494 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



pers then used, with a 

 little less complication 

 than a section that 

 suited the require- 

 ments of the bee better. 



The net-weight law 

 should give the finish 

 to the old idea that 

 the regular 1% section 

 is a " pound section," 

 and there is really no 

 other reason for con- 

 tinuing it except the 

 inertia of beekeepers, 

 and especially of sup- 

 ply-dealers, and the 

 slight expense of 

 changing the old su- 

 pers to accommodate a 

 narrower section. 



I honestly believe 

 that the use of the lYs 

 section, instead of one 

 better adapted to the 

 nature of the bee, has 



cost the beekeepers of this country thou- 

 sands of dollars annually. I wish I could 

 prevail on them to test the matter them- 

 selves on a scale large enough and for a 

 time long enough really to know for them- 

 selves. 



THE ARMY-WORM AND CLOVER. 



The statement on page 745, October 1, 

 1914, that the army-worm does not eat the 

 clovers, is certainly wrong in this locality — 

 at least so far as sweet clover is concerned. 

 The army-worm was not very bad here last 

 summer, but it Avas here in sufficient num- 

 bers to give a good idea as to its habits. 

 One thing that impressed itself on me was 



i-'iu. 5. — I'ho coinl.) is supported by the top-bar at the bottom, 

 for inspection the side opposite to the one in view in Fig. 4. 



It exposes 



FiG. 6. — In no case is the frame to be held flat, 

 the comb left unsupported, as in this illustration. 



that it evidently preferred sweet clover to 

 alfalfa, or, in fact, almost anything else. 

 They could be found in considerable num- 

 ber^ on the sweet clover along the irriga- 

 tion ditches bordering the alfalfa-fields be-^ 

 fore they attacked the alfalfa at all; and 



I believe that, in many cases at least, they 

 never entered the alfalfa-fields at all at such 

 points. 



YELLOW SWEET CLOVER, 



Does any one really know anything as to 

 the value of yellow sweet clover as a honey- 

 plant? I should like to know. I used to 

 think it must be very valuable, but for sev- 

 eral years I had three or four acres of yel- 

 low sweet clover close by an apiary of about 

 50 to 75 colonies. They worked on it most 

 vigoi'ously. It sounded like a swarm of 

 bees anywhere between the apiary and the 

 clover-field, and there were few other bees 

 in the vicinity. Yet there was very little 

 show of honey in the hives. Perhaps they 

 used it all in brood-rearing, but it seemed to 

 me that the same acreage of white sweet 

 clover, later in the season, would have 

 shown more surplus in the supers. 



FOUNDATION SPLINTS. 



If Jacob Alpaugh, after sawing his thin 

 boards as described on page 940, 1914, 

 will dip them into hot beeswax, pressing 

 them closely together until it is cold, he will 

 find it much better than the glue he uses. 

 This is the plan I have always used, and 

 which I described in Gleanings several 

 years ago. I dipped the thin boards into 

 the hot wax separately, piled them up, and 

 put them into a press before the wax got 

 cold. As soon as the wax cooled, this block 

 of boards could be sawed ui^ just as though 

 it were a solid piece, yet the splints would 

 separate as soon as they were put into hot 

 wax. Mr. Alpaugh's description of the 



