118 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



Daisies from which the bees get pollen. — Photo by Wesley Foster. 



ey-produciiig- flower, thoug'h it is a most 

 fragrant one. A few bees have been seen 

 on the blossoms, and hovering over the fra- 

 grant clusters. Probably the sweet per- 

 fume attracts the bees, and they fly around 

 till they find out there is little if any thing 

 there for them. Does each bee, when she 

 goes out to work in the fields, have to learn 

 the blossoms that furnish honey? It is rea- 

 sonable to suppose that the bee has to learn 

 some things, and not depend on instinct for 

 every thing. From the sweetness of the 

 wild sweet-williams I should guess that 

 m.any a bee has conducted a fruitless search 

 for nectar among the pink and reddish 

 blossoms of this delicate flower till she learn- 

 ed that 'tis not all nectar that smelleth sweet. 

 As we return from our walk we stroll 

 through an old orchard, and here under one 

 of the trees is a dainty little bed of daisies. 

 The bees are busily at work collecting the 

 pollen. None seem to be getting any nectar, 

 so we decide that this daisy, at least, is not 

 a honey-producer. The variety we do not 

 know; but it is one of the small kinds with 

 a yellow center and white petals. The stems 

 hold the blossoms about six inches above the 

 ground, and they grow close together in 

 little groups as so many flowers do, for the 

 flowers are social in their habits as well as 

 the bees. 



In our walk we have seen many flowers of 

 brilliant hue, but with no odor that attracts 

 the bees, and these we admired for their 

 own sake. The flowers the bees love are the 

 ones that appeal to us as beemen; and as 

 we reached home we remarked that alfalfa 

 is making a good start, and sweet clover 

 is becoming evident along the roadsides and 

 ditch-banks. 



Boulder, Col. 



PROTECTING ROWS OF HIVES IN UTAH 



BY M. A. GILL 



Although I am hardly a beginner in the 

 bee business, yet I am a beginner in giving 

 better winter protection in this western 

 country, so am sending some pictures show- 

 ing how I prepare for winter by a plan 

 which proved so successful during last win- 

 ter. 



rig. 1 shows the front of two rows two 

 hives high, and the backing of forest leaves 

 between (myself in front). The covers have 

 been removed fi'om the bottom rows, and 

 the entrances are contracted to % x 3 inches 

 by a lath with a notch in it tacked on the 

 entrance. The covers on the top row have 

 an air-space to allow moisture to escape. 

 Fig. 2 shows the back or north side, show- 



