Gleanings in Bee Culture 



Skunk caught in the apiary of Carl VoUmer, Columbus, Montana. 



cust began to yield; then wild blackberries, 

 which lasted until the clover season. In 

 the meantime sourwood, chestnuts, and su- 

 mac lasted until the middle of July, mak- 

 ing one continued flow from April 20 until 

 July 15. From the middle of July until 

 the middle of August we have a dearth. 

 Then heartsease and goldenrod last until 

 the frost comes. I forgot to mention pop- 

 lar and basswood. The former is still plen- 

 tiful in the mountains; but the latter is 

 more rare, as many of the trees have been 

 cut down, and the stock eat the second 

 growth, so it is fast becoming extinct in 

 some iilaces. Where there are still virgin 

 forests it still abounds, but it yields only 

 about every fifth year. The stock care less 

 for poplar. 



There are no apiaries near me except those 

 of farmers who keep a few colonies to fur- 

 nish honey for their own use. The truth is, 

 no one in these mountains knows any thing 

 about the inside workings of a hive. I have 

 always delighted in bees, but never had 

 read any thing on the subject until one day 

 I was looking over a government pamphlet 

 on good roads, and saw in the index an ad- 

 dress from which I could obtain some litera- 

 ture. 



The study of bee culture has given me a 

 new field of thought. It seemed to me when 

 I had read these helps that I had been asleep 

 thirty-five or forty years; but, coming at a 

 late hour, I have the experiences of others 

 to profit by. After I had skimmed the 

 whole country for literature two years ago I 

 began the bee business with two colonies of 

 black bees in log hives. 



I now have fifteen colonies in movable 

 frames, all Italians except one, and all full 

 of stores gathered from the kind of golden- 

 rod that is spoken of in the A B C as being 



very rare and 

 having silver- 

 like flowers. 

 One colony 

 stored 50 lbs. 

 of surplus from 

 this plant, and 

 I took it off 

 Dec. 25. For a 

 description of 

 this flower see 

 page 666, Nov. 

 1. In 1910 and 

 '11 the bees 

 gathered suffi- 

 cient honey to 

 winter on, and 

 good colonies 

 gave a surplus 

 of about 80 lbs. 

 of comb hon- 

 ey. The honey 

 is of a good 

 quality and of 

 a golden color. 

 There is noth- 

 ing where it 

 grows that 

 beats it. 



There is a piece of land within a mile of 

 my apiary that was cleared only a few years 

 ago. It is situated up the creek in a hollow 

 to the left. In order to go straight to the 

 field a bee must fly over a mountain; but 

 last fall the bees followed the creek until 

 near the mouth of the hollow, and then 

 turned to the left, making nearly a right 

 angle. At one point on the route there was 

 a small knoll; and if one stood on this knoll 

 the laden bees would strike his hat. It 

 seems that all the bees in the yard were go- 

 ing to this field. If it would pay to sow 

 any thing for the bees it would be this 

 plant. It wull grow in any soil. 



I make my own hives the standard size, 

 with eight frames. I think they suit me 

 best, from the fact that our climate in the 

 mountains is more moderate than in similar 

 latitudes, because the prevailing winds are 

 broken. 

 Langnau, Ky., Jan. 25. 



CAUGHT IN THE ACT. 



BY CARL VOLLBIER. 



Early one morning last August I took a 

 stroll through my apiary, and saw the tracks 

 of some animal on some of the white-paint- 

 ed alighting-boards. Bending down to ex- 

 amine them more closely I was surprised to 

 see the bees boiling out of the hive. I 

 thought a rabbit might have hopped on the 

 board and stirred up the bees, but wondered 

 why he had selected such a place. Late 

 that evening 1 was sitting on the porch of 

 my cabin when I heard a scratching noise 

 underneath. My first thought was pack- 

 rats; but that could not be, because a large 

 bullsnake had his camp under the house, 

 and it would not be healthy for a mountain- 



