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GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



July 15 



This is a modification of several plans, and 

 only a slight modification of Dr. E. Gallup's 

 plan given in Glfanings in 188L 



I came across this a few days ago when hunt- 

 ing something on safe introduction of a valuable 

 queen. 



This plan is intended merely for breeders of 

 very valuable queens that one wishes to intro- 

 duce without fail. It is too much work, as a 

 general thing; but one can afford to take extra 

 prftcaution with a very fine queen. 



Lewisburg, Miss. W. T. Lewis. 



HERMAPHRODITE BEES; THE PUPA OF A DRONE 

 THE WROI^G END TO IN THE CELL. 



Yesterday evening I opened a hive to see the 

 progeny of a queen recently purchased. The 

 young bees have been maturing for fully a week 

 now, and I saw something which rather knocks 

 me out. It was a bee with a worker head and 

 body, and the back part drone. On further ex- 

 amination I found another with the back part 

 seemingly half drone and half worker; then fur- 

 ther on I found another the same as the first, 

 with worker head and body and the back part 

 drone. In those cases where the two were alike, 

 the back or drone part is all yellow; whereas the 

 one half-and-half was yellow down the one side, 

 and marked like an Italian worker on the other. 

 The worker progeny are all nicely marked, three- 

 banded, and light. 



Another strange thing I saw this spring (but it 

 was only a freak) was a drone which, when turn- 

 ing endwise when in a larval state, had turned 

 his head toward the center of the comb. It was 

 in worker comb, and, after maturing he died. 

 I happened to notice that the workers had the 

 mouth of the cell open and eaten away for some 

 distance down the side of the drone. I took 

 him by the wings and pulled him out, but it 

 took quite a tug. You will understand that his 

 shoulders, being too large for a worker-cell, 

 caused this. D. Chalmers. 



Poole, Ont., June 23. 



[Once in a great while there will be a queen 

 that will produce hermaphrodite bees or drones. 

 Almost any queen-breeder, if he does any busi- 

 ness in queen-rearing, will see cases of this kind 

 two or three times in a season; but it is very sel- 

 dom that a honey-producer runs across it, and 

 hence it is nothing strange that you should not 

 have seen it before. It is very rarely that one 

 finds a worker or drone with its head wrong end 

 to in the cell. You will probably never see the 

 like of it again. — Ed.] 



SHADE for BEES; COLONIES DO BEST IN UNPAINT- 

 ED hives that STAND IN THE SUN. 



My bee-yard 33 years ago was in a young 

 apple-orchard, and about half my bees were plac- 

 ed in the shade, or partial shade of the trees, and 

 the rest in the open. As the years passed on, and 

 the colonies that stood in the shade died, others 

 were transferred to their places, and so it went on 

 for about ten years when I stopped replacing the 

 dead colonies that stood in the shade, and from 

 that day to this all of my bees have stood in the 

 open sunshine; for, looking backward, how sor- 

 ry I feel for those bees in the shade! They were 

 doomed — they had no chance. Those bees in 



the shade made but a small surplus, and at best 

 were short-lived in comparison with those in the 

 open. Since then I have taken note of other 

 bee-keepers who kept their bees either in the 

 shade of trees, vines, or bee-houses, and invariably, 

 as they termed it, were "having such bad luck 

 with their bees. " They would all die out, and oft- 

 times their owners would courageously buy more 

 aad try again; but bad luck would continue if 

 they continued the shade. To have success with 

 bees the sun must shine on the hives — preferably 

 unpainted hives — and the bees must be properly 

 cared for besides. Take, for instance, the escap- 

 ing bees that go to the woods and into hollow 

 trees. It is the same — they are doomed. The 

 great majority die the first winter, and the rest 

 dwindle away the second summer or winter. 



I would ask you, Mr. Editor, and the readers 

 of Gleanings, to take a backward look into your 

 own past experiences and say if I am not correct. 



Plainfield, N. H. H. C. Daniels. 



ALSIKE AND TIMOTHY. 



There is a great deal of horse sense in the fol- 

 lowing excerpt from the Northtvestej-n Agricultu- 

 rist. There is no better crop than alsike and 

 timothy where the climate and soil are suitable. 

 Every bee-keeper who is located in an alsike 

 neighborhood ought to keep the seed on hand 

 and sell it as cheaply as possible. Many of 

 them ought to grow it, both for fodder and seed. 

 Alsike and timothy always sell at the highest 

 prices when properly handled. 



There is a growing demand for a combination of clover and 

 timothy for hay and pasture in all sections of the Northwest. 

 The medium and mammoth red varieties do not succeed on low 

 moist grounds as well as the alsike, which also matures with tim- 

 othy. The feeding value of alsike clover is superior to the me- 

 dium red variety — in fact, is quite equal to alfalfa in that re- 

 spect. Alsike and timothy also make a very profitable seed 

 crop in many sections of the Northwest. This is specially trae 

 on poorly drained lands where crops of grain are grown with 

 much uncertainty during a rainy season. 



The writer has called the attention of our readers on several 

 occasions to the profits arising from growing crops of grass seeds, 

 especially timothy, on fields that are inclined to be wet during 

 the spring months. The wisdom of the suggestion is appreciated 

 this spring by people who have their low lands seeded to the 

 tame grasses. The addition of a quantity of alsike clover seed 

 with timothy increases rather than decreases its selling value on 

 almost every market. Farmers prefer such a combination for hay 

 or pasture, and the seedsman uses them in making his various 

 pasture mixtures. When the alsike clover is ripe an. dry, the 

 seed thrashes out from the straw quite as well as timothy with a 

 common grain-separator. This should be speeded high, and the 

 seed crop fed into it rather slowly. In fact, to do an economical 

 job of thrashing grass seeds about half of the crew of helpers 

 should take a rest and enjoy seeing the others work. If the ma- 

 chine is crowded, waste — an expensive and needless waste — is 

 quite sure to occur. Grass seeds will be in active demand next 

 spring at good prices. Save the clover-seed crop in every in- 

 stance. Fodder corn will take the place of hay, but there is no 

 substitute for clover seed. 



MORE IRRIGATED LAND FOR BEE-KEEPERS. 



According to newspaper report, Mr. E. H. 

 Harriman, the great railroad magnate, has decid- 

 ed to finance a great irrigation project in Imperial 

 County, Cal. The area which will be reclaimed 

 is over 1,500,000 acres of the very best land. The 

 present system of canals in the Imperial Valley 

 will irrigate only 500,000; but this is the largest 

 single system in this country at present. It is 

 one of the finest spots for bee-keeping in the 

 United States, bees being phenomenally success- 

 ful, as well as fruit-growing and alfalfa hay. 



W. K. M. 



