THE AMEEICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



95 



3d. Is the houey-extracting machine a suc- 

 cess, and will it extract the honey and not injure 

 the brnod ? 



4tli. Is the American Bee Journal worthy 

 of support ? 



The first question was discussed : 



Mr. Baldridge would exercise great care in 

 the selection of a location for his apiar}'. 

 Would wish far an abundance of the best honey- 

 producing plants, as basswood, willow, white 

 clover, dandelion, fruit trees, wild plum and 

 thorn, and alsike clover. Would have his 

 liives front southeast, so as to gain the earliest 

 warmth of the sun. Would have the board on 

 which the hive set not more than four inches 

 from the ground, resting on 2 by 4 scantling. 

 Would have his hives thus low, to permit easy 

 insress, and to avoid heavy winds. He thought 

 hives should be six feet apart, and the stands 

 .sliould not'be continuous, as the handling of 

 one hive would ihus disturb the others. A 

 sheltering grove, to protect from the noou-day 

 sun, is very desirable. 



Mr. Moon would have his apiary surrounded 

 by good pasture lauds, as they were always 

 near to flowers. Would have his stands at 

 least a foot high, to protect his bees from toads, 

 which greatly admired bee-diet, and were ever 

 on the aiert to gratify their taste. He placed his 

 hives on a stake. Would have an alighting- 

 board iu front of his hives, always keeping the 

 grass closely mown. 



Mr. Peterman would keep his bees low — had 

 never t^een troubled by toads. 



The President kept a trough with water near 

 his bees. To keep the bees from drowning, he 

 put in cobs and changed them often enough to 

 keep them sw-eet. He thought the hives should 

 be 10 feet apart and of different colors. 



Mr. Marvin thought the hives should be a 

 good distance apart. He would save bees by 

 keeping his hives low. We could cage our 

 toads. 



Mr. Campbell would protect his bees from 

 west winds ; and would have an inclined 

 alighting-board reaching from the stands to the 

 ground. 



Mr. Beall would have his hives low, as he 

 preferred drones to the king bird, whicli he 

 knew to be a voracious feeder on both vvorkers 

 and drones. 



Alsike Clover. 



Mr. Townley had had one j^ear's experience. 

 Had a field of H acres, which commenced to 

 blossom the first week in Jime, aud by the I5th 

 it was iu full bloom. It was still in flower on 

 the 22d of September. He cut from his field 19 

 loads of hay, from which he llireshed IG bushels 

 of seed. His cattle would not feed on a red 

 clover pasture, if they could get alsike. The 

 hay, unlike red clover, is good after the seed is 

 threshed from it ; the stalk still remaining 

 green after the seed is ripe. It could be thresh- 

 ed in a common clover machine. 



Mr. Baldri'.ige said it would live for days 

 witli the ground covered with water. His field 

 was iu blossom friim the 1st of June until the 

 1st of August, and covered for the whole time 



with bees. Bees would go for miles to obtain 

 the honey from alsike clover. He thought it an 

 admirable thing for the clover that the bees 

 worked on it, as it was thus far more perfectly 

 fertilized. He thought the clover added to both 

 pasture and hay, as it imparted flavor. He re- 

 garded the present price of the seed as not ex- 

 travagant, as a bushel would sow three times as 

 much land as the same amount of red clover 

 seed. 



Dr. Conklin found it very valuable for honey, 

 and said it must also rank first as a fertilizer. 



Mr. Moon not only got a better growth thau 

 from his red clover, but found that it was pre- 

 ferred by his stock, especially his sheep. 



Mr. Marvin said four pounds was quite 

 enough seed to the acre. DilTerence in soil 

 produced difi"ereuce in size, and, with Mr. Bald- 

 ridge, thought this would account for the dif- 

 ference of varieties as grown by Mr. Thomas. 

 He said it would thrive well on dry clay land, 

 where white clover would do nothing at all. 

 He tuouglit it better to harrow iu the seed. 



Mr. Wolcott sowed three pounds three ounces 

 of seed to the acre. He purchased the seed from 

 Mr. Townley. It did well, blossoming from 

 the loth of June until aoyv, and was constantly 

 covered with bees. 



Honey-Extractor. 



Mr. Rood had tried the honey-extractor, and 

 believed it next to movable frame hives as an 

 aid in bee-culture. No one could appreciate its 

 value till he tries it. No apiariau could afford 

 to do without it, as the saving from the rejDeated 

 use of comb, lor storage, "is immense. The 

 quality of the honey is much better thau when 

 obtained by straining. 



Mr. Baldridge said, by care to produce a slow 

 uniform motion, the larvas could all be- left un- 

 disturbed, and the honey all taken clean from 

 the comb. He could remove 100 pounds per 

 hour. He had taken from a single hive, during 

 the present season, 175 pounds of liquid honey, 

 and forty pounds of box honey ; aud could have 

 taken still more, such was the value of saving 

 the comb. 



Mr. Marvin said this machine would pay for 

 itself, if only used with one hive for a single 

 season. The honey would sell rapidly, as soon 

 as known. With experience, one could throw 

 out just what he wished. 



September 23, 1869. 



Mr. Beall wished that, in some way, we might 

 enligliteu people on the subject of beekeeping. 

 He believed if such a result could be accom- 

 plished, it would work much good, not only to 

 individuals but to society. 



Mr. Moon said all should send names of per- 

 sons who would be interested iu the subject to 

 the Bee Journal. They would perhaps sub- 

 scribe. 



Dr. Conklin would bring a li'tle manual of 

 bee-keeping before the pe 'ple. givinar a succinct 

 view of the whole matter, and written in a siyle 

 so clear, vigorous, aud sprightly withal, that it 

 would gain universal attention. 



