406 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



June 25, 1903. 



to me : I had 120 colonies of bees all in strong condition. 

 That season they gathered nothing but honey-dew, the first 

 I ever experienced. Not being experienced at that time I 

 didn't know what to do. I couldn't sell the honey, and 

 couldn't do anything with it, and I told my wife we were 

 going to lose all our bees. She laughed at me ; but winter 

 came on ; the bees were on the summer stands ; I left a lot 

 of the surplus on the hives, but it was no use, in the spring 

 my bees were all dead except two colonies. I lost the whole 

 apiary. About three years ago we got another honey-dew 

 crop, of a mild form. I sold that honey and the bees all 

 died. I am afraid something will occur again, and I have 

 no remedy. 



Dr. Miller — I believe I would give them some syrup 

 with the idea that they will take that first, and what they 

 put in last they are likely to use first, and you will at least 

 stand a better chance by having them use part of the sugar 

 syrup. 



Mr. Watts — Isn't it too late now to give them sugar 

 syrup ? 



Dr. Miller — I should say ordinarily yes, decidedly. No 

 sane man ought to give sugar syrup now, but in case of 

 their being filled up with poison, I would run the chance of 

 keeping them on that food. 



Dr. Nussle — I would use one-tenth part of honey with 

 the sugar syrup, if I had to import it from a neighboring 

 State. 



Mr. Abbott — If you have honey-dew you needn't run 

 any risk feeding sugar syrup. Get granulated sugar and 

 make a cake, and put it over the cluster, and my word for 

 it, the bees won't eat anything else until that sugar is all 

 gone. There is no reason why any bee should be fed syrup 

 this time of the year. It surprises me that more isn't made 

 out of this idea of feeding a sugar-cake. Five pounds of 

 sugar will run any colony of bees through the cold weather 

 that we have in Missouri, and which lasts during January. 

 It is perfectly safe, easily made, and easily fed. 



Dr. Miller — I want to accept the amendment. I hadn't 

 thought of that. Mr. Abbott always has the cake of sugar 

 with him "in his head." I don't. I ought to have had it. 



Pres. York — Will Mr. Abbott please explain how they 

 make the cakes of sugar for bees in Missouri ? 



Mr. Abbott — We simply get the best grade of granu- 

 lated sugar and put just as little water in it as we can to 

 make a liquid out of it in stirring up, then boil carefully, 

 being careful not to burn it. My wife does it. She is the 

 cook at our house. I used to cook, but I quit since I got 

 married. She takes a little of it and drops it in cold water, 

 and when it grains it is time to pour it out. Pour it into 

 broad pans and make it about 1'. inches thick ; and as she 

 pours it in she stirs it a little, and that leaves little crevices 

 that the bees can work into. I like it in the sugar form a 

 little better. Then I put some sticks light over the cluster 

 in January, and lay the cake on that, and put a canvas or 

 something like that — something so there is no upper draft — 

 and I have wintered a good many colonies without any 

 honey of any sort, or anything to eat except that sugar. 

 They will eat right through it, and the inside out of it, and 

 sometimes leave a little, thin rim around it. 



Mr. Wilcox— If you use crushed sugar mixed with honey 

 and knead it to get the right consistency, wouldn't that an- 

 swer just as well ? 



Mr. Abbott — It would answer until it run down over the 

 bees. 



IMPROVING BKB-PASTURB. 



" How can I improve my bee-pasture ?" 



Dr. Miller — Sow sweet clover and catnip. 



Mr. Wilcox — We have improved our honey-pasture won- 

 derfully by sowing alsike clover. The farmers sowed it for 

 ' the seed and found it profitable, and it is equally profitable 

 for the bees. 



Dr. Miller — Will alfalfa yield honey where you live ? 



Mr. Abbott — Yes, sir. 



Dr. Miller — It doesn't in this locality. 



Mr. Abbott — This must be a funny country. 



Dr. Miller — I have been making inquiries for several 

 years about it. Which side of the Missouri River do you 

 live ? 



Mr. Abbott— I live on this side. 



Dr. Miller— It is the first case yet reported that I have 

 heard that alfalfa was sown along the Missouri River. I 

 have been looking for this. They are telling us now at the 

 experiment stations that we can have alfalfa grow and suc- 

 ceed in the State of Illinois by inoculating some of the soil, 

 and I have been looking for that time to come. 



Mr. Johnson— This is the plan that I have formed for 

 the coming season : I went around to the neighbors and 



agreed to supply them with one to five pounds of alfalfa 

 seed at 25 cents a pound, and supply a small amount of in- 

 oculated soil. I can get it from the West from an uncle of 

 mine. They are anxious to have it, and I see no reason 

 why it shouldn't grow. I sowed one alfalfa patch. It takes 

 about three years before it does anything, but it finally did 

 well. I think it developed the germs itself. I think any 

 alfalfa would finally develop those tubercles. Alfalfa is a 

 clover, and in the diflferent seasons it will yield here as well 

 as anywhere. Sweet clover was a failure on account of 

 being too wet. 



Dr. Miller — Did you have your bees working on it ? 



Mr. Johnson — No. I did not. 



Mr. McOueen — I have a patch of the alfalfa about half 

 way to Elgin, and the bees worked strong this year. They 

 did nothing with it last year. 



Mr. Green — I am afraid Dr. Miller has not been reading 

 his beepaper thoroughly. There was a report from South 

 Carolina of bees working very heavily on alfalfa there, but 

 it was said they did not work the first year it bloomed. 



Mr. Hutchinson — Is your patch on high or low ground, 

 Mr. Johnson ? 



Mr. Johnson — It is not on low ground. It is on the side 

 of a hill. 



A Member — Alfalfa has to have well-drained ground. 

 It has to have ground where water doesn't stand, ground 

 where the rain can penetrate. It doesn't do well on heavy 

 clay. On clover ground it will give honey in this country. 

 I am going to try it next year. 



Mr. Johnson — Nobody has tried alfalfa in this part of 

 the country long enough — haven't had it long enough to 

 decide that it doesn't produce honey. It takes a long while. 

 It is on account of the bacteria, and I believe it will develop 

 bacteria itself, and then it will produce honey. 



Dr. Miller— I shall be glad to believe that. What about 

 wild cucumber as a honey-plant ? 



Mr. Hutchinson — Bees don't work on it in this part of 

 the country. I haven't seen a single bee on it. 



Mr. Green — I watched them two years and saw only a 

 couple, and they were gathering pollen. 



Mr. Hutchinson — Near Dr. Gandy, in Nebraska, they 

 get large crops of cucumber honey. 



Dr. Miller — Is that the sanle thing ? 



Mr. Hutchinson — I don't know. 



Dr. Miller — As I understand it, the kind of wild cucum- 

 ber we are talking about, the sack is about as large as a 

 butternut. There is a plant that the bees work on that 

 looks like wild cucumber. We may be talking about differ- 

 ent things. This pod, the seed is not like this at all. It is 

 larger a good deal than this, the kind of wild cucumber we 

 are talking about. There are only two seeds inside the 

 pod, and they drop out and the cucumber dries up. We 

 are talking about two different things. 



PREVENTING PROPOLIS ON THE HANDS. 



" While extracting how can I prevent propolis on my 

 hands ?" 



Pres. York — Someone might suggest wearing mittens ! 



Mr. Wheeler — Wash your hands in kerosene. 



Pres. York — The question is. How can I prevent ? 



Mr. Wheeler — Let some one else do the work. 



Mr. Moore — Don't keep bees. 



Mr. Abbott — You can prevent that sticking to your 

 hands by oiling with sweet-oil, or something of that kind. I 

 always oiled my hands before I began work. 



Dr. Nussle — Oil or glycerine will prevent it from stick- 

 ing to the hands to a great extent. 



Mr. Wheeler — You can take it ofl' very quickly with 

 kerosene. 



(Coatiuued next week.) 



Honey as a Health-Food is the name of a 16- 

 page leaflet (3'2x6 inches) which is designed to help in- 

 crease the demand and sale of honey. The first part is 

 devoted to a consideration of " Honey as Food," written 

 by Dr. C. C. Miller. The last part contains " Honey-Cook- 

 ing Recipes" and "Remedies Using Honey." It should be 

 widely circulated by every one who has honey for sale. It 

 is almost certain to make good customers for honey. We 

 know, for we are using it ourselves. 



Prices, prepaid — Sample for 2 cts.; 10 for 10 cts.; 25 

 for20cts.; 50 for 35 cts.; 100 for 65 cts.; 250 for $1.50; 500 

 for $2.75 ; 1000 for $5.00. If you wish your business card 

 printed at the bottom of the front page, add 25 cts. to your 

 order. Send all orders to the Bee Journal office. ZIZTl 



