1908 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



435 



each much of it; i. e., they do not make a 

 meal of it, but take it only as if it were a 

 tonic. If they were compelled to eat it alto- 

 gether, or got into a habit of it, then of courae 

 there might be trouble. 



Some one (usually a native) gets poisoned 

 every year about here through eating bush 

 honey (usually not capped), and puka-puka 

 usually gets the blame. Mr. Hopkins had a 

 look at a case of Maori honey-poisoning last 

 year, and I think puka-puka got the blame; 

 but the fact is signiticant, nevertheless, that 

 it is the Maoris only, or principally they, 

 that get po'soned, and in that case the honey 

 eaten is never capped. 



Wastete, New Zealand. 



ALFALFA IN NEBRASKA. 



Conditions whicli Affect the Yield of Honey; 



Irrigation: How the Shallow Hive 



Outstrips the Eight frame 



Dovetailed. 



BY D. R. WAGGONER. 



My apiary is a small one, only 64 colonies, 

 and is located eight miles north of the 40th 

 parallel of latitude (south State line), and 

 about 22 miles east of the 100th meridian, in 

 Nebraska. We have about 24 inches yearly 

 average rainfall, of which 17^ falls from 

 April 1 to Oct. 1, during the growing season. 



In a normal season our bees begin to raise 

 brood rapidly, and build up when the fruit- 

 bloom comes. This consists of wild plums, 

 apples, cherries, peaches, apricots, etc. In 

 June, when the first crop of alfalfa begins to 

 blossom, we may expect swarms until this 

 crop is cut, when swarming will stop. Cut- 

 ting this crop begins very soon after the first 

 blossoms appear, and lasts about three weeks. 

 In July the bloom starts on the second crop 

 of alfalfa where the first crop was cut earli- 

 est, other fields following in the order in 

 which they were cut the first time. In a nor- 

 mal year we expect our main surplus of hon- 

 ey to be stored from the second crop of al- 

 falfa. If there is plenty of rainfall during 

 July and August, so that heartsease is abun- 

 dant, we get a good yield in August, and un- 

 til the frost comes, from this latter plant. 

 These are our main sources of nectar, but of 

 course we have others to help us along. 



This year the fruit-trees were covered with 

 blossoms, but the frosts killed them all so 

 that our bees built up very little previous to 

 June unless they were fed. They stored 

 quite a lot of honey from the first crop of al- 

 falfa, and things surely were on the boom 

 with the second crop. Swarming did not 

 begin until the second crop was in bloom. 

 This year there was really no intermission 

 between the blooming of the first two crops 

 of alfalfa, for by the time the first crop was 

 all cut the second was beginning to bloom 

 where it was cut earliest the first time. At 

 this writing (Aug. 12) bloom is coming on 

 the third crop just as the last" of the second 

 has been stacked. 



Within 1^ miles of my apiary there are 

 350 acres of alfalfa grown without irrigation. 

 Thus it will be evident that this plant is the 

 main source of our honey crop. This year 

 especially it will be about the only source. 



The yield of nectar from alfalfa varies 

 much in different years in this vicinity where 

 there is no irrigation. In order to secure a 

 good crop of alfalfa honey it is necessary to 

 have a vigorous growth of the plant, plenty 

 of bloom, and a bountiful supply of nectar 

 in the bloom. If there is a reasonable amount 

 of moisture in the ground by May 1 to start 

 a good growth of the plant for the first crop, 

 and a good rain comes just after each hay 

 crop is cut, a strong growth and plenty of 

 bloom is assured. If moisture is lacking 

 very much at these times the growth will be 

 short and the bloom scanty. If a great ex- 

 cess of rainfall comes when alfalfa is just 

 fairly in bloom there will be a deficiency of 

 nectar in the bloom. For instance, in June, 

 1906, we had here 12.73 inches of rainfall; 

 and in July, 9.26 inches. This was excessive 

 during the months of bloom for first and 

 second crops of alfalfa, and my bees made 

 me only 6 pounds of surplus that summer 

 per hive, spring count, owing to the lack of 

 nectar in the bloom. In regions where irri- 

 gation is the rule the amount of moisture 

 supplied to the plant can be regulated so as 

 to secure a more uniform yield of honey 

 from alfalfa. 



SECTIONAL niVES SUPERIOR TO FULL-DEPTH 

 LANGSTROTH, AND WHY. 



When I began bee-keeping I was green at 

 the business, and hardly knew what kind of 

 hive to use as the best and most convenient. 

 I happened to choose a sectional hive for my 

 own colonies, and I must say that I have 

 never regretted my choice. The bees I took 

 on shares were in regular eight-frame Dove- 

 tailed hives. The sectional hive I use is very 

 simple in construction. Each of the two 

 brood-chambers is 17 inches long, inside 

 measure, eight-frame width, and 5| inches 

 deep, containing eight shallow Hoffman 

 frames. I gave my neighbor's bees in the 

 Dovetailed hives with deep frames just the 

 same care I did my own; and in the two years, 

 while I had the two kinds of hives in my 

 yard I was surprised to see how much better 

 the bees would winter in the divisible hive 

 than in the deep-frame hive. I am thorough- 

 ly convinced that, where the bees in the 

 cluster can have access to winter stores by 

 means of the bee-space between the two sets 

 of frames without being compelled to leave 

 the cluster and travel over the top, under 

 the bottom, or around the ends of the large 

 frames to get feed, they will and do winter 

 better, and come out stronger colonies in the 

 spring. Nobody in this region winters bees 

 in the cellar. 



I run entirely for comb honey. My supers 

 are 4| inches deep. I use plain 4JX4J sec- 

 tions with fences. Since the supers are only 

 17 inches long in the clear, the sectious rest 

 on plain slats ^ in. thick instead of in sec- 

 tion-holders with end blocks between the sec- 

 tions and the ends of the hives. For the life 



