884 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTUllE. 



Dec. 15. 



Now, away over on tlio east side we have the 

 Waters yard. It is two miles from basswood, 

 but a splendid wliite-clover range — plenty of 

 basswood two miles north and east. Tiiis yard 

 gave some honey, and required no feeding for 

 winter. 



Then there are the Cravin and the Gunlauch 

 yards, each tK) colonies in spring, only ly.l miles 

 apart— too close, with vei'y little basswood 

 north of them. Both of these yards were fed 

 more honey than we took (vom tJiem. There 

 were a few acres of buckwheat neai' them that 

 helped them some. The Jon(iS yard did faii'ly 

 well, considering its surroundings. It had the 

 least number of bees, an abundance of bass- 

 wood near, and then had eleven acres of buck- 

 wheat just over the fence. 



We will now notice the home yard. There 

 were 10.5 colonies. The Jones yard is rather too 

 close. Then there is an apiary of :30 colonies a 

 little over half a mile east, at a point marked 

 Beihls; another apiaiylJtfmileseast.SOcolonies. 

 marked Nails; another apiary southeast, mark- 

 ed W. about40 colonies. Another apiary still fur- 

 ther to the east, and a little to the north, mai'k- 

 ed W, about 40 colonies. So you see the home- 

 yard territory is overstocked the worst of all. 

 and had to be fed 3(J0 lbs. more than was taken 

 from them. The home yard has the best clover 

 field of any, but basswood is scarce within two 

 miles. In looking at the diagram, one not ac- 

 quainted with the ground would likely ask, 

 " Why don't you use that open space southeast 

 of the home yard '?'" It is all prairie land. Corn 

 and oats don't yield much honey. 



We will now just look back to the record of a 

 year of plenty, ISSfi. and see how the yai'ds 

 averaged up then. 



COLONIES. SPUING OF 1886. 



Atkinson yard,73cols.; averagelbs. percol.,]0(i 



Cravin " 80 " " " " " '^ 10514 



Kliebenstein " 60 " '■ '• "^ " 109 



Waters " 73 •■ " " 107 



Gunlauch " 50 " " " " " l(X).k; 



Home " 61 '• " ' 117 



Jones yard not planted then. 



FOK 1885. 



Atkinson yard, 56 cols. : average lbs. pei' col. ,90 



Cravin " 53 " " " 74 



Kliebenstein " 46 " '• " ()3 



Waters ■' 57 " " •• 57 



Gunlauch " 46 " '• " 773^ 



Home •' 63 " '• •• 713| 



FOK 1884. 

 Atkinson yard, 51 cols.; average lbs. per col. ,107 



Cravin •' 41 " '* " 113 



Kliebenstein" 51 " " '• 109 



Waters " 41 " " " 130 



Gunlauch " 41 " " " KKjI., 



Home " 61 " " " 1131.] 



FOK 1883. 



Four yards, average for the whole 105 lbs. 



Number of colonies. 35, 48, 33, (iO. 



In 1887 we kopt no record. It was a very poor 

 season, and we got but little honey. 

 The year 1884 was a very poor year also. 



Cols, in spring. Average per col. 



Atkinson yard, 76 33 



Cravin ' " 75 30 



Kliebenstein "' 67 31 



Waters " (59 33 



Gunlauch " 77 31i^, 



Home " 66 3735 



FOK 1889. 

 Cols, in si)ring. Average ])ei' col. 



Atkinson yard. 73 40 



Waters " 79 40 



Kliebenstein " 87 63 



Gunlauch yard 79 47 



Cravin " 78 49 



Whig " 53 40 



Home " 84 53 



Now, friends, you have the figures and the 

 map of the ground that our bees are on. Study 

 it for yourselves. But if you plant out-apiaries, 

 don't put them less than five miles apart if you 

 can help it. If you are going to keep help at 

 the separate yards, to run the bees, six miles 

 apart is near enough; then, if the pasture is 

 good, you can keep from 100 to 150 colonies in 

 each ])lace. If you go from home with your 

 help every day, then you want to guage the 

 number of colonies so as to work one whole 

 yard in one day; or if you have but three or 

 four apiaries in all. you will have time to work 

 two days in each. But don't go over the roads 

 for less than a full day"s work when you get 

 there; and remember, when you are locating 

 an apiary, that, when you are hitched up and 

 on the road, one or two miles furthei' travel will 

 pay you b(;tter than to crowd your pasture. 

 Don't overstock your ground. E. France. 



Platteville. Wis., Nov., 1889. 



Friend F., you have given us an exceedingly 

 valuable communication from experience, and 

 your diagram is a study. Your tables are as- 

 tonishing, and yet it is not more than we should 

 expect; and the eff'ect of overlapping apiaries, 

 in the amount of honey secured, and the 

 amount of feeding required, is very marked. 

 In a poor season, then, it is better to have the 

 colonies further apart. When there is a good 

 flow of nectar, it does not matter if they are 

 nearer together. The suggestions in your con- 

 cluding paragraph are excellent, and will bear 

 reading several times. Yes, when you are 

 hitched up and on the road, one or two miles 

 fui'ther travel pays a great deal better than to 

 crowd pasture. It would pay us all to study 

 our territory carefully, as you have done; and 

 I hope some of our other out- apiary bee-keep- 

 ers will take the pains to make a diagram and 

 see what they learn fiom it. 



FUNGUS GROWTHS IN INSECTS. 



PROF. COOK CORRECTS A SENSATIONAL MIS- 

 STATEMENT. 



Friend Root: — You ask me to comment upon 

 the illustrated article headed " Wooden Cater- 

 pillar," to be found in the Sriciitijic Aincririiii. 

 Sept. 37, 1890. i)age 301. I glatily do so. as it 

 gives a good chance to illustrate how love of 

 the sensational leads to false conclusions and 

 erroneous statements. 



The article, in brief, is this: An insect, the 

 oweto. of New Zealand, commences a caterpil- 

 lar, and ends a vegetable. To (juote. "This is a 

 veg(^table caterijillar — called by naturalists, 

 Hiiti:tliN vircsceiis. It is a perfect catei'pillar, 

 and when full gro\\n mi^asures three and one- 

 half inches long."' To quote again: "Until it is 

 full grown, it conducts itself veiy much like 

 any other insect: but w lieu fully gi'own it un- 

 dergoes a \N'oii(leiful chaiig(\ For some inex- 

 plicalile (sic) I'eason the spore of a fungus fixes 

 itself directly on its neck, tak(»s root, and grows 

 like a diminutive bullrush. fi'om six to teu 

 inches high, without leaves, and with a dai'k- 

 brow n h(>ad." 



The caterpillar had previously entered the 

 earth. Many caterpillars — all of the families of 



