THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



125 



[For the American Bee Journal.] 



Several Items. 



patch were Italians, they must have come from 

 my hives, for no one else in this neighborhood j 



has them ; and to get there passed directly of the j „ ,.. , . . 



field already mentioned. ! Smoking Bees. -Many persons who try to 



I think from this, and from what I have since I manage bees, I fear, do not fully understand the 



seen that the common golden rod secretes very value of smoke, nor the best method of apply- 



little if any honey, while the marsh variety 

 yields large quantities. It is probable Mr. Wag- 

 ner has seen only the former kind, which is the 

 most abundant. 



In this section of the country the asters are in- 



When I began to use frames, although I had 

 read "Langstroth" and "Kidder" attentively, I 

 did not practice smoking, as I believed that it 

 was injurious to the brood, if not to the bees ; 



valuable as fall forage for bees. Let the season ! and I am still rather mclmed to that opinion in 

 be wet or drv cold or hot, we are certain to have ^ regard to tobacco and puff-ball smoke. I had 

 a continuous bloom of them from early in Sep- : some laughable scenes m trying to open hives 

 tember until a reallv hard frost occurs. The i without the use of smoke, especially during 

 light early frosts, which kill the buckwheat , times of scarcity of honey. Since ihen I have 

 andotherhoneyplants,donotaffecttheminthe:tned every method that I have seen recom- 

 jgj^g^ J p ' I Qieuded, and some that 1 have not ; and have 



Mv Italian bees have never failed to secure 'finally settled upon the use of fine, dry, pine 

 enough honey from asters to carry them through saioclust. This answers the best purpose ot any- 

 the winter, even when there was hardly a pound j thing that I have tned ; and is always acces- 



sible. I burn it in a sheet iron "smoker" three 

 inches in diameter and about six inches long, 

 which has already been described by some one 

 in the Bee Journal. Fire it up with a hot coal 

 mine' have* Wintered on"it"ibr Two 'seasons""past \ ft'om the stove ; and by removing the cover before 

 and came out in excellent order in the spring. ; laying it down, it will retain fire nearly an hour 

 Daniel M Worthington. i Wintering Bees.— Last winter we carried 

 I all our bees— about twenty swarms — into a room 

 ; up stairs in the house. It is a tight-plastered 

 ~ " ' ' ' The windows 



in their hives at the end of August. The honey 

 is rather dark and has a peculiar flavor, which 

 some persons dislike, but I think rather pleasant. 

 It evidently agrees with the bees perfectly, for 



Elkridge, Md., Nov. 20, 1869. 



[For the American Bee Journal.] 



My Experience with Alsike Clover. 



When I visited Germany and Italy, two years 

 ago, I bought an imported fifty pounds of Swed- 

 ish or Alsike clover seed. This seed was for the 



room — dimension^ 12 feet by 14. 

 were let down for ventilation, but darkened with 

 boards, which nearly spoiled it all. The hives 

 were set upon the floor, and ventilated at top 

 and bottom. They did not winter well, although 

 only one died. That was a common "box hive," 

 and from appearances must have been about 

 dead iu the fall, as it contained over twenty 



most part given to my nearest neighbors, free of , pounds ot honey and no bees, in the spring. _ lu 

 charge hopin- that tlie honey gathered by the : swarmed three or lour times during the previous 

 bees from the blossoms of the clover, would com- I summer, and was probably put in the room weak 

 pensate me for the cost of the seed. It was sown i and ciueenless. _ _ 



at the rate of about four pounds to the acre, and 1 The mam difficulty in the wintering of these 

 did not germinate well, though it ultimately bees, seemed to be, a lack ot ventilation, as they 



proved to have been sown thick enough. It win 

 tered well, and grew nicely to a length of from 

 twelve inches to thirty last spring. It commenced 

 blooming about the oth of June, or at the same 

 time with common white clover. It remained in 

 bloom till about the 25th of July, when it was 

 cut by me and my neighbors. 

 I was of course anxious to see the great piles 



would fly out into the room some during the 

 mildest weather, and consumed too much honey 

 to suit me. I was surprised at the amount of 

 heat generated by those twenty swarms. A bit 

 of snow or ice, put iu for the purpose of cooling 

 them, would melt in the course of a week, any 

 time during the winter. 



The hives we use are, as nearly as I can ascer 



of honey my bees would gather. They seemed ; tain, similar to Quinby's improved, although I 

 to like the blossoms very well, and worked on do not know the exact plan of his _ In one thing 

 them whenever the weatlier was fair. But, alas ! i I think ours are superior. It is in not having 

 after examining about a dozen of my hives every : the frames connected in any way with any part 

 day during the whole season, I could never dis- ' of the hive. The interior dimensions ot our 

 cover more than about a hundred cells filled with ' hives are 28 inches by 16, and 12^ inc les deep, 

 a very thin watery honey, and these were regu- i The ends are used for surplus honey boxes or 

 larly found empty again next morning. My fond ■■ frames. In winter we turn the frames bodily, 

 expectation of being able to improve the honey | facing the front entrance, put in an extra divi- 

 pasturage of the poor location of my home api- I sion board, and fill the empty spaces which are 

 ary, was therefore sadly disappointed; and if the i thus formed, with old woolen clothing, hay, or 



no mc ■ 

 season than they 



pasturage of the poor location of my home api 



ary, was therefore sadly disappointed ; and if the j ilivio xv^x...^-., „ .- — o, ^, - 



bees gather no more honey from this clover next ! any material which is not a good conductor ot 

 season than they did iu the last, I shall be forced j heat. Thus they are left upon iheir summer 



to the conclusion that neither the white nor the 

 Alsike clover yield any honey in the location of 

 my home apiary. 



Adam Grimm. 

 Jefferson, Wis. 



stands, with entrance facing southeast. I can- 

 not tell how it will work until spring, as this is 

 the first time we try them so. Will report in 

 the spring. I- F. Tillinghast. 



Fagtoryville, Pa., Nov. 6, 1869. 



