270 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Apb. 



They came by express. Through that strange ex- 

 periment I was fortunate enough to raise thi-ee 

 purely mated queens, the progeny ot which suit me 

 the best of any I ever saw. J. W. Porter. 



Ponea, Neb., Feb. 8, 1887. 



FROM DIFFERENT FIELDS, 



ALSIKE. 



fHE alsiko clover-seed I got from you last 

 spring came up and grew splendidly, but 

 the dry weather in July and August killed 

 all that I sowed on old timothy meadow, 

 being about 35 acres. But I sowed some 

 in my orchard, and 1 could not ask for a finer 

 stand. The ground had been planted in potatoes 

 the year before, and the potatoes were thrown out 

 in the fall with a plow. I dragged the ground cross- 

 wise until T got it well lev^eled down, then I spread 

 on the seed and dragged it well after that. This I 

 did March 27th. The weeds came on thick and fast; 

 but as soon as they got up enough to begin to shade 

 the clover I shaved the ground over as closely as I 

 could with my mower. Then the clover grew very 

 rapidly, and was soon showing bloom. I was sur- 

 prised at this, as I thought it did not bloom until 

 the second season. I want to sow more the coming 

 spring, but shall sow it on well-prepared ground. 

 C. M. Lewelling. 

 Western Nebraska, Feb. 7, 1887. 



Your suggestion in regard to mowing off 

 the weeds is a good one, friend L. I sup- 

 pose one reason why alsike seldom blooms 

 until the second season is because it is put 

 on to oats, wheat, or some other crop of 

 grain. If sown early in the spring, and giv- 

 en the entire ground, keeping the weeds out 

 as you suggest, untikthe clover starves them 

 out, it will, 1 believe, give a jiretty good 

 yield of honey the first fall. 



SHIPPING SWARMS OF BEES O.N ONE FRAME OF 

 HONEY. 



As I am a reader of Gleanings 1 should be glad 

 to have you give your opinion as to the practicabil- 

 ity of shipping full swarms of bees on one frame of 

 honey, to provision them on their journey. As it 

 would take no longer to make a light bo.x to hold 

 a swarm than to make a cage to hold one pound of 

 bees, I am of the opinion that bees so shipped 

 would save a great deal of time in putting them up, 

 and could be sold at reduced prices if they can be 

 shipped successfully by the swarm. I have more 

 than I can manage well, and I should be glad to 

 have you give your opinion, for my benefit as well 

 as for others so interested. As to preventing 

 swarms on Sunday, as spoken of by C. M. G., page 

 10(1, Feb. 1, I think the plan would work with black 

 bees, but I think it doubtful whether it would worJt 

 with Italians, as 1 have had them swarm with not a 

 queen-cell started in the parent hive. 



W. A. Sanders. 



Oak Bower, Hart Co., Ga., Feb. 21, 1887. 



Friend S., generally speaking I do not 

 know that there is any better way to ship 

 swarms of liees than on a frame of honey — 

 that is, so far as getting bees safely to their 

 destination is concerned. This comb, how- 



ever, must be old and tough, or it will get 

 broken in transit ; but as we find it difficult 

 to get a sufficient number of such old and 

 tough combs built securely fast to the 

 frame clear around, we have adopted the 

 plan of wiring combs. Then, again, when 

 the purchaser receives the bees, this frame 

 may not fit his hives. In that case it is of lit- 

 tle or no use to him. For this reason we use 

 our shipping-box in preference, for a half- 

 pound, or one or two pounds of bees. When 

 we sell a colony we always use frames of 

 honey, or, better still, a frame containing 

 both brood and honey. 



SEPARATORS NECESSARY. 



In my experience in the" production of comb 

 honey, I have come to the conclusion that separa- 

 tors are necessary, if we want honey that can be 

 handled with any degree of satisfaction; but I be- 

 lieve we can work successfully with two for each 

 case. Let us take a section-case for illustration. 

 Divide it into three equal parts, with two separa- 

 tors. If the case holds 24 sections there will be 

 eight in each division. Now, when the center one 

 is all capped we take them out and put in empty 

 ones, and every thing goes on all right; but if we 

 don't put in a sepai-ator between the empty and 

 the full boxes they will build the full sections into 

 the empty ones; and when it is filled it will also be 

 built into the adjoining one, and so all through the 

 empty boxes put in the center, and that will be 8 

 bo.xes spoiled, and the row each side will also be 

 bulged on one side; that makes 14 spoiled by taking 

 out the center and replacing empty boxes without 

 separators. Now, by using two separators we can 

 get fair combs without tiering up. 



North Springfield, Mo. W. H. Ritter. 



No doubt you can get along very well, 

 friend 11., in the manner you mention; but 

 would it not be cheaper to use more sepa- 

 rators, and not have so much manipulation, 

 especially where 100 colonies or more are lo 

 be gone over? 



DO NOISE AND JARRING IN.IURE BEES? 



I have seen in Gleanings that noise prevents 

 bees from doing well; and to the end that a proper 

 conclusion may be arrived at, 1 beg to make the 

 following report: I have ten colonies of bees in 

 the yard of my residence. These hives are within 

 ten feet of the house, and some of them directly 

 under our windows. They are all about one hun- 

 dred feet from the Central and the Western Railway 

 of Alabama. Over these two roads there pass at 

 least fifty trains a day, at all times of the day and 

 night, and they sometimes jar the house in which 

 we live, and so must jar the bees also. I thought 

 for some time that the jarring, whistling, and ring- 

 ing of bells, as these trains pass, would injure the 

 bees; but so far (and the bees have been there a 

 full season or nearly a year) 1 can discover no in- 

 jury to the bees from the trains. They wintered 

 exceedingly well, and now they are rapidly breed- 

 ing with the hives full of bees. This certainly 

 ought to be a test as to whether noise injures bees 

 or not. We made no honey, it is true, last j'eai', as 

 it was a failure in this section everywhere; but if 

 bees being in good condition is any proof that the 

 noise and jar of the trains do not injure bees, then 

 we have the proof that it does not. 



Atlanta. Ga., March 5, 1887. T. E. Hanbuby. 



