GLEANIN(^S IN BEE CULTURE. 



893 



1 ox below Irom the outer edge ot the knife. It 

 the work is done well, the cappings, many times, 

 fall clown in one whole sheet. 



While it does not take any great skill to oper- 

 ate the extractor, one should he careful, especial- 

 ly when the combs vary greatly in weight, to 

 put them into the baskets in such a way that the 

 reel will be as nearly balanced as possible. 

 Where there are several combs to select from, 

 one can usually pick out the ones that will bal- 

 ance the best, and, after the first two or three 

 turns, the weight will be so equalized that the 

 reel will run almost as evenly as if the combs 

 were of the same weight in the first place. 



Remus, Mich. 



NATIONAL CONVENTION NOTES. 



Diseases of Bees to be Discussed. 



One of the most serious disasters thet can visit 

 an apiary is that of foul brood, either American 

 or European. All should be constantly on the 

 watch for it. Every bee-keeper ought to be able 

 to recognize it instantly, and know exactly what 

 course to take when it is found. Not only is 

 foul brood a great misfortune to the owner of 

 the diseased colonies, but it is a serious menace 

 to surrounding apiaries. 



For these reasons, one whole session of the Na- 

 tional convention is to be devoted to the discus- 

 sion of diseases of bees. Dr. White, of the 

 Apiarian Department at Washington, has con- 

 sented to take up the bacteriological feature; 

 show us how cultures are made and the diseases 

 propagated, etc. Some one of the inspectors 

 will tell us how to detect the diseases, another 

 how to treat them, etc. 



BEE-KEEPING IN HAWAII. 



We bee-keepers of the United States might be 

 surprised if we knew all about the keeping of 

 bees in Hawaii. It seems that Uncle Sam 

 thought it of sufficient importance to send a spe- 

 cial agent, our friend Phillips, of the Apiarian 

 Department at Washington, out to these islands 

 to investigate this industry. He spent several 

 months studying the industry, and we have been 

 fortunate enough to secure his promise to tell us, 

 at the coming National convention, all about the 

 bee-keeping of Hawaii, illustrating his talk with 

 stereopticon views taken while at the islands. 

 Those who are fortunate enough to be present 

 may expect a treat. 



LIVE-BEE DEMONSTRATIONS. 



Few things will attract and hold a crowd better 

 than the handling of bees in a wire-cloth cage. 

 A good demonstrator can do very effective mis- 

 sionary work at such times, or, if at a fair, large 

 quantities of honey may be sold at such demon- 

 strations. Of course, to a bee-keeper, the han- 

 dling of bees is no novelty, but not every one of 

 us knows how to handle bees in a cage in the 

 most successful and agreeable yet novel manner, 

 hence it will be interesting to know that E. R. 

 Root has consented to bring a cage to the Na- 

 tional convention, and give an actual demonstra- 

 tion of how he makes this exhibition. 



W. Z. Hutchinson, Sec. 



Heads of Grain 



From Different Fields 



SWEET AND ALFALFA CLOVER IN ALABAMA. 



When I first came south I thought that sweet 

 clover would grow anywhere — that all I had to 

 do was to scatter some seed and the work would 

 be accomplished. Accordingly, I got a bushel 

 of seed and scattered it freely in the woods and 

 out of the woods. I cleared a small patch of 

 level land and put it in, feeling confident I should 

 soon have honey from it; but to my great disap- 

 pointment I got nothing. In a few places if ger- 

 minated, but soon dwindled and died. Early in 

 the following spring I prepared a small piece of 

 ground near the house, where it was very strong, 

 and it came u; r: ;:!;■, grew most luxuriantly, 

 and I felt sure I had gained my point, thinking 

 what was needed was good rich soil to start in. 

 When it was in full bloom, before it made seed 

 I cut it, thinking the second crop would make 

 the seed. I had seen it cut at all times in Illinois, 

 and it always started again. In fact, no one 

 thought of killing it by mowing; but to my sor- 

 row my crop died just like oats or wheat. I was 

 annoyed and perplexed, and I never tried it again. 

 I have concluded that I should have mowed it 

 above the first branch, or else allowed it to ma- 

 ture its seed. 



I also tried alfalfa, but it died out. However, 

 it was sown on very poor soil. Our subsoil is 

 very dense, and I think the tap root of both these 

 clovers finds that too hard to penetrate. Cow- 

 peas do remarkably well in this soil. Would 

 the roots of the pea inoculate the soil for the clo- 

 vers.^ If any one has succeeded I should be pleas- 

 ed to hear from him. E. B. Ellis. 



Hanceville, Ala. 



A SAFE PLAN FOR INTRODUCING A VALUABLE 

 QUEEN. 



Having made several failures, and losing many 

 valuable queens when following the regular plan 

 sent with cages, I at last stumbled upon a plan 

 like the others, yet enough different to make it 

 worth telling. The plan is as follows: 



After preparing and getting the colony in con- 

 dition for the valuable queen I first put a queen- 

 guard or trap in front of the entrance to make 

 sure no flying virgin can get in. I then catch 

 the queen from this colony, close the hive, and 

 set it on a new location which can be near by 

 for convenience. I set another hive-body, of 

 similar appearance, on the old stand, and put 

 some of the brood (two or three frames if plenty 

 of brood exists) in the hive on this original stand. 

 Quite a lot of bees will return to the old stand. 

 Of course, I do this when robbing will not be 

 bad, and I put weeds, grass, or leaves about the 

 entrance to keep robbing down. One full comb 

 of bees from the first hive after the queen has 

 been caught will keep down the robbing unless 

 it is during a honey-dearth, when it would be 

 hard to prevent it. Two or three days after this 

 is the best time I find to introduce the queen to 

 the original colony moved to the new location. 

 The zinc is very important, as a virgin queen 

 might otherwise take possession of the hive, and 

 the queen would never get out of the cage. 



