l88? 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTtRE. 



md 



for the gratiflcation of curiosity, and accoraing-Iy 

 had our little boy dispatch him with bis slins-shot. 

 On examination we found it just as represented; to 

 wit, that while on the wing-, or not in quest of food, 

 the baclf of bis head is smooth, sleek, and l>lack; 

 but when he starts out for a meal he perches upon 

 an exposed twig-, sets his decoy, and waits for the 

 lurement of prey. The decoy consists of a good im- 

 itation of a blight attractive little flower on the top 

 of the head, in which white, lemon-yellow, and deep 

 orangeeolors are beautifully blended, which tlie bird 

 lias the power of displaying at pleasure. It is the be- 

 lief among old bee-hunters that he uses this to at- 

 tract bees and other insects that gather honey from 

 tlowers, and is thus enabled to secure his meals 

 without much exertion. It is a regular •" won't you 

 walk into my parlor?" game he plays, and his hos- 

 pitality is about on a par with that of the spider. 



The long--continued dry spell here has materially 

 lessened this season's honey crop; in fact, it will be 

 next to a complete failure, unless the fall flow 

 should be unusually good. In our apiary the col- 

 onies ha\e the lower frames all filled with honey, 

 but thus far they have stored very little in the sec- 

 tion boxes. They disposed of the di-ones some time 

 ago, and are now apparently laying up stores for 

 the coming- winter. 



We have aimed to keep our colonies strong and 

 active; and hence, by destroying- (jueen-cells, have 

 ))revented swarming to a great extent, having no 

 desire to increase our present stock. We have the 

 Carniolans from Germany; Italians, hybrids, and 

 blacks; but for gentleness and docility in handling, 

 the Carniolans take the palm by a large majority. 



Taylorville, III., July 4, lf-87. J. F. H.\rnek. 



ALSIKE AND ITS PECULIAR CHARAC- 

 TERISTICS. 



A POSSIBLF. EXPLANATION FOR THE MISUNDER- 

 STANDING BETWEEN FRIENDS MUTH AND ( ORY. 



TN looking Gleanings over, my eyes struck Prof. 

 M Cook's article on alsike clover. I am surprised 

 ^l that any one should have any trouble in Identi- 

 -*■ fying it from red clover. Friend Cook is sound 

 in his conclusions, but I think there is one 

 point he does not fully reach. Alsike will germinate 

 whei'c common clover will; but if we have a dry 

 spell after it comes up it is quite apf to die almost 

 entirely, where the size and vigor of the red would 

 carry it safely through. It does not sport. I have 

 watched (sujiposing it to be a hybrid) for five years 

 carefully, to find some variation of the set type, and 

 have publicly offered faO.iX) for a cross between al- 

 sike and small red clover, but all to no purpose. In 

 its root formation, alsike varies; and the tint or 

 color of the blossoms ranges from almost clear 

 white to almost red, but urver reaches either ex- 

 treme. Clover seed will remain in the soil for years, 

 and then, under favoi-able conditions, germinate 

 and grow. Has not alsike been sown on land where 

 red-clover seed already existed, and the alsike ger- 

 minated, and died of drought, while the greater 

 size of seed, and the greater depth of root, enabled 

 the red to survive, and thus cause the purchaser to 

 suppose be has been supplied with the wrong kind 

 of seed? This is no theory. It hew occurred right 

 here on my farm, and also with my neighbors. 



C. M. G00D8PEEI). 

 Thorn Hill. N. Y., July 11, 1887. 



FROM DIFFERENT FIELDG. 



kind WORDS IN REGARD TO THOMAS HORN. 



fRIEND ROOT:— In the case of " Thomas Horn 

 vs. duped (Histomers," I think your proposi- 

 tion to settle his delinquences a bad prece- 

 dent, as there is certainly no just claim on 

 you, that I can see. At the same time, 1 con- 

 sider it a very generous otter on your part. If you 

 are going to warrant and insure the honesty of ad- 

 vertisers in Glea.nings, 1 think you will go under, 

 unless you charge a premium extra. If you make 

 reasonable search into the standing of each new 

 advertiser before inserting his advertisement, 1 

 think it all in reason required of you. This is the 

 second time, to my knowledge, that you have pro- 

 posed to let yourself be mulcted on account of 

 faithless advertisers. I would advise you to stop 

 right here now, and insert, in large letters, at the 

 bead of advertisements, in front and back of 

 Gleanings, that you will not hereafter pay any 

 delinquences of advertisers— that you take proper 

 and reasonable care to find out their standing; and 

 having done this much, you will no longer assure 

 and defend. C. Garwood. 



Baltimore, Md., July I'.i, 1H87. 

 Friend G.. I am very much obliged to yon 

 indeed for yonr kind words and kind coini- 

 sel. I knovV it is, in one sense, establishinj"- 

 something of a precedent ; but in this case 

 it seems pretty evident we were taken in by 

 a bad. unpiincipled man. For a long time I 

 had so nuicli charity for him that 1 believ- 

 ed he was simply unfortunate, or lacking in 

 judgment. The" evidence now is, that lie is 

 iintruthl ul ; and a man who will lie, will, as 

 a general thing, steal, sooner or later. If it 

 is true, then, that I unconsciously permitted 

 a liar and thief to occupy our advertising 

 pages, 1 feel somewhat responsible. These 

 are hard words I am using, I know ; and if 

 they come to tlie eyes of Mr. Horn or his 

 friends, and they show me I am mistaken, 

 or too severe, 1 am ready and willing to take 

 them back. If one of our advertisers 

 sliould, by lack of judgment or the force 

 of circumstances, make a business failure, 

 I should not propose to pay his debts for 

 him ; but where I am satisfied I have let a 

 bad man impose upon our readers. I feel 

 better to shoulder the responsibility. I 

 want to do^vhat is right, and I have found 

 it an excellent rule to make it a point to do 

 a little more than what seems exactly right. 

 In this way we make allov/ance for the 

 sellishness there is in even the best of us. 



TWO QUEENS IN A HIVE. 



Last spring I bought a colony of hybrid bees 

 from a neighbor. I remfived the old queen, and in- 

 serted a queen-cell. In course of time T had a nice 

 tested queen which I shipped to a customer. I 

 then removed a (lueen that had her wing cut ott', 

 and introduced her in the colony from which I sold 

 the (|uecu. It was bard to get the bees to take her. 

 .\fter being caged about a week, 1 saw it would be 

 safe to let her out, so I put a plug of the Good can- 

 dy in the cage so they could eat her out, and closed 

 up the hive. I took sick and didn't get to look after 

 her for a couple of weeks, then I opened the hive. 



