324 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



July 



tender age of 15. You will not think this 

 ffdvice discouraging, will you, friend Fred? 

 You see I do not wish you to get discour- 

 aged and get into Blasted Hopes, but I want 

 to see you go along slowly and surely. I 

 feel pretty sure you are a good boy at school, 

 Fred, because of your beautiful handwriting, 

 and almost faultless spelling. 



BEES THAT ARE SMAIili EATERS, ETC. 



A NEW AND DESIRABLE TRAIT. 



^?i>JHILE setting out my bees and looking them 

 wll over the other day, my head was filled with 

 a variety of ideas, and I thought at the 

 time I would write them to "Bro. Root." By that 

 endearing name I shall hail you, for since reading 

 the Home Papers in the Jan. No., I have been con- 

 vinced of my waywardness and have espoused the 

 cause of Christ. May God bless you and your efforts 

 in behalf of your fellow creatures is my earnest 

 prayer. 



I have wintered 100 per cent of my bees, and, what 

 is better still, they are strona, most of them having 

 from three to five combs with sealed brood. I have 

 not lost a queen yet. My queens are all young with 

 one exception, she being three years old this coming 

 Aug., one that was reared from the stock of H. Al- 

 ley. She is as vigorous to-day as when a month old, 

 and she is at present the mother of a colony second 

 to none in my yard. They are peaceable, but rather 

 of a leather color, like their mother. This queen 

 and her daughters have, I think, a very peculiar 

 trait. I will mention it before I close. 



You know friend Hasty is trying to breed up a 

 strain that will "pump" the honey out of red clover 

 whether or no; no, he is going to make the clover 

 adapt itself to the bees; but it is you who have the 

 red clover strain. Friend Alley has bred a strain for 

 beauty, while Oatman and Dadant have the best of 

 workers, and Burch comes in with his strain of '79, 

 that is noted for hardihood and longevity. Now, be- 

 fore I name the coming strain of the Gill persuasion, 

 I wish to sight you to an incentive by which I am in- 

 duced to build up such a strain. A friend came 

 along the other day, and, as we were speaking of 

 friend Boot's propensity for automatic machines, 

 we imagined an automatic concern (your honey farm 

 being fill to spider plants) going around every 

 morning, and with that teaspoon, dipping the raw 

 nectar from the flowers and dumping it into sun 

 evaporators. But while setting the bees out and 

 looking them over, I found that the colonies of the 

 above named queens had consumed but very little 

 honey, while the others, that were equal last fall in 

 stores and bees, had consumed nearly all they had; 

 and, if there Is any difference, the stocks in question 

 are the best to-day. Well, after seeing all this, I was 

 inspired with new courage and planned thus: I will 

 develop these anti-gormandizers (with the aid of 

 Prof. Hasbrouck's cracker barrel) until I get a 

 strain that won't eat up any of their honey; then I 

 will send to friend Hasty for some clover seed (for I 

 am satisfied he will produce his development before 

 I shall mine), and then contract to furnish Thurber 

 and Perrine. But now, for a fact, is it not possible 

 that families of bees, like some families of humans, 

 can get along as well and even better at a great deal 

 less expense— which eat to live, while others live to 

 eat? At any rate, I have observed a great difference, 

 but the cause of the difference I do not know. 



Bees have generally wintered well in this section, 

 although a great many have died from carelessness. 

 The common aldar (Alnus semdata.) is now ready for 

 them, besides a few kinds of (Salix) willow. The 

 soft maples along the river are also looking quite 

 red at a distance. You do not know how thankful 

 I feel at the condition of my bees this spring; they 

 are just splendid. Just think; last winter I lost 75 

 per cent, and this winter I have wintered 100 per 

 cent ! I expect wife would advise you to put me in 

 the Smilery about the bees, but perhaps not in every 

 thing else. M. A. Gill. 



Viola, Richland Co., Wis., May, 1880. 



P. S.— Since the above was written, 1 had occasion 

 to look over a swarm whose queen was reared from 

 the above mentioned queen; they have been win- 

 tered in a cellar, and we agreed they had not con- 

 sumed over 5 lbs. of honey, and perhaps not that, for 

 they were light last fall. M. A. G. 



I confess, friend G., that I hesitated some- 

 what about putting all your kind words into 

 print, but the letter seems to follow along 

 so connectedly, I trust our friends will all 

 take it in the spirit it was intended. May 

 the Lord keep you in the same path. — We 

 have all noticed, and it has been often re- 

 marked, that some colonies winter on much 

 less stores than others, but I believe we 

 shall have to give you the credit of suggest- 

 ing that this is a trait which may be encour- 

 aged and perpetuated. Where will the end 

 be, if we keep on at this rate? 



CALIFORNIA BEE-KEEPING. 



No. 3. 



ALFALFA IN CALIFORNIA. 



M T last, summer has set in, in earnest, and the 

 J(3\ bees are busy on sections of foundation. 



' The fields of alfalfa present a sea of purple 



flowers, which, I imagine, more than rivals your 

 bee pasture, or linden grove either. It is gratifying 

 to watch the little pets gathering the nectar from 

 the flowers, which are so nicely scented that they 

 are altogether pleasing. 



LIPPIA NODIFLORA. 



This plant has begun to bloom, and bears a strong 

 resemblance to eastern white clover, as it covers 

 the ground with white blossoms. It is a curious 

 plant, growing just as well on land that has not been 

 dampened for months, as it does in moist ground; 

 and we also find it right in the water, sending its 

 leaves and flowers up to the surface as the water 

 lily does, and the bees work on it with great ener- 

 gy from morning till night. The snow on the Sierra 

 Nevada mountains is melting fast, under the direct 

 rays of this June sun, and sends its Hood of pure 

 water over the valley in every direction, so the land 

 is covered with every conceivable sort of vegeta- 

 tion. The water in the river is more than level with 

 the adjoining land, and has already broken the levee 

 in one or two places. 



I was sorry this morning to see the smashed cage 

 in which Mr. Coon's queen had been shipped, for I 

 was anxious to raise a lot of young queens from her 

 at once, as I am almost disgusted with the curious 

 black bees we have. I think you would better make 

 a cage so strong that the P. O. officials can not 

 smash it, even if they get on it with their feet, or 

 we may lose the privilege we have of sending 

 queens by mail. O. S. Davis. 



Lemoore, Tulare Co., Cal., June 2, 1830. 



