1909 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



313 



The white sweet clover should be cut for seed 

 while the stalk is still green; and after the crop 

 is run through the huUer the hay will be superior 

 to the best timothy. It is best to work with the 

 crop when it is a little damp, to avoid shelling; 

 and when hauling, spread a canvas over the rack, 

 and occasionally empty this canvas over the mid- 

 dle of the stack. 



I am beginning to see that white sweet clover 

 will thrive well anywhere after the bacteria be- 

 come fixed in the soil, and it will bring up old 

 wornout land very quickly when once a stand is 

 secured, as it produces a great amount of humus, 

 and gathers an immense amount of nitrogen into 

 the soil. In 1907 my sweet clover produced 

 three bushels of seed per acre where the cattle 

 were taken off in the middle of July. There 

 would have been a better yield, perhaps, if they 

 had been taken off earlier; but by so doing the 

 young plants are sacrificed that are to grow the 

 seed for tlie next season. 



Maquoketa, Iowa. 



SHAKING AS A STIMULUS TO BEES. 



Some Questions Answered and Other 

 Points Explained; Is a Shaken Swarm 

 Equal to a Natural Swarm? 



BY GEO. W. WILLIAMS. 



[while Mr. W. M. Whitney and some others may feel that the 

 discussion relative to shaking to induce energy into a sulking or 

 lazy colony is a waste of printer's ink and paper, yet we can not 

 help thinking that there is something in it. In the article which 

 follows, Mr. Williams expresses a strong conviction that a shaken 

 colony behaves to all intents and purposes like a natural swarm, 

 and can be treated in the same manner. Whether this is true or 

 not, we can not say, but if it is true, er if there is a possibility 

 of it. we can not afford to pass the subject lightly. 



There is no denying the fact that a natural swarm is much su- 

 perior to an ordinary colony for honey production. Now, if we 

 can induce this same superiority into our bees at any time artifi- 

 cially we may well discuss the means for bringing it about. 

 We snggest that our subscribers test it carefully, and report re- 

 sults. Mr. Williams seems quite able to hold up his end of the 

 argument, and we now let him speak for himself. — Ed.' 



When Bro. Hutchinson asked me to give to 

 the journals some of the things I told him about 

 when we were together at the Detroit convention, 

 I had no idea it would "stir up" the fraternity 

 and have them buzzing around with so much 

 energy or I would have hesitated a little. But I 

 am glad that universal interest is being mani- 

 fested, as I feel sure that we shall speedily get 

 at the root of the matter. 



I have received many letters of inquiry, and 

 some of corroboration and also of criticism, and 

 should be pleased to answer them all; but I am 

 a busy man, and as I have no ax to grind, further 

 than to call the attention of bee-keepers to the 

 matter, I can not spare the time to answer each 

 one personally, but will do so in a general way. 



Dr. Miller's advice, p. 74, Feb. 1, is sound, as 

 it usually is. He advises us not "to go crazy 

 about shaking." I trust none of us are quite 

 ready to go bughouse yet; and there is no writer 

 on the face of the earth whose opinion I value 

 higher than the doctor's. But, "cross your 

 heart," are you not something of a shaker your- 

 self, doctor? Let us see. 



In giving us your system, p. 42, February Re- 

 'vie-iL,; by which you secured such a splendid crop, 

 I find you "dug into" each of your colonies no 



less than six times, aad in some of them many 

 more than that. Now, I am asking in all earnest- 

 ness, have you any means of determining from 

 your rich experience whether this constant " shak- 

 ing " every ten days throughout the season had 

 any part in giving them the energy to store your 

 splendid crop.? 



Lewis H SchoU testifies that he has observed 

 and used the stimulating effects of the " shaking " 

 incident to moving bees early in the season for 

 many years. In fact, he claims to have noticed 

 it the first year he kept bees, when he was only 

 twelve years old. I will admit that he has the 

 advantage of me in that respect, for the "stimu- 

 lating to energy " during my first year was most- 

 ly the other way, and I was too busy dodging to 

 note any particular effect on the bees. 



The question most frequently asked is, " How 

 and why does the shaking increase the honey- 

 yield?" To give proof of this fully would re- 

 quire too much space, and I will give only state- 

 ments of facts which I have found to be general- 

 ly accepted by advanced students. 



We must bear in mind this proposition: Bees 

 are creatures of instinct and not of reason; and, 

 being such, respond to external or physical stim- 

 ulus only, and not to an internal initiative, as do 

 beings influenced by reason. In short, all their 

 mental conditions are reflections of outside in- 

 fluences. This outside influence may be a small 

 boy with a stick, or it may be any of the many 

 other things that stimulate them to action. But 

 the kind of action we want is the honey-gather- 

 ing kind. This is the sort we find in perfection 

 in a newly hived swarm. We can arouse this 

 kind of action — sometimes — by drumming on the 

 hive, by smoking them, opening the hive for any 

 purpose, or, as C. P. Dadant points out, by mov- 

 ing bees in the spring. I have found that this 

 activity is aroused in a greater or less degree ev- 

 ery time the bees are disturbed in any manner 

 sufficiently to cause them to set up the peculiar 

 hum that A. I. Root calls "a home found" In 

 hiving a swarm. 



It follows that, a greater activity being stimu- 

 lated by any of these means, more work will be 

 done and more honey gathered, more brood 

 raised, and more comb built. 



Another pertinent question frequently asked is, 

 "What results can be attained, and what manip- 

 ulations discarded, in a system of shaking?" 



I can answer this in a word. You can obtain 

 all the results, and discard all the manipulations 

 with a "shaken " colony that you would with a 

 prime swarm. In all my experiments I have not 

 found a single trait ordinarily found in a prime 

 swarm which is not found in a shaken colony or 

 swarm. 



One objection urged against " shaking " is that 

 it is cruel to the bees. It may be so; but it is 

 not so cruel as a thorough smoking, nor any 

 more so than a general overhauling of the bees 

 for any other purpose; and who of us will be the 

 first to dispense with his smoker or quit using 

 moving frames because the bees object to them? 

 I scarcely ever kill a bee in shaking; and as it is 

 quickly over I use a minimum of smoke. 



I have been asked to give my system in detail- 

 but I do not care to do so at this time. It is 

 over the minute thinjs that bee-keepers quarrel 

 and lose sight of the general principles. My de- 



