470 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



June 1 



" Why, how do you make that out, Hans ? " 



" Veil, ven I got someding, den first ting I 

 know I don'd ain'd got it. Ven I taut I got a 

 big brice for my honey, I youst gif it away. 

 Dem shneaks in de city stheal de whole shoot- 

 ing-match. Say — I like now pretty bad, ven 

 I could set my dog Bose on dem vellers." 



"You seem to have a good deal of confi- 

 dence in your big watchdog." 



" Yaas, I eats him veil and he keeps me 

 vatch." 



" Well, that just illustrates what our associ- 

 ation would do for you if you would support 

 it. It would be like your big watchdog, ready 

 to protect you from these commission sharks 

 and other enemies." 



" Veil, veil ; may pe so ; but I don'd like to 

 pay monish for someding I don'd got alret- 



ty." 



RAMBLE NO. i86. 



Some New Facts Relative to Alfalfa. 



BY RAMBI^KR. 



Perhaps with only two seasons' experience 

 with alfalfa as a honey- factor I should hold 

 my peace. I am, however, inclined to give 

 my experience so far as it goes, and will. 



My first crop of honey from alfalfa was se- 

 cured in Scott Valley, in the extreme northern 

 portion of the State. The first cutting for 

 hay was early in July ; the next, late in Au- 

 gust. Upon both growths there was a profu- 

 sion of flowers, and the farmers allowed it to 

 stand several days in bloom, and the bees se- 

 cured a fair honey crop of excellent quality. 



It was stated by the bee-keepers of the val- 





A DOIvLAR CLOSE BEFORE THE EYES WII<I< SHUT OUT GOD'S RESPI,ENDENT SKIES. 



"But, Hans, even your big dog would not 

 keep watch for you if you were too stingy to 

 feed him first. The trouble with you is that 

 you have been too much in the dark. A dol- 

 lar may blind you if held to close to your eye. 

 It is penny wise and pound foolish for a bee- 

 keeper to withhold the dollar that should go 

 to support the best organization for mutual 

 protection that the bee-keepers of this country 

 ever had, and just as foolish to hang on to the 

 dollar that should go to pay for a journal like 



GivEANINGS. " 



" Veil, veil ; here is my tollar ; you send in 

 my name right quick, for I vant to get in mit 

 dem vellars vat vatch out for dem rascals like 

 my big dog." 



ley that the yield from this source fluctuated 

 to quite an extent ; and there was proof of 

 this the next year when I learned that the 

 yield was very light. 



In respect to honey in other localities, we 

 have been led to believe that it never fails to 

 yield from a fair to a good crop of honey. 

 For instance, in Arizona we never hear of to- 

 tal failures, and I think the same conditions 

 exist in Colorado and Utah, and I presume 

 Central California has reported no failures. 

 From my own observations in the latter loca- 

 tion I must conclude that alfalfa yields honey 

 sparingly occasionally, in some districts. 



The experience of others has been the same, 

 for I know of five bee-keepers who moved 



