370 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



June 15 



IINDINC IIIK (H'KKN IN A NKW SWARM; lldl.l.AMi. 



bushels per acre, and for eight consecutive 

 years before I left the old homestead our av- 

 erage was seven bushels to the acre. The 

 best crop was when we had a little over 100 

 bushels from ten acres, the seed being sold 

 for $7.00 per bushel. These yields are away 

 above the average, of course; but the farm 

 referred to seemed to be exceptionally 

 adapted to the plant. While I do not know 

 how much of the country is adapted to the 

 growing of the plant for seed, yet it certain- 

 ly behooves bee-keepers to see if their par- 

 ticular locality is fitted for its production, 

 for as a honey-producer it is certainly par 

 excellence. 



A SIMPLE PLAN FOR BUILDING UP WEAK COL- 

 ONIES. 



At this season of the year, naturally some 

 of the many plans for saving very weak col- 

 onies are sure to be tried by beginners and 

 others. I have generally been fortunate in 

 not having many of these weaklings; but on 

 some occasions I have tried some of the 

 plans advocated, generally with ~but indiffer- 

 ent results, to say the least. For the past 

 four or five years I have been using a very 

 simple plan, when there was any occasion 

 for saving a weak nucleus, that 'is so safe 

 and absolutely sure that I give it here in 

 hopes that some one may be oenefited. 



Find the {jueen of a very strong colony 

 and set the comb aside with Her Majesty. 

 Then carry over some of the remaining 

 frames with adhering bees, and shake before 

 the weak nucleus that it is desired to save, 



having at first ])rovided a runway for the 

 bees to crawl into the hive. The old bees 

 fly back to the old stand, and the young ones 

 go into the weak colony, giving the very best 

 kind of help that it is possible to get. More 

 than one colony can be drawn from if nec- 

 essary, and it is surprising to note the dif- 

 ference in the weakling in a few days' time 

 — no brood chilled, no (jueens lost, no fight- 

 ing, in fact, no trouble of any kind, and you 

 are absolutely sure of the plan being a suc- 

 cess every time. One time I went to an 

 out-apiary about the first of May, and in 

 looking over the yard I found a small nucleus 

 with a queen bought the fall before. They 

 were just as nearly gone as could be, with- 

 out being "gone" altogether — probably not 

 more than 50 bees left, and the queeii was 

 found crawling off at one side of the combs 

 alone. A number of young bees were 

 shaken in front of the "hive as described, 

 with some miso-ivings as to the result; but 

 when, two weeks later, I came back, I could 

 hardly believe the change that had taken 

 place. If you have any weak colonies, try 

 this plan and see if it is not a good thing for 

 the purpose intended. 

 Mount Joy, Ont., Can. 



[Large quantities of alsike are grown in this 

 locality, and we have yet to hear of any com- 

 plaints like those mentioned above. On the 

 contrary, our farmers say that it makes splen- 

 did hay, especially when mixed with timo- 

 thy or the other larger clovers. We can't 

 refrain from feeling that your farmers have 



