344 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



possible without having it shell out. If a 

 field stands well filled with ripe seed, a 

 thunderstorm with a high wind ahead of it 

 may blow much seed to the ground; so it is 

 easy to see that the operator should be on 

 the lookout and get the binder in before 

 such a thing happens. The time to bind it 

 is when the field looks well loaded with 

 black seed with but little green seed show- 

 ing. 



If a field has been cut twice for hay, and 

 then is to be cut for seed, a mower with a 

 buncher will be the best to use. If it can 

 be gathered next morning, while dew is on 

 it, into small cocks that can be handled at 

 one forkful, it will be in shape to haul in to 

 the stack or huller at any time. When dry 

 a canvas should be spread over the rack to 

 catch the scattering seed, and this canvas 

 can be emptied into the stack or huller once 

 .in a while. Much fine seed will thus be 

 saved, and the canvas will payfor itself very 

 soon. No one should attempt to haul the 

 seed without a canvas over the rack. 



The straw turns water splendidly; and if 

 at all well stacked it will be found nice and 

 dry for winter use for bedding or for live 

 stock to pick over. We formerly cut our 

 seed so green that the straw made fair hay, 

 but have since found out that it i)ays far bet- 

 ter to let the seed ripen more, for the yield 

 will be easily doubled by so doing. 



One acre of the field shown in the picture 

 was measured off and hulled alone, and pro- 

 duced 11 >^ bushels. This, by many bushels, 

 broke all records that I have ever known 

 of as a yield of clover seed, and it was in a 

 season when no one else had any clover on 

 his farm, either for hay or seed. This fact 

 makes the sweet-clover business look good 

 to me. 



I have used a Birdsell huller, and it does 

 first-class work with this clover. I have al- 

 so used a conamon thrashing-machine, and 

 prefer it to any other outfit, as it gets it out 

 very rapidly, and does the work well. An 

 extra set of concave teeth is put in for this 

 purpose, and these are often used for hulling 

 clover. Our machine men arranged the 

 choppers so as to carry of! nearly all the 

 finer choppings behind the machine. This 

 made the work go much faster. It is not 

 difficult to run out 150 to 200 bushels of this 

 seed in one day, and this can easily be hull- 

 ed for 50 cts. per bushel, and even less if 

 sufficient is grown to keep a machine in the 

 field for a one or two weeks' run. 



The thrashing-machine has no recleaner 

 attachment, so the seed has to be recleaned 

 from the machine. We count on having 

 our machinist attach a recleaner, then all 

 will be in first-class shape when done. 



We cut our stubble ten inches from the 

 ground, and the stalks sprout and bloom all 

 the fall, and ripen more seed, which falls to 

 the ground to reseed if one wishes to let the 

 field grow up to sweet clover the coming 

 year. We have such fields, and will just let 

 them reseed themselves for hog pastures 

 next summer. The bees are very busy on 

 these fall stubbles until frost. In a few days 



the stubble shown in the picture was nearly 

 white with bloom, and indeed it was a pleas- 

 ant sight to see one great row of bees flying 

 to and from this field all the fall. 

 Delmar, Iowa. 



COURSES IN APICULTURE AT OUR COLLEGES 

 AND UNIVERSITIES 



BY B. R. ROOT 



More and more our colleges and universi- 

 ties are beginning to recognize bee culture, 

 either by establishing regular courses for 

 the study of bees or by establishing a small 

 apiary where students of entomology and 

 botany may, on the side, study not only the 

 domestic economy of the hive, but learn 

 something about the intimate relations that 

 exist between bees and fruit. The Ohio 

 State University at Columbus, for example, 

 has been having, for a number of years back, 

 lectures on bee culture for the benefit of the 

 students in the short winter agricultural 

 courses. The University lias also had prac- 

 tical live-bee demonstrations and field work 

 during the summer. 



DR. G. C. CREELMAN. 



A college President who Is enthusiastic over the 

 Aplcultural Department at his institution. 



The Massachusetts Agricultural School, 

 as announced in our last issue, on page 21, 

 has regular courses in apiculture under the 

 direction and management of Dr. Burton 

 N. Gates, formerly of the Bureau of Ento- 

 mology, Washington, D. C. Splendid work 

 has already been done, not only in teaching 

 methods of management but in equipping 

 students so that they become efficient foul- 



