1896. 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



85 



count of its early and rapid growth it would have to be cut 

 early in June — a time that hay of any kind is hard to got dry 

 enough to put into the mow. It takes dry weather and hot 

 sunshine to dry clover of any kind, and sweet clover at this 

 early date will be very sappy, and it will take probably some 

 time to get it sufiiciently dried. To cut it later (say June 20), 

 I fear would be too late. Would it not be too coarse at the 

 later date, and too woody ? 



Now, I want to say. Doctor, that I have cot the least bit 

 of doubt about my cattle and horses eating the hay if gotten 

 up in good shape, though its flavor is altogether different from 

 that of Alsike, white, red, alfalfa or crimson clover. I am in- 

 clined to think that there might be some difficulty in obtain- 

 ing a stand when sown with oats, barley, or wheat. Do you 

 think a good stand might be had if sown in the corn, at the 

 last plowing, or would the corn shade sweet clover too much ? 

 I sowed some Alsike in the corn last summer, and obtained a 

 fine stand, and it is just as strong as that sown early in the 

 spring, with oats. I harvested a fair crop of honey from 

 Alsike in 1894, while others away from Alsike pasture secured 

 almost nothing at all. Something certainly should be done to 

 improve our source of nectar. Sweet clover is just the plant 

 that will fill the bill — that is, for later honey — if farmers can 

 grow it profitably. 



Do you know where the seed can be had cheap? How 

 about the people that grow it in the South ? Let us get the 

 seed as cheap as possible, and let us as bee-keepers and farm- 

 ers grow a few acres. Would not that be the proper thing to 

 do? I have kept an eye on sweet clover for 12 years, and it 

 has never failed to secrete nectar, and to interest the bees 

 from early morn till late at night. From what I am able to 

 learn of it, dry seasons make no difference. F. C. 



Delmar, Iowa. 



Answer. — There's no doubt about the difficulty of curing 

 sweet clover early, and that's one objection my brother-in-law 

 makes to it, that it can't be cured. But considering its value 

 as/jot/i a forage and honey-plant, it might perhaps pay to cut 

 it quite early — say the middle of May — letting it rot on the 

 ground if nothing better could be done with it, then at the 

 usual haying-time it would be in good shape to cut and make. 

 But mixed with timothy and clover I've had it cure quite well, 

 and make fair hay at the usual haying-time. Of course there 

 is the objection that at that time it has quite woody stems. 



1 can't answer about sweet clover in corn at last plowing, 

 but I doubt if it would work. It needs, I think, the whole of 

 the first season to grow to be ready for the second year's 

 blooming. If it could be sown at the last plowing, and the 

 seed not come up till the spring following, then it would be 

 all right, but in that case it wouldn't bloom till the second 

 year after sowing. 



I used to think that about the only way to get a good 

 stand was to sow on pretty hard ground, and let the seed be 

 tramped in by stock as it is on the roadside. I'm now in- 

 clined to think a better way is to sow thickly, or, perhaps bet- 

 ter still, have q, stand self-sown, then early in the spring plow 

 about six iuches deep. It will then give a crop of hay first 

 year of fine quality with no coarse stems whatever. 



I'm with you in thinking the time is past for discussing 

 sweet clover as a honey-plant. Especially in a dry season 

 when everything else dries up it shows its great value. The 

 thing to discuss is sweet clover as a forage-plant, its value and 

 best management. 



I don't know anything about where to buy, but I think there 

 never has been so much call for it as at the present time, and 

 this ought to call out advertisements from many who have it 

 to sell. Last season the seed became so scarce that there w"as 

 none on the market, and it had to be imported. 



Management for Rest Results — Changing Size of 

 Frame. 



1. I have 20 colonies of Italian bees in the 8-frame dove- 

 tail hive, which I wish to run for comb honey next season. 

 How can I get the best results — by putting on the sections as 

 soon as the bees are getting crowded, or by letting each colony 

 cast one swarm ? Or by dividing each colony once, and giving 

 each queenless half a laying queen ? 



2. I wish to change frames in my hives, from the Lang- 

 stroth to a frame llj-^ inches deep, outside measure, and top 

 and bottom bar the same as I now have on my Hoffman 

 frame?, Langstroth size, and placing a rim 2J4 inches 

 high under my hives. Now, can I nail a stick ?g-inch square 

 lengthwise through the frame, so as to keep the comb from 

 breaking out ? Or would it be better to wire my frames and 

 use full sheets of foundation. The Langstroth frame is not 



deep enough to winter bees on the summer stands. To winter 

 my bees on the summer stands is worth more to me than the 

 standard frame. 



3. Is such a hive and frame as good for comb honey as 

 the Langstroth frame, by taking out two outside frames, or 

 by leaving in the 8 frames, which are equal to 10 Langstroth 

 frames? p. W. 



Hobble, Pa. 



ANSWEB.S. — 1. In any case you will probably do well to 

 put on supers as soon as the bees begin to store from the main 

 harvest, or a little sooner. There might be no great difference 

 between a colony divic'ed by yourself and one swarming nat- 

 urally, but there is this difference in favor of the natural 

 swarming, that if you don't divide, some colonies might re- 

 frain entirely from swarming, and give better results than If 

 divided either naturally or artificially. 



2. You can do either way, and except for the expense it 

 is probable that you will be better pleased to use the full 

 sheets of foundation. 



3. You can only decide that for certainty by carefully 

 trying the two side by side. It may be you would find very 

 little difference. One objection, however, to a hive with one 

 or two frames left out, is that over the part that has no combs 

 you will find the bees not working so well in supers. 



Drones in Winter — moving Bees. 



I have 15 colonies of bees that I started with last spring. 

 I got no surplus honey from them, and most of them have 

 sufficient winter stores. I winter my bees out-doors. 



1. There is one colony that shows considerable drones 

 when taking a flight. What may be the cause ? 



2. I wish to move my bees about 100 feet, when is the 

 best time to do this ? F. P. P. 



Geneseo, 111., Jan. 10. 



Answers. — 1. When drones are found present In winter 

 there is ground for suspicion that the bees are queenless, but 

 bees never do anything invariably, and it may happen that 

 now and then a colony may have drones when everything is 

 all right with them. The only thing to do is to let them alone 

 until spring, and then if you find no brood present, or only 

 drone-brood when all others have plenty of worker-brood, you 

 may decide that they have no queen worth having, and break 

 up the colony, uniting it with others. 



'2. Late in the winter, and yet before their first flight in 

 spring. At the recent convention in Chicago, M. M. Baldridge 

 gave a new suggestion as to moving bees a short distance. 

 Move them in the middle of the day when most bees are flying 

 — move the whole business at once, and set up a board before 

 each hive. If obliged to move bees after they have com- 

 menced flying in the spring, his plan may be good, but in your 

 case there probably will be no difficulty as to moving before 

 spring flight. 



Section Starters — Wiring Sections — Fastening 



Starters in Sections — tlueen-Cells and a 



Colony with L.aying Workers. 



Dr. Miller: — 1. I am very much pleased with your idea of 

 a bottom starter in sections. 



But will you kiudly say just whatsize and shape the start- 

 ers should be, both as regards top and bottom, or that you pre- 

 fer ? And do you use " thin " or "extra thin " foundation ? 



I have been thinking, how would it be to wire sections, 

 using No. 34: wire, and having two parallel wires, at right 

 angles with the starters ? No tacks needed, but the ends just 

 twisted together on the top-bar, and a little printed slip 

 pasted on each section directing the consumer to withdraw the 

 wires by untwisting the ends, or else severing the wire at one 

 side, and drawing it through on the other ; this would not ne- 

 cessitate 1/20 of the labor required to get at the contents 

 of a sardine tin, or many other canned edibles. I venture to 

 think that such a section — filled, of course — might travel the 

 world around, and stand the roughest imaginable usage by 

 boat, rail or road without breaking down. What do you 

 think ? 



Some may raise the objection that if the wires were to run 

 from top to bottom — i. c, at right angles with the starters — 

 they would be in the way of pressing the latter on by the use of 

 the Parker' foundation fastener. Then run them parallel with 

 the starters, or else adopt some other method of fixing the 

 starters. 



And this brings us to the question — and which I take the 

 liberty of suggesting might very well be made a leading one, 



