340 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Mak. 15 



bee-keepers of the red-clover States. It 

 would be a good plan for bee-keepers to 

 have this item printed in their local papers, 

 as the facts are as stated, not being over- 

 drawn in the least, nor untrue, and ought to 

 be known by all farmers who now grow red 

 clover. Most bee-keepers ought to sell al- 

 sike seed at cost, or even less than cost, to 

 nearby farmers. w. k. m. 



Subscribers are asking us about alsike clover as a 

 substitute for red, partly because of the high price of 

 red-clover seed as compared with that of alsike, and 

 partly because of the difficulty of securing a stand of 

 red. The seed of alsike clover is only about half as 

 large as that of red; and as the plant spreads more it 

 should not be sown thick, so that only from 5 to 7 lbs. 

 is required to the acre. The price of alsike just now 

 is $1.50 less per bushel than red, so that there is a 

 saving of more than half in the seed required for a 

 given area. Not many of our farmers have tried al- 

 sike, and we must take the testimony of those in oth- 

 er sections as to the plant. It differs from red in be- 

 ing good for four or five years when once set, and in 

 allowing only one cutting in a season. Good moist 

 clay soil suits it best ; and as the stalks are long and 

 rather slender it is well to sow a little orchard grass 

 with it to give it support. The" two plants mature at 

 the same time, so there is no loss in cutting them to- 

 gether. Alsike is hardier than red, and stands rough- 

 er winters without injury, and comes out all right 

 where the other fails. Analysis shows that alsike 

 contains more solid matter and protein than red clo- 

 ver. It is also an excellent honey-plant, yielding 

 more and better honey than the other varieties of 

 clover. It should be sown and treated as red clover, 

 with a little more care in preparing the seed-bed. 

 The ground should be pulverized as fine as possible. 



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W-KJ^ORRISOM"^ 



fi/^Dm,OHia 



KOLA FOR BEES. 



A writer in La Apicultura Espanola advo- 

 cates the addition of extract of kola to each 

 quart of syrup fed to bees. He says it great- 

 ly increases the activity of the bees, appar- 

 ently with no injurious effects. It is not 

 clear to me what is to be gained by this, see- 

 ing that, when bees require to be fed, they 

 do not require a stimulant but rather the re- 

 verse. 1 have known alcohol to have a stim- 

 ulating effect on bees, but the results were 

 unsatisfactory. 



GERMAN MANUALS OF BEE-KEEPING. 



I have received lately two excellent Ger- 

 man works on bee-keeping, by Herr Max 

 Kughenmiiller, of Constance, Germany, The 

 author is the editor of an excellent German 

 bee- journal published at Stuttgart, the All- 

 gemeine Zeitung fuer Bienenzucht, so that 

 the works which are before me may be just- 

 ly considered up to the times. 



Both books are well bound, and well 

 printed on excellent paper. The paper par- 

 ticularly is of the kind that lasts for hun- 



dreds of years. The first one noted is "Die 

 Bienenzucht," published by Sprosser & Na- 

 gele, of Stuttgart. I have not had the op- 

 portunity to read this book through ; but it 

 seems to me that, if any one desires to be- 

 come quickly acquainted with German bee- 

 keeping methods, reading this book careful- 

 ly will do it. The European writers excel 

 in what may be termed the science of the 

 bee, and Herr Kughenmiiller is no exception 

 to this rule. 



The other book is by the same authority, 

 but published by Messrs. Richard C. Schmidt 

 & Co., of Leipzig, who are well-known bee- 

 publishers. Its full title is " Betriebsweisen 

 lohnenden Bienenzucht." On its title-page 

 it states that it is written by the practical 

 for the practical ; and this seems to be so, 

 for each chapter is written by some success- 

 ful bee keeper from every part of Germany. 

 For example, the first chapter was written 

 by Pastor W. Stolzenburg, in Borgfeld, Prus- 

 sia, and the last chapter is by the editor, 

 Herr Kughenmiiller. who lives in Constance, 

 by the lake of that name in Southern Ger- 

 many. There are articles from Schleswig- 

 Holstein, Alsace, Pomerania, Hanover, Sile- 

 sia, Gotha, Posen, Rhineland, Switzerland, 

 Scherzingen-Munsterlingen, Austria, Baden, 

 and elsewhere. 



^^ 



That interesting journal, UAbeille et sa 

 Culture, published at Huy, Belgium, signal- 

 ized the new year by giving a sketch, with 

 portrait, of Reaumur, the illustrious bee- 

 keeper and savant. It says in part: 



Reve-Antoine Ferchault de Reaumur was 

 born at La Rochelle, France, Feb. 28, 1683. 

 His name is generally remembered on ac- 

 count of his invention of the thermometer 

 which bears his name. He became at an 

 early age very proficient in mathematics, 

 and published a work on the subject; but 

 bee-keepers are chiefly concerned with his 

 studies in bee culture. At the age of 55 he 

 commenced the publication of a number of 

 communications which he had originally 

 read at meetings of the Academy of Sci- 

 ences. These books treated on physics, nat- 

 ural history, and technology. He invented 

 white porcelain for use in thermometers, and 

 which is now much used for refrigerators. 

 He also concerned himself with artificial in- 

 cubation and the preservation of eggs He 

 was also interested in botany, and conceived 

 a system of classification similar to the Lin- 

 nean. In natural history he made a special 

 study of the invertebrate animals, notably 

 insects. Between 1734 and 1743 he published 

 his great book, "Memoirs pour servir d 

 I'Histoire des Insectes," in six volumes, 

 which denoted sagacious observation, inge- 

 nuity, and patience. Of all the great natu- 

 ralists of the 17th and 18th centuries he was 

 certainly the most thorough in his methods. 

 His "Histoire des AbeiUes" (History of 

 Bees) is second only to the work of Francis 

 Huber in public estimation as a scientific 

 treatise on bee study. He ceased his activi- 

 ties Oct. 17, 1757, after a long and very use- 

 ful life. 



