spacing 

 frames. My eight-frame hives are all 12 inches 

 wide, inside measure, giving VA inches to each 

 comb from center to center. If bees build brace- 

 combs between the combs you may rest assured 

 that the combs are too near together. Then I have 

 noticed that bees are more liable to swarm when 

 the frames are hung too close to each other. Es- 

 pecially is this true of the Carniolans. I have rea- 

 son to believe that larger bees are raised if the 

 combs are placed further apart. My experience 

 with Carniolans is, that they are not as gentle nor 

 as handsome as the Italians; and my advice to all 

 would be, " Stick to the golden Italians till we get 

 something better." W. P. Taylor. 



St. Bernice, Ind., Mar. 10. 



sweet clover as a forage and honey plant ; 

 valuable testimony from J. H. snydel. 



In Gleanings for Mar. 1 you ask for facts in re- 

 gard to sweet clover for hay. I lived for three years 

 on my father-in-law's farm at American Fork City, 

 Utah. While there I cut and put up for hay sever- 

 al tons each year, the whole crop of hay on the 

 farm amounting to about 3(0 tons. We had red- 

 top, timothy, and all kinds of wild hay. You could 

 turn the horses into the stack yard, and they would 

 pick out the sweet clover in preference to all the 

 rest; and the cows seemed to like it about as well 

 as any. My brother-in-law has been feeding it to 

 horses and cattle all winter not range stock, but 

 livery-stable horses that have been used to the best 

 of feed, and he says they like the sweet clover as 

 well as they do the lucern (we call it lucern here, 

 not alfalfa). In putting it up for hay, according to 

 my experience I would not cut it until well in 

 bloom, because it is so rank and hard to cure if cut 

 too young. Let it get full grown or in full bloom, 

 and rake it soon after cutting. As for pasture, I 

 consider it very good for a mixture. There are 

 hundreds of acres of it around me. It seems to 

 thrive best along the banks of streams where there 

 is an occasional overflow for a short time. My Jer- 

 sey cow lived on sweet clover principally, from 

 May till frost killed it, which was pretty late this 

 season; In fact, it was the last thing the bees work- 

 ed on last fall. As for honey, well, ask Bro. Root. 

 He sampled it while here. 



don't like the fixed distances. 



Almost the first hives 1 bought had top-bars at 

 fixed distances. They were lit inches wide, with a 

 Blot cut out of one side, something similar to a sec- 



