1902 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



911 



filler; will not be gnawed by stock; is the 

 most hardy variety; will grow on pretty 

 strong alkali soil; never sprouts up from 

 the root, but will sprout up from the stump 

 when cut down; and the bark, which this 

 variety sheds at all seasons of the year, be- 

 ing of a resinous nature, makes excellent 

 kindling, and can be easily broken with 

 the hands. 



All varieties of this tree are evergreens, 

 but not good dooryard trees, on account of 

 their leaves, which they shed every day of 

 the year. 



These trees should not have their lower 

 branches trimmed off till they are five or 

 six years old, as they grow out and droop 

 to the ground, thus supporting the trunk, 

 which, when trimmed up, has a tendency to 

 grow any way except erect. 



I have seen the E. globulus in the Sacra- 

 mento Valley killed by frost when the E. 

 viini?ialis was not touched in the same lo- 

 cality. It is the op!?iio?i of the writer that, 

 in localities where the temperature falls be- 

 low 20 degrees, and remains several hours, 

 the eucalyptus would be in danger of being 

 killed, though some varieties might with- 

 stand such temperatures. 



It is difficult to get some varieties of eu 

 calyptus from the nurseries true to name, 

 as they closely resemble each other, and 

 the temptation to substitute is very strong. 

 I should want to examine personally before 

 purchasing. They will not grow from cut- 

 tings, but must be propagated from seed. 



Timber from the eucalyptus rots in a 

 short time if put in the ground, but any- 

 where else it will last as long as .any com- 

 mon wood. 



It is the belief of the writer that no other 

 variety of forest-tree in Central California 

 will equal the E. viminalis to plant on our 

 farms for profit, and I hope to see more 

 large groves in the near future. 



The E. robusta, which blossoms in Octo- 

 ber and November, secretes the greatest 

 amount of nectar I ever saw in any one 

 flower, and the bees give it almost their en- 

 tire attention. J. C. McCubbin. 



Reedley, Cal., Oct. 6. 



BEES ON shares; STIMULATING BY SPREAD- 

 ING BROOD, ETC. 



No. 1. Suppose the farmer has bees in box 

 hives, etc., and I find supers, and extract 

 the honey, and help feed them, if necessary, 

 for winter, what share should I receive — 

 I or I or Yz ? 



2. Do you practice spring stimulating by 

 reversing and spreading brood, say every 

 week, as Doolittle speaks of in 1893 and 

 1901? 



3. How about the daughters of that S200 

 red-clover queen? Did you get any eggs 

 from her this spring before she died? How 

 did her daughters do this season? 



4. How long before a bee is hatched can 

 it sting or has formic acid in it? 



R. F. Whiteside. 

 Little Britain, Canada. 



[1. It is hard to advise in a case of this 

 kind. If you perform all the labor and fur- 

 nish all the supers, extract the honey, and 

 feed them if necessary, your share should 

 be considerably more than a half. Three- 

 fifths would be hardly enough. You ought 

 to have three-fourths of the crop, for it is 

 not an easy matter to adjust supers to box 

 hives. In the first place it would be money 

 in your pocket, iind in that of the owner of 

 the bees, to transfer the bees to modern 

 hives. 



2. Sometimes we do and sometimes we do 

 not. A great deal depends on conditions. 

 If we have enough bees, and do not care 

 very much for increase, we let the strong 

 colony stand without much manipulation. 

 But if we are handling weak colonies, and 

 desire to get them up to a swarming-pitch, 

 we practice spreading brood, a great deal 

 as Doolittle recommends. 



3. Yes, we have daughters of that red- 

 clover queen, somewhere about 5o, that we 

 are reserving. They showed many traits 

 of their mother, and their bees were excel- 

 lent workers. 



4. I do not know. I have been stung- by 

 bees just hatched, but the virus was not 

 very strong, as I could only just feel the 

 sting. I should judge the formic acid or 

 poison is not very active until the bee has 

 begun its active duties as a nurse. It is 

 the field-bees that are well fed that can 

 sting awfully. The same bees along in 

 winter, or in spring when they are short of 

 stores, will sting, but the virus does not 

 seem so painful. The strength of the poi- 

 son seems to depend on the health of the 

 bee. — Ed. J 



TEXAS DROUTH BROKEN. 



]\lr. Root: — During the last two weeks we 

 have had nine inches of rainfall, and this 

 has extended all over the drouth-stricken 

 part of Texas, or at least we believe it has 

 from all the information we can get. This 

 has been the worst drouth and the poorest 

 season for bees in 25 years, so old settlers 

 say. Every thing is preparing to bloom; 

 we are having a second spring, and expect 

 that the bees will go into winter quarters 

 in fine condition, and may give us some 

 surplus, as we expect a slow flow of hone\' 

 for the next 60 days. The rains mean the 

 salvation of the stock business; for unless 

 it had rained, thousands upon thousands of 

 head of cattle must have perished this win- 

 ter. Since the rains commenced, grass has 

 come to life and is growing finely. 



The Hyde Bee Co. 



Floresville, Texas, Oct. 1. 



HOW PHE BEES WORK ON CATNIP. 



We have considerable catnip growing 

 wild along roadsides, fence-rows, etc. I 

 noticed that from the time it came in bloom 

 until now it was just covered with bees 

 when the weather was fit for bees to gather 

 honey. F. J. Strittmattek. 



Bradley June, Pa., Sept. 8. 



