Feb. 1, 1912 



6» 



Dr. C. C. Mii>i>er, Marengo, 111. . 



A FIGHT between queens is mentioned as 

 an attraction at a bee convention in L'Api- 

 Gulfeur, p. 466. 



Db. Weygandt says the Caucasian is the 

 original race of bees from which all others 

 are derived. — Bienen-Vater, 334. 



The warden of the Illinois penitentiary 

 at Joliet, 111., says that 90 per cent of the 

 men are there on account of liquor, and that 

 out of 158 life men all but four or five com- 

 mitted the crimes for which they are in pris- 

 on for life while under the influence of liq- 

 uor. 



PLiEASb ALLOVi^, Mr. Editor, an addendum 

 to the good advice given p. 26. When the 

 colony attacked by robbers is carried into 

 the cellar, set in its j^lace an empty hive of 

 similar appearance. If you don't, the rob- 

 bers will pitch into the next hive. Besides, 

 if you leave the place vacant, when you put 

 the hive back again the robbers will notice 

 the change, and will say, "There's our prey 

 back again." [Good correction! Thanks. — 

 Ed.] 



Der Deutsche Imkerbund (German 

 Bee-keepers' Confederation) now numbers 

 82,547 members. — Bienenzucht, p. 183. We 

 have a few things yet to learn from the Ger- 

 mans. [It would' be interesting to know 

 what is the basis of their organization. Is 

 it fostered by the state? or do the members 

 pay annual dues and receive something in 

 return which justifies them in renewing 

 year after year? — Ed.] 



You ASK wnat's the difference between a 

 comb in a brood-frame and a comb in a sec- 

 tion. None if the comb is the same. But 

 in a section it is not expected brood has been 

 reared, and it is expected in the brood-frame; 

 and my experience is that moths greatly 

 prefer the old black comb. You ask why 

 the moth should not lay eggs in sections if 

 she lays in combs that have been fumigated 

 or frozen. I don't know. May be the co- 

 coons make a difference. 



Six colonies of bees, well packed, were 

 successfully shipped in winter, in Hungary, 

 335 miles by rail and 2>^ by wagon, during 

 the last of their journey enduring a temper- 

 ature of 20 degrees below zero, Fahrenheit. 

 — Leipz. Bztg., 154. [We believe it to be 

 entirely possible. Trouble, if any, probably 

 would not manifest itself immediately but 

 later on. If the bees were set down on 

 stands outdoors we should expect the dis- 

 turbance would cause a heavy mortality 

 later on. If, on the other hand, they went 

 into a cellar where the conditions were ideal, 

 no bad results would probably follow. — Ed.] 



Dr. Hering, Bienenzucht, XI., quotes 

 Gleanings as recommending the feeding 

 of thin syrup in the open to prevent robbing 

 at late extracting, and says, "W^e doubt 

 whether this will have any result. The 



strong aroma of the extracted honey and 

 the odor of the open colonies will, of course, 

 attract the robbers more strongly than the 

 thin syrup." But, doctor, you have to be- 

 lieve what you see, don't you? [Gleanings 

 never advocated feeding sweetened water 

 during extracting seasons to prevent rob- 

 bing. We have always recommended, or 

 supposed we did, honey thinned down with 

 water. While probably not very much su- 

 gar-sweetened water would get into the ex- 

 tracting-combs again, we think it advisable 

 to avoid any appearance of evil by feeding 

 honey thinned down to the consistency of 

 nectar. — Ed.] 



.1. L. Bybr says, p. 5, that for his latitude 

 outdoor wintering is best. I'm in lower lat- 

 itude, and cellaring seems best here. But 

 that doesn't say Bro. Byer is wrong. I sus- 

 pect that he doesn't have the hard winds, 

 long continued, that we have here. [Is it 

 not possible, doctor, that, if you were to try 

 outdoor wintering again, you might discov- 

 er that it is more to your advantage to use 

 it than the indoor plan? Mr. R. F. Holter- 

 mann ays he would not go back to the old 

 way under any circumstances. When we 

 suggested to him that bees wintered out- 

 doors consume more stores he said, "Yes, 

 but they are correspondingly stronger in 

 the spring. As a rule, indoor-wintered colo- 

 nies do not raise very much brood; while 

 those outdoors will often begin brood-rear- 

 ing on a small scale in February and March 

 — two months before they would do very 

 much at it in the cellar. — Ed.] 



Sweet Clover as a Renovator of Poor Soil. 



Mr. Frank Coverdale, in his articles on seeding 

 sweet clover, lays emphasis on the need of having 

 the soil fertile. Now, the farmer who has these 

 conditions is all but ready to sow alfalfa, and is 

 much more likely to go on and seed to that plant 

 rather than to something about which he has 

 heard such conflicting reports as with sweet clover. 



The great opening for sweet clover, provided it 

 can be made to do the work, is as a renovator of 

 impoverished soils. That in the wild state it grows 

 and flourishes upon the poorest soils is a matter of 

 every-day notice. That there should be any exten- 

 sive failure to grow it vn poor soils would seem to 

 be due to but one cause. That sweet clover and 

 alfalfa have the same nitrifying bacteria is fre- 

 quently mentioned, and the need of soil inocula- 

 tion for the latter often urged. That legumes are 

 chiefly benefited by such bacteria on poor soils is 

 also known. 



The means by which its seed is transported in 

 the wild state, on wagon-wheels, by streams, and 

 from railroad gravel-pits, are well calculated to se- 

 cure this inoculation, and doubtless explain its 

 cosmopolitan nature under such conditions. On 

 the contrary, seed harvested from standing plants 

 has little chance of carrying the bacteria; and un- 

 less they are supplied they will be liable to failure 

 on soils in which they are necessary to a good 

 growth. Then why not inoculate for sweet clover ? 

 If by working in about 200 lbs. per acre of earth 

 from a sweet-clover patch, the soil-enriching pow- 

 ers of this plant can be secured, it certainly ought 

 to pay to take the trouble, and no harm done the 

 bee business either. 



McConnelsville, O., Dec. 11. H. D. Tennent. 



