1S79 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



177 



from it, in the spring, than from anything 

 else. I sowed the seed about the 1st of Oct., 

 on ground where early potatoes had been 

 harvested. In Dec, they showed "a luxuri- 

 ance of beautiful green foliage, and in May. 

 following, a sea of yellow blossoms, making 

 the prettiest "posy bed.*' I believe, that 1 

 ever saw in my life, and the music of the 

 bees humming anion;' the branches was just 

 "entrancing," to one who has an ear for 

 such music. I never saw so many bees on 

 any patch of blossoms of its size in my life, 

 as could 1)2 seen on them from daylight until 

 dark. 



Friend K. recommended the plant partic- 

 ularly for pollen, but, besides this, I am in- 

 clined to think it will give more honey to the 

 acre than anything that has heretofore come 

 under my notice. We have much trouble 

 here in raising rape and mustard, with the 

 small turnip beetle or flea, but this turnip 

 patch has n jver been touched; whether it is 

 on account of sowing so late in the fall or 

 because the flea does not fancy it, I am un- 

 able to say. The plants seem very hardy, 

 and the foliage is most luxuriant, much 

 more so than either the rape or Chinese mus- 

 tard, which latter plant it much resembles, 

 only having larger blossoms. As our patch 

 was sown after the first of Oct., and the 

 crop could easily be cleared from our land by 

 the middle of June, a crop of honey could be 

 secured without interfering with the use of 

 the land for other purposes. 



Friend K. also recommends the foliage 

 for "greens," and says that he sows it in his 

 garden for spring and winter use. We tried 

 a mess of greens from our patch, in Lee., 

 and found them excellent. Our seed was 

 sown in drills about 1 ft. apart. 



If I could get a 10 acre lot covered with 

 such bloom during the month of August, I 

 should not hesitate an instant to hand over 

 the money for the necessary expenses. If 

 we cannot get the blossoms in August, we 

 can certainly have an abundant supply be- 

 tween fruit bloom and clover. 



WINTERING. My friends, it you 



have been over faithfully, what I have writ- 

 ten in the preceding pages, you are nearly 

 ready to sum up the matter of wintering 

 with me, with but few additional remarks. 

 Under the bead of ABSCONDING swarms, in 

 the opening of the book, I cautioned you 

 against dividing, and trying to winter weak 

 colonies. See Absconding in Early Spring, 

 under the head mentioned. Also sec House 

 Apiary, under head of apiary. In regard 



to keeping bees warm through the winter 

 with artificial heat, see that head. In 



regard to the effect of different kinds of food 

 or stores on the welfare of bees during win- 

 ter, See DYSENTERY, FEEDING AND FEED- 

 ERS. CANDY FOll BEES, and HONEY DEW. 



In regard to fixing the size of the entrances 

 to hives and keeping them from getting 

 clogged with dead bees, see entrances to 

 hives, ventilation, and PROPOLIS. In 

 regard to starving bees, and taking away 

 their sealed stores, allowing them only un- 

 sealed, late, fall honey, see EXTRACTORS. 

 For a consideration of the different sizes and 

 shapes of frames for wintering, see NU- 

 CLEUS. 



After you have gone over all these, I think 

 we are ready to consider wintering intelli- 

 gently. 



WHEN TO COMMENCE PREPARING THE BEES 

 FOR WINTER. 



If either bees or stores are lacking, they 

 should be supplied during warm weather, so 

 that all may be quiet and ready for the win- 

 ter doze which nature intends them to take, 

 long enough before winter weather has act- 

 ually set in. In this latitude, I should ad- 

 vise examining all hives the first of Sept. 



In the first place, be sure that you have 

 bees enough in each hive to winter; if you 

 have not, unite until every colony is strong. 

 I would not undertake to winter any colony, 

 unless it would cover well, as many as 4 L. 

 frames. If your colony has not as many as 

 4 good combs, they must be supplied with 

 bin., and made to build them out. If they 

 are to do it in Sept., you and the bees 

 both must stir yourselves, I tell you. There 

 must be no forgetting them, and you must 

 be at home every day, to attend to it. ( 'lose 

 the space up by chaff division boards, until 

 there is just comfortable room for the 4 

 frames, put in your fdn. where the combs 

 are lacking, and then feed them every night, 

 from a half pint to a pint of food. ( )pen the 

 hive every day or two, and see how things 

 get along. You want a good queen and lots 

 of brood started. Make them prosper, and 

 build up. You will soon learn to know 

 what prosperity means. They should be 

 rearing brood, building comb, and getting 

 full of bees, precisely as they do in June. 

 For winter stores, I would use coffee sugar 

 (see FEEDERS AND FEEDING); feed them 

 about a half 11). every night, until their 

 combs are full. If you have the 4 combs 

 average about 5 lbs. each, you will be on the 

 safe side. If your colony is heavy enough to 



