4.58 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTUKE. 



June 



especially if, as you say, white clover does 

 not grow just as thick on other plats where 

 no alsike was sown. Alsike does not hold 

 its place on any soil as the white clover does 

 —at least, so far as my information extends ; 

 but I can not understand how alsike should 

 by any possibility change to white-clover. 

 I do not think that pasturing would affect 

 the result either way. Will Prof. Cook 

 please give us his opinion on this matter V 



WINTERING SUCCESSFULLY IN A REPOSITORY 

 KEEKING WITH MOISTURE. 



I built a cave, on Doc-little's plan, during October, 

 1888, except the shingle roof. I had none, and the 

 walls of the cave were clay only. I had three doors 

 to said cave, but no ventilation whatever. I put 7 

 colonies in the same, Nov. 6; and although the mois- 

 ture was very dense indeed, they wintered splen- 

 didly, being in the cave only 135 days. My first 

 swarm issued on the 7tb inst., a fine large one too. 

 I think cellar wintering can be made a success, even 

 in a clay bank. We have a fine prospect for a good 

 honey harvest for this season. White clover is 

 very abundant indeed. C. W. Vanhouten. 



Smithfield, Hi., May 10, 1889. 



S. F. NEWMAN ON CELLAR VERSUS CHAFF WINTER- 

 ING. 



Ernest did not quite understand me when we 

 were talking about different methods of wintering. 

 If I were going to winter inside I would adopt 

 friend Boardman's method of " no bottoms," but I 

 do not prefer inside wintering by any means. My 

 bees never winter as well inside as they do in your 

 chaff hive. I have 50 colonies that are strong 

 enough to swarm today, and would swarm if I had 

 not right along given them combs in the upper 

 story. If I ever get time 1 will write you what I 

 think about the "winter problem," and of my ex- 

 perience and success in l-eference to it. 



Norwalk, O., May 15, 1889. S. F. Newman. 



Thanks, friend Newman. I accept the 

 correction. 



HOW MUCH HONEY WILL ONE ACRE OF CLOVER 

 PRODUCE ? 



Somewhere in your writing you say one acre of 

 clover will support ten colonies of bees. Will you 

 please be kind enough to state, if one acre of clover 

 is properly grown, and one colony of bees, proper- 

 ly managed, forages solely upon it, how much sur- 

 plus honey ought this one acre of clover to pro- 

 duce? Subscriber. 



I do not remember the statement you 

 mention. If I made it, I think I must have 

 said " probably," for it is a very hard mat- 

 ter to determine how many colonies an acre 

 of clover will keep busily employed. If we 

 could get out on a desert, and keep our clo- 

 ver field going by irrigation, then we might 

 get at it. I have very little idea how much 

 honey an acre of clover might produce ; but 

 I will hazard a guess, that it might give 10 

 pounds of honey a day for. say, 10 or 1-5 days ; 

 perhaps it might give half that quantity for 

 10 or 15 days more. If any of the friends 

 who have considered this matter feel like 

 criticising my answer, I should be glad. 



UNCAPPING-CANS ; ARE THEY NECESSARY ? 



I have bought about 50 stands of bees this spring. 

 I am thinking of running about that number for 

 extracted honey, three miles from home. I should 



like to have some of the friends tell, through 

 Gleanings (if they can in time for this summer's 

 crop of honey), how they manage the cappings— 

 what they catch them in, and what is the best way 

 to get the honey out of them, without buying an 

 expensive uncapping-can like Dadant's? Or is that 

 the cheapest, all things considered? 



grapevines, care of. 



How will grapevines do in the apiary when the 

 ground is set to white clover or blue grass, if the 

 ground is kept dug up 12 to 18 inches around the 

 vines, leaving tbe vines feet apart each way? Or 

 should the ground be mulched all over? 



Bedford, la., May 6, 1889. J. S. Willard. 



An uncapping-can is by no means neces- 

 sary. It is only a convenience. If you do 

 not wish to go to too much expense, you 

 might set a cheap metal strainer on top of a 

 dish-pan or large pail— just such an ar- 

 rangement, in fact, as we sell for our cheap 

 wax-extractor. — Grapevines will do very 

 well as you suggest. They should have a 

 distance apart of eight feet or more, instead 

 of only six. The grass and weeds should be 

 cut away from around the vines for as much 

 as two feet. Mulching will answer every 

 purpose. 



FRIEND BOARDMAN EXPLAINS A LITTLE MORE UP- 

 ON HIS METHOD OF CONTRACTION. 



Friend Ernest:— Perhaps 1 ought to make a little 

 explanation in regard to my method of contraction 

 of the brood-chamber during the honey-flow. 



Putting new swarms, whether natural or artifi- 

 cial, on empty frames, constitutes a very perfect 

 and natural mode of contraction, and is usually all 

 that I desire for a period of 20 to 25 days, where the 

 queen is able to pretty nearly keep pace with the 

 comb-building; but if the comb is built considera- 

 bly faster than the queen can fill it with eggs, I 

 sometimes cut it back to about the capacity of the 

 queen to fill, and use the pieces, thus cut out, in 

 sections instead of foundation. I cut it back only 

 in new colonies, never in the old ones. My new 

 colonies on the old stand give me all the surplus. 

 I see in the account of your " Rambles " you leave 

 this a little indefinite. 



Thanks. My memory was not quite clear 

 upon this point, and so I did not dare to en- 

 large upon it very much. Your explana- 

 tion makes it more satisfactory. — Friend 

 Boardman replies further : 



TWO QUEENS IN ONE COLONY. 



I have made this season what is to me quite an 

 important discovery. Of what real practical value 

 it may prove, I am yet not quite ready to decide. 

 It is, using two queens in one colony, keeping both 

 in active operation for an indefinite time. I have 

 several such colonies that have been running un- 

 der this dual administration since the beginning of 

 the season (6 or 8 weeks). I do not know yet how 

 long it will continue. I think, until swarming 

 time. H. K. Boardman. 



East Townsend, O., May 7, 1889. 



I suppose your discovery is, that bees will, 

 a good many times, tolerate two queens at 

 the same time. Under some circumstances, 

 I know that this can be done ; but at other 

 times it does not seem to work at all. In 

 fact, a good many of us have had expensive 

 experience in trying to introduce queens 

 where there was one already in the hive. 



