IS 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Jan. 



ADVANTAGES OF A HILLY OR MODN- 

 TA1NOUS DISTRICT FOR AN 



APIAKY, &C. 



LTHOUGH this is the third year of my resi- 

 dence in this county (Lewis), I have never vis" 

 itcd the tops of the high hills around me until 

 to-day. Col. McGee, of Clarksburg, furnished the 

 horses and led the way to the summit, where he said 

 I would find my bees in a sea of flowers, and learn the 

 source of all that honey that is coming- in so rapidly 

 just now. I can't tell all I saw, but I know I wished 

 that A. I. Root was there to feast his eyes on that 

 scene. There were thousands of acres of beautiful 

 flowers, some of the yellow flowers being higher 

 than our heads, when sitting on the horses, while 

 some of the blue and white only came to the stir- 

 rups. Looking down the slopes, we could see the 

 large basswood and poplar, sourwood, red-bud, spice- 

 wood, and many other kinds, covering a greater area 

 than the flowers. I send you a specimen of each of 

 the flowers I gathered. When I got home, wife and 

 daughter gathered around me, exclaiming beautiful, 

 lovely, so sweet, etc. 



The tallest of the yellow flowers gi-ows from 2 to 8ft. 

 high, with many branches, and is called here, "Fare- 

 well summer; " it is an excellent honey plant. 



The yellow, bell shaped flower grows from one to 

 three feethigh; the velvety blue, about eight inches; 

 the variegated blue, about one foot; the other blue, 

 from one to throe feet; the specimen with only 

 buds, one to two feet, none of that being in bloom 

 yet. Interspersed with all of these, is the golden 

 rod in abundance, just coming into bloom. The 

 same plant bloomed in the valleys a mouth ago. 

 Col. McGee says, when these mature other flowers 

 spring up, and the scene will be the same a month 

 hence. 



The elm is the first to bloom in the spring, then 

 the soft maple, sugar tree; red-bud, willow, poplar, 

 in May; basswood, the last of June. There are so 

 many honey bearing plants, trees, and flowers, I 

 can't think of them all; even the teasel grows wild 

 here. All of these and many more grow here in 

 abundance, and always will, because the side hills 

 are too steep to be cultivated. There are a great 

 many wild bees in the woods, and numbers cared 

 for in " My Daddy's Hive" (gum and box); some of 

 the keepers know the drone3 lay all the eggs; a few 

 have the movable frames, mostly the Langstroth, 

 and some of them now want the Italians, 1 have 

 sold a few colonies, and but few queens. I raise 

 most of my own queens, and have about 100 colon- 

 ies, afew of them black. M. L. Williams. 



Vanceburg, Ky.,Sept. 8,1879. 



SUNFLOWERS FOR SHADE, AND ODDS 

 AND ENDS. 



yp|k NE of the brothers of the class from Salem, O., 

 WJj/ Mr. Frank Taber, writes: 



" Many, no doubt, would like to hear, through 

 Gleanings, the result of your experiments with 

 sunflowers for shade, how arranged, etc. I have 

 tried several shades, but none are satisfactory. 

 Please give us your experience." 



With us, as mentioned in a previous article, aspar- 

 agus was first set by each stand. Asparagus does 

 not make shade enough, and it will not stand up, but 

 lops down in a manner quite provoking and untidy. 

 This year we secured excellent shades by putting a 

 sunflower or two (one is better than two) about a 



foot to the east, another about two feet to the west 

 of the asparagus. I would not advise the planting 

 of asparagus, however. Just put three sunflowers 

 in line, a foot and a half apart. Some of ours were 

 planted on the spot, and some of them transplanted. 

 They bear transplanting well, and either way ans- 

 wers. Good plants, and extra early, can usually be 

 got from the self sown seeds where sunflowers grew 

 the previous season. When the stalks get 6 feethigh, 

 pinch them off. The apiary is made to look much 

 neater by keeping them short and of even hight. 

 Moreover, the lower leaves of very tall sunflowers 

 are somewhat apt to wither and let the sun in. If 

 you start the plants early, and let them bloom and 

 go to seed as quickly as they choose, they will be apt 

 to ripen and dry up before you are ready to dispense 

 with shade. By preventing or delaying bloom, the 

 plants are kept green longer. Most sunflowers 

 branch out very profusely, and will soon weary their 

 owner out if he tries to keep them from blooming. 

 Some, however, most rigorously limit themselves to 

 one head, and will not branch out when the terminal 

 bud is pinched. These are the most desirable. I am 

 trying to establish this trait by selection of seed, but 

 my this year's plants, many of them, went back to 

 their old habits. Perhaps another year's discipline 

 will show more complete results in next year's 

 plants. My present opinion is that the sunflower is 

 about the best of green shades; but I still adhere to 

 my old opinion, that our coming shade is not a green 

 one at ajl, but a positive, artificial, movable one. I 

 hope to know more on this point next fall at this 

 time than I do now. 



There, now, it won't do to keep it any longer. I 

 feel ever so much taller than I did. I want to make 

 my salam, and shake hands with the boys all around. 

 I have gone and done it. I have bought the apiary 

 here, and am no longer a brevet bee-keeper, but a 

 genuine member of the fraternity. 



condensation of water in unprotected hives. 



Directly after that cold spell with which Novem- 

 ber came in, when the mercury went down to -within 

 14° of zero, I opened some hives that still had all the 

 extra space that was given them in the summer for 

 honey storing. Of course, the bees had had a pretty 

 hard time of it. I was not, however, prepared to 

 find such quantities of water of condensation as I 

 saw. Puddles of it were on the bottoms of the 

 hives, and the I in rahbets were trough* of water. Re- 

 flecting- on this circumstance, I hit upon a little in- 

 vention that may be of use. Why not utilize the 

 condensing power of a sheet of tin, to keep drops 

 from forming on the honey and woodwork, where 

 they will soak in and cause perpetual dampness? 

 Between the ends of the frames and the back side of 

 the hive, I mean to place a strip of bright tin. The 

 head of a tack, partly pressed into the wood, will 

 hold the upper end of it, while the lower end rests 

 on the bottom. This, on account of its position, will 

 be a trifle cooler than the air that circulates in the 

 hive; and I anticipate that nearly all the free moist- 

 ure will gather on it and run down. Such a condens- 

 er is at least very simple and inexpensive. Can you 

 think, dear teacher, of any hanii it could possibly do? 



I, too, would like to see what can be done with the 

 queen that does not kill her daughters; but I can 

 not take her, as you suggest in November Glean- 

 ings, as I have another queen-rearing project that 

 would interfere. 



I hold up my hand for the queen mentioned on 



