84 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Feb. I 



SAWING WOOD WITH THE POWER FURMSHED BY AN AUTOMOBILE. 



BEES CLOSE TO STREET 

 NUISANCE. 



NOT A 



An Open-air Colony. 



BY JACOB WAGNER. 



The engraving shown on opposite page repre- 

 sents my apiary where I have been keeping my 

 bees for over 25 years. When I first started I 

 kept them inside the building in the background, 

 but now I have them outside, and use one part of 

 the building for storage, and the other part to ex- 

 tract honey, etc. The larger building to the right 

 is my shop, where three to four men are working 

 on benches doing cabinet and carpenter work. I 

 have found it more practical to keep bees out- 

 doors than inside. I have them under an arbor 

 of grapevines, which I consider an ideal place for 

 them. It will be noticed that the sidewalk and 

 street are just outside the fence. This is one of 

 the most-used thoroughfares in the place, and in 

 all these years no one has been bothered by my 

 Italians, which surely shows that they are a rath- 

 er good-natured crowd. Some seasons I have 

 had 50 to 60 colonies; but this last season I had 

 only 15, spring count, which increased to 26. 

 These produced over 3000 lbs. of extracted hon- 

 ey and 320 lbs. of comb honey, so I have reason 

 to be well satisfied. 



The other engraving shows a swarm of bees 

 that I found on the limb of an apple-tree, eight 

 to ten feet above the ground. They were hybrids, 

 but very gentle, and did not bother me in the 

 least while climbing up, when my face was not 

 more than two feet away, and my hand still closer. 



Through failure to find a better place the bees 

 selected this rather odd place for their permanent 



home. They had built 6 combs 10 inches wide, 

 and 14 to 16 inches long, which contained some 

 brood and a little honey when I discovered them. 

 When they started to work I suppose the limbs 

 or twigs were very thick with leaves, thus form- 

 ing a covering or natural roof that must have 

 looked inviting to them. 

 East Amana, Iowa, Nov. 3. 



THE WINTER-KILLING OF CLOVER. 



Freezing and Thawing of Clay Soil Hurts 

 Clover; Plants in Sandy Soils Not so 

 Likely to be Winter-killed. 



BY R. F. HOLTfRMANN. 



The term "winter-killing of clover" is applied 

 to the destruction of clover-plants, during the 

 winter and spring, by means of the freezing and 

 thawing of tlie soil about the plant; secondly, to 

 the water freezing on top of the ground and over 

 the planst, and to a certain extent about it. 



The nature and condition of the soil is an im- 

 portant factor in the freezing and thawing pro- 

 cess on clover. The soil which will retain the 

 most moisture is apt to be the most injurious in 

 the above process, because, when the soil with 

 the contained water freezes, there is expansion in 

 proportion to moisture contained. A well-drain- 

 ed soil tends to friability; moisture passes down 

 readily; it will retain less than a more compact 

 soil. Soil composed of fine particles such as the 

 clays will retain a higher percentage of water than 

 the sands; and when conditions are favorable to 

 frequent freezing and thawing, /a/ a rule more in- 

 jury is done to clover on the former soil. I have 



