266 



GLKANINGS EN BEE CULTURE. 



Apr. 



liurposes. But by cutting the alsike a tritle early 

 tlie timothy will not be ripe enough to do much 

 harm: and what little seed there maybe then can 

 be separated from the clover by a strong blast of 

 the fanning-mill. Alsike maybe cut for hay early 

 in June, and before it comes into blossom. Of 

 course, the hay will not be so good as when in full 

 bloom; but bj' this means another crop can be se- 

 cured, and the later bloom will come at a time per- 

 haps when there is a gap in the honey-tiow. 



All things considered, I look upon alsike as the 

 best plant yet discovered for bee-keepers to advo- 

 cate, it being worthy of general cultivation for 

 hay, pasture, and honey. M. M. Bat.drtdge. 



St. Charles, 111., Mar. T, 1887. 



A FEW SUGGESTIONS FKOM AN ABC 

 SCHOLAR. 



LIMA HEANVISES FOR SHADE; HIVES AS HENS - 

 NESTS. 



gDITOR GLEANINGS:— It is needless to tell 

 you that I am a beginner in apiculture— my 

 vei-dancy will show that. Nor is it necessary 

 to tell you I am but eighteen years old; but 

 T will, and I hope the older membei's of the 

 bee-keeping fraternity will not consider me pre- 

 sumptuous in offering a few suggestions, for age 

 has not made me cautious, nor adversity wise. The 

 suggestions are ventured with a view to help my 

 brother A B C's, and, also, to And out, by your time- 

 ly advice, as to whether I am on the right track or 

 not. 



I started in 1884 with one colony of hybrids in an 

 American hive, and, after many of the trials inci- 

 dent to novices, have now but seven colonies, three 

 of which are mine and the other four I procured 

 from a neighbor. Dr. C. , on these terms, first re- 

 solving (as per your advice in A B C book) to re- 

 main good friends, even if I have to sacrifice the 

 bees, etc. The terms are: The four colonies— two 

 in Simplicity and two in American hives— are mine 

 until the doctor calls for them, which he can not do 

 for at least two years. During this time, or as 

 long as I keep the bees, I am to have all the in- 

 crease and honey, with the exception of .W per cent 

 of the surplus honey, which he is to get, as it were, 

 for the rent of ^the bees. He is not likely to ever 

 want the four colonies back again, as his profession 

 engages his entire attention. Are these terms, in 

 your opinion, mutually beneficial, if the present 

 proves to be a good honey year? I am satisfied 

 with them. 



KECt)RD OF APIARY. 



I have kept an " Apiarian Record and Account " 

 ever since my advent in the bee-business. In this 

 blank-book I record every noteworthy event or 

 transaction occurring in or pertaining to my apiary. 

 I also keep a " poultry record "—in fact, a record of 

 every thing I do, for my own benefit. By having 

 every queer streak or strange i)henomenon occur- 

 ring among my bees in black and white thus, I am 

 not compelled to trust to memory— which is often 

 treacherous— in regard .to these things in future. 



QUICK AND SURE SHADE FOR HIVES. 



My small apiary ig called the " Model Apiary," 

 and it has been, and in future shall be, my endeav- 

 or to make it a model one in every way possible. I 

 am now shading my hives with grapevines, etc., as 

 per directions under " Apiary," in the ABC. Now, 

 while I am waiting for the small grapevines to 



grow sufficiently to shade the hives, at each post of 

 the trellis I am planting Lima beans. About one 

 month from now I shall plant more beans, which 

 can be bearing after the first are dead. It seems to 

 me that these vines at each hive will not only give a 

 good shade— which shade, by attention, will not pre- 

 vent the grai)evines from growing— but they should 

 yield enough beans to give us a home supply, and 

 also to feed our chickens with, in accordance with 

 your suggestion (a good one, I think) in Gleanings 

 Feb. 1.5, 188<), page 15.5. This suggestion is merely 

 given for experiment; and would it not be a good 

 idea for several of the ABC class to try a few 

 beanviues for shade, and report? I shall. 



WHAT I DO WITH OLD HIVES. 



I make hens'-nests in odd out-of-the-way places, 

 with old American hives, because I have no other 

 use for such hives, and, by taking out the glass un- 

 der the door and leaving the door open, they make 

 excellent nests. My hens seem to pi'efer them to 

 improved nests. Sometimes I utilize Simplicities 

 not in use, for the same purpose. 

 drone-traps. 



I see young chickens are mentioned frequently in 

 Gleanings as drone-catchers. Last year I disposed 

 of all my surplus drones in this way. The young 

 chicks (several months old) never, to my knowledge, 

 caught a wprker-bee. I taught them to catch 

 drones by feeding them a few near the hives, and 

 then driving them up to the entrance, where they 

 picked up nearly every drone that tried to get in. 



HOW to carry simplicity HIVES BY HAND SOME 



distance. 

 When necessary to remove a colony, in Simplicity 

 hive, by hand some distance, it is tiresome, and a 

 wagon jolts the bees too much to suit me. I nail a 

 handle five feet long to each side of a Simplicity 

 bottom-board, thus making a platform on which 

 two persons can carry a colony without jolting. 

 Put a sheet on the platform, place your hive on the 

 sheet, double the sheet over the top of the hive, 

 and you have your bees tight. If the colony is 

 heavy, shoulder-straps may be put to the handles. 



A windbreak on the windy SIDE. 



I have to-day planted sixty raspberry-plants in 

 two rows, at a distance of two feet in the row, and 

 rows two feet apart, on the northern, or windy side, 

 of my apiary plot. The raspberries can be trained 

 on suitable frames, and, besides the honey they 

 give, may serve as a windbreak. The vines may 

 also be converted into a fence to turn stock. I shall 

 plant several hundred more near my apiary this 

 spring. I have also planted .50 Concord grapevines. 



I, for one, should like to hear more from the bee- 

 keepers of this State in the columns of Gleanings, 

 and I presume I shall, now that we have an Ala- 

 bama Bee - Keepers" Association, with Mr. S. G. 

 Wood, of Birmingham, as president, and Mr. J. M. 

 Jenkins, of Wetum])ka, secretary and treasurer. 



Ashville, Ala., Feb. 'M, 1887. Wm. H. Cathbr. 



Friend C, Lima beuiis have been suggest- 

 ed already, and I believe used considerably, 

 for sliadiiig bee-hives. They do not, how- 

 ever, brancli out like the grapevine, so as to 

 give just the shape of foliage we want. A 

 sort of trellis, spread out a IJttle fan-shaped 

 at tlie top, might, however, make them do 

 nicely. If the ground is made rich, the 

 beans would pay well aside from their office 

 of shading hives ; but the tramping around 

 them might not be so good for them, and of 



