388 



GLEAKIKGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Oct. 



barely keep up with the daily consumption 

 in so many colonies, it is quite a little task 

 to break the sugar out of the barrel and put 

 it in jars, even though we have replaced the 

 glass jars with stone ones holding two and 

 three gallons ; and so I have devised a plan 

 of feeding from a whole barrel, leaving 

 nothing more to be done than to pour in 

 water when yon want to feed, never taking 

 the sugar out of the barrel at all, or even 

 touching it with your fingers. 



Sept. 22d.— The feeder made of a whole 

 barrel of grape sugar worked very well, un- 

 til the weather became so cool that many 

 bees were lost by working so late that they 

 got chilled, and dropped along on the grass. 

 The out door feeding works beautifully 

 when we have warm weather ; but, at the 

 approach of cool frosty nights, I think it 

 better to feed each hive at night, either in 

 the hive or at the entrance. See Feeding in 

 October for Winter, on another column. 



TIME TO SOW BUCKWHEAT. 



A fine crop of buckwheat can be raised 

 from seed sown the first of August, so far 

 as honey is concerned; and, should frost 

 hold off as late as the first of Oct., it would 

 give, at least, a fair crop of seed. I believe 

 buckwheat sowed the first of Aug. has given 

 a better yield of honey, than that sowed a 

 month earlier. As a rule, we may say the 

 bees will begin to work on it, 30 days'after 

 sowing ; it will be in its prime for honey, in 

 about 45 days ; and some of the seed will be 

 ripe in about 60 days; the field, as a rule, 

 will be ready for harvest in about 75 to 90 

 days. From this you can judge when to sow 

 it in all localities. It grows just about as 

 well, during cool weather, and it will keep 

 right along during very cool nights, provid- 

 ing we have no heavy frosts. 



RAPE FOR FALL, PASTURAGE. 



As rape will stand the frost almost as well 

 as its cousin, the turnip, I think it might be 

 sown for bees as late as a month before frost ; 

 some sowed in Sept. has been growing and 

 blossoming beautifully, and is covered now 

 with bees, and by these late sowings we es- 

 cape entirely the great pest, the little black 

 flea. Whether it will do to sow it so late 

 that it will have to stand over and bloom in 

 the spring, like the seven top turnip, is a 

 matter I am just ahout testing. 



THE SEVEN TOP TURNIP. 



When this reaches you, it will be just the 

 best time to sow the seven top turnip; and, 

 as it will have blossomed and be out of the 

 way, a little after apple blossoms, you can 

 clear it off, and use the land just as if it had 

 not been on it. Therefore, if you have any 

 ground, you can just as well have a good 

 field of it as not. If you wish the seed to 

 ripen, you will have to spare the ground a 

 little later. It should be borne in mind that 

 this turnip bears tops only and not roots. 

 The leaves are used for greens, almost any 

 time in the winter. The rape, turnip, and 

 buckwheat, I am satisfied, will pay for the 

 honey alone. 



ALSIKE CLOVER SOWN IN THE FALL. 



My Alsike and white Dutch clover fields 



do not suit me. The seed was sown with 

 oats in the spring. My friend H. says they 

 sometimes sow it with winter wheat ; but I 

 want a field of clover alone, and I want "tall" 

 clover too. About the lOtli of Sept., I sowed 

 a little piece down on that new hillside 

 garden by the pond. I put on plenty of seed, 

 and plenty of super-phosphate, for I want 

 the ground to look green, and in a week the 

 little plants were up very thick. I have 

 been visiting them and looking at them on 

 an average of about twice a day, ever since 

 they came up, and I tell you it is fun to see 

 them put out their second leaves. I wanted 

 to sow it in rows and cultivate it, but they 

 laughed at my idea of cultivating clover. I 

 believe now, the laugh will come on my side 

 when I get around to it. 



Something has given me a wonderful 

 mania for seeing things grow this fall, and 

 the sight of a nice, straight row of turnips 

 with their broad, green leaves, bright and 

 perfect, during these cool, invigorating days, 

 makes me about as happy as any thing 1 

 know of ; I mean, when 1 have cultivated 

 and hoed them, and when there is not a 

 weed visible, or a leaf that is not bright, 

 green, and growing. 



I want my Alsike, white Dutch, mellilot, 

 and, in short, every thing on the honey farm 

 growing just that way, and it seems to me, 

 they should all be in rows, so that we could 

 run the cultivator straight through them all. 



FEEDING. 



M|DITOROF GLEANINGS:-! have met at least 

 j three parties in California, who have tested 

 what 1 hold true in regard to bee keeping, in 

 this state as well as all others; that is, all stocks 

 should be kept strong, and have stores to fall back 

 on in a scarce time, or they must be fed. Even in 

 the best of seasons, there are times when bees can 

 gather nothing. Now, if we feed a little every eve- 

 ning, at such times, just to keep the queen breed- 

 ing, we shall always have bees of the right age to 

 gather honey whenever it does come. But, if we al- 

 low the queen to stop breeding at such times, the 

 stock will soon run down, and become worthless. 

 Sometimes even 25c worth of sugar, fed at the right 

 time, will make a profitable stock, and the want of 

 that 25c would allow it to become an unprofitable 

 one. I have always held that feeding should be 

 done in the summer, and bees would then store 

 enough to winter on. Stocks that were strong in 

 numbers last spring, and had an abundance of stores 

 in the hive, are now strong and have abundance; 

 consequently they are self-supporting, even in a 

 bad season. If they have abundance of stores in 

 the hive to fall back on, they need no stimulation. 

 Then, whenever there comes a few days of honey 

 weather, they are ready to take advantage of it, and 

 they fill up at once, but, suppose we allow a colony 

 to stop breeding; although they may seem to be 

 quite strong in numbers it will take all their force 

 to raise brood when the honey weather does come, 

 and the consequence is nothing is stored, and they 

 will keep on doing so throughout the season, and be 

 worthless in the fall, or have to be fed a large quan- 

 tity, while a small quantity, fed just at the right 

 time, would have enabled them to store their own 

 winter supply. You know Gallup's hobby has al- 

 ways been, strong stocks and abundant supplies for 

 profit. Bees can be kept self-supporting even in 

 California. E. Gallup. 



Scenega, Cal., Aug. 27, 1879. 



