1(54 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTUEE. 



May 



BICE CARTS FOR THE APIARY, MAR- 

 KETING IIONEV, ETC. 



tHAVE received inquiries in relation to bee 

 carts or carts tor the apiary, and thinking- the 

 J plan might be of interest to you, I send a dia- 

 gram of the one I use. 



The wheels are 20 in. in height, wiih an axle 4x2 in. 

 The length of the platform is 4 ft., the width 2 It. 

 The platform is just the right height to form a seat 

 ns you wheel it from one hive to another fur exam- 

 ination. It is handy to wheel hives from one posi- 

 tion of the apiary to another, or a box can be at- 

 tached, as shown by the dotted lines, and any thing 

 can be carried. In the extracting season a whole 

 load of frames to be extracted can be gathered and 

 wheeled to the house, or a load of sections can be 

 collected in the same manner. 



j. h. martin's bee cart. 



1 mounted a covering of mosquito netting over it, 

 one season, placed the extractor upon it, and ex- 

 tracted honey from each hive. It all went very 

 well while honey came in profusely, but as soon as 

 there was the slightest let up, the bees came for 

 the cartin swarms, and would get in in spite of ns. 

 The place for putting the frames through had to be 

 kept so close that in passing and repassing full and 

 empty combs, more or less honey would get stuck 

 around the edges, and the robbers would hold a 

 glorious old jubilee around it. I now prefer to ex- 

 tract in the house; it can be done just as fast, with 

 perhaps a few more steps. Can you tell us how Mr. 

 Blakeslee's car and K. K. track worked? By the way, 

 what has become of Blakeslee and also of friend 

 Bonn? It seems a long lime since we heard from 

 them. 



I want to know how bees wintered, packed as no- 

 ted on page 375, Nov. No. of Gleanings, 1S78. I think 

 we ought to have more room under the frame in 

 ehatf hives; furthermore, our entrances are quite 

 low; if the bees could be packed in the upper story, 

 with an entrance at a greater distance from the 

 ground, it would be better, I think. 1 have been in 

 hopes somebody would invent a chaff hive that 

 could be used both single and double story; there is 

 no plan equal to the Simplicity for manipulation. 

 Now, Ithink I will close this epistle with a "growl". 

 Your honey knives get loose in the handle. My own 

 soon got loose, and a neighbor also has one that 

 wiggles around. We don't claim damages, but see 

 that they are manufactured so as to be linn. 



I will hurry to the P. O. with this, or I rimy think 

 of somethingelse. I shall loose several swarms in 

 the house; winter lingers— lingers; 4 dead out of 

 20 in chaff; chaff not so much to blame as other 

 causes. 



Hartford, N .Y. J. H. Martin. 



The honey cart, without doubt, will prove 

 a very handy implement in the apiary. We 

 have used alight wheel barrow, but your ar- 

 rangement has many decided advantages. 



Our neighbor, Blakeslee, used his railway 

 apiary and car for several years very suc- 

 cessfully, but while making some changes 

 in his apiary it was temporarily removed. 

 Since then," and for the past 2 or 3 sea- 

 sons, while working for comb honey, he has 

 not used it. 



The sheet of burlap for wintering, de- 

 scribed on the page you mention, seemed to 

 answer very well for protection, as far as it 

 went, but the bees packed in that way did 

 nothing near as well as in the chaff hives. 

 During a milder winter, they would doubt- 

 less have done well, but the chaff hive has 



so well demonstrated its advantages, that I 

 shall, in future, use them entirely, for win- 

 tering. I have thought of a higher entrance 

 to the chaff hive, but as we must have one 

 also on the level with the bottom board, for 

 the convenience of the bees in removing tilth, 

 etc., it would necessitate two entrances, and 

 this would be too much like the cold ar- 

 rangement we have many of us tried with 

 the American hives. After the experience 

 I have had with them, I feel as if I never 

 more wanted an upper entrance. Thanks 

 for your criticism on the honey knives ; it 

 shall be seen to at once. 



RED CLOVER AS A HONEY PLANT. 



5gj5TS! HEN reading your reply to Jacob Child 8, on 



<l I; P a §'c 113, I wondered why you did not ; 



u'W advise hi. ii to sow % of his fai m (if he has 

 one) with the common small red clover, this veiy 

 spring. He may have time yet to try the expeii- 

 uient. 



1 have read Prof. A. J. Cook's essay on "Bee Pas- 

 turage," and am surpiised that he has not men- 

 tioned red clover, at all. Of course we did not get 

 much honey from it or from any other source last 

 season, on account of rainy weather; but in ordina- 

 ry seasons, it is as profitable a crop for the farmer 

 as wheat, and, with proper management, if we have 

 Italians, or even hybrids, there is no better honey 

 plant in this part of the world. We have raised 

 Alsike for 9 years, and hive one field of it yet, but 

 will sow no more, for it is no better for bees than 

 common white clover, and not near as profitable 

 on the farm as red clover. 



Here is the way to manage the red: pasture one 

 field till near the middle of June, in tbis latitude 

 (this is the ordinary practice of farmers here in 

 order to secure a large crop of seed), then turn off 

 the stock; this will be in bloom again before 1he 

 last clover is cut for hay, and before it fails, the 

 earliest mown will be in bloom the second time; and 

 as we always cut ihe second crop when good for 

 seed, the last will not be cut till late in September; 

 in fact, as frost does not affect it much, we have 

 some bloom till late in October, in tields too poor 

 for seed, and lhat have been pastured. Of course, 

 if we have unfavorable weather, red clOA'er, like all 

 other plants, will not secrete honey largely. Here 

 we have a continual bloom of nearly five months, 

 and the bees will not leave it, only for raspberry, 

 Canada thistle, basswcod, and golden rod, and they 

 do not last long. 



Pure Italians will not leave it for buckwheat. 

 Red clover honey is nqnrly as nice as white clover, 

 but the pollen is nearly black. You have mec- 

 lioned tbis in "Gleanings." The above has been 

 my experience ever since we have had Italian bees. 

 Cleanings, pages IOC and 107 Vol. 2, tells when 

 that was. 



We have only lost 4 swarms yet, and 2 of those 

 were not properly protected with chaff. Of the 

 other 2, one was destroyed with mice, and the other 

 starved. We had crowded the chaff too tight so as 

 to shove the division boaid and outside combs to- 

 gether, and the bees could not reach their stores. 



But, dear me! what a cold April this is! 



Ila Michner. 



Low Banks, Out., Canada, April 14, lS^it. 



► ■•■ ^ 



AN IMPROVEMENT ON THE EOTTL.E 

 QUEEN CAGE. 



ME. LANGSTBOTH has been, for some 

 time, very earnest in his endeavors 

 — ' to bring about that matter of sending 

 queens by mail, and a part of the conditions 

 required by the P. O. dept., seem to have 

 been got along with, but that part which 

 declares so positively that no living animals 

 or insects shall be considered mailable, still 

 remains to be considered. As glass and li- 

 quids are positively prohibited, Mr. L. has 

 devised a tin case to hold a sponge saturated 

 with water. I have often thought of tin to 



