THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



151 



somo good hard ■wedge to keep the saw from 

 pinching; also to make the top fall in the direc- 

 tion 3'on wish. It is hetter to cut anotlier saw- 

 cut on the under side, slanting it down into the 

 first cut to take out a piece. It Avill fall properly 

 if cut entirely clear of the stub. A dry day 

 when there is no wind should be selected for this 

 work. Now the top is olF, the next thing is to 

 find where to saw of! the hive just below the 

 combs. This you can ascertain by using the 

 auger again. Ke.\t you want a good long rope, 

 strong enough for the use intended. Tic this 

 around the hive and bore a hole through a small 

 tree near the ground to fasten your rope to. If 

 a small auger is used, put a pin or peg through 

 the hole, or if a two iuch auger, put the rope 

 through the hole. Now saw of? your hive and 

 set it on the stagciug, cut a couple of notches in 

 the stub for the rope to render in. Place the 

 rope in those notches over the top of the stub. 

 As soon as j'ou saw off the hive, tie a cloth over 

 the bottom to keep the bees in. Tighten the 

 rope at the bottom, see that all is right, knock 

 •down your stagciug, drive your sled or wagon 

 under, with plenty of straw in it, then ease ;iway 

 on the rope and down come your bee ', "right 

 side up with care." 



The whole performance need not occupy two 

 men more than two hours after j'ou get to the 

 tree. Of course this operation can be varied ac- 

 cording to circumstances. Should the tree be 

 extraordinarily large, cut it down on a warm 

 day in April, when the comb is nearly empty, 

 and transfer at once. That is, chop down the 

 whole tree. Elisha Gallup. 



Osage, Iowa. 



P. S. — If those bees were mine, I should take 

 them down at once — that is, if the tree is not too 

 lai'ge. 



[For the American Bee Jouraal.] 



Hermaphrodite Bees. 



Seyeral years ago I had a queen that produced 

 about one-tenth hermaphrodite bees among her 

 progeny. This fact was noticed early in the 

 spring. The queen was an Italian, introduced 

 late the previous fall. These hermaphrodites 

 were thrown out continually by the workers, as 

 fast as hatched, and were of all imaginable mix- 

 tures between workers and drones. Some had 

 the head and thorax of a drone, and the abdo- 

 men of a perfect worker, while others seemed 

 bj' external appearances to be perfect workers, 

 but on examination were found to possess the 

 male organs of generation. Others, vice versa, 

 would appear like perfect drones, only possessing 

 the pollen cavity of the worker, while others 

 again would almost appear like one-half drone 

 and one-half worker, blended together length- 

 wise. This queen was as prolific as others, as 

 the colony was steadily on the increase during 

 the spring, till another queen was substituted 

 for her sometime in May. How such brood, 

 posse§^sing these mixed characteristics is pro- 

 duced, is a mystery to me; at least I will let 

 others decide. R. B. Oldt. 



New Berlin, Pa. 



[For the American Bee Journal.] 



Alsike Clover and Other Crops for Be< 



Pasturage. 



In the spring of 186G, we had sowed near oui 

 apiary, in the town of Watorvliet, Albany coun- 

 ty. New York, a field of a1)out two acres of oats, 

 and seeded the same with Alsike clover, at tha 

 rate of about four pounds of seed to the acre, 

 (which, when it germinated, we found some 

 what mixed with red clover). This season, 

 18G7, this clover was in bloom about six weeks, 

 and bees, both Italian and black, worked on it 

 daily during that time; suffice to say, the field 

 was literally "a sea of fiowers," and bees ap- 

 peared as fond of it as of Mignionette. 



We had only a few swarms of bees, having 

 lost an apiary of about sixty colonies, by "foul 

 brood." But, suffice to say, that from five colo- 

 nies of Italian bees, we took 600 pounds of box 

 honey, and from one Italian swarm, we took one 

 swarm of bees, and irom these two 320 pounds 

 of super houe}% which sold at forty cents per 

 [jouud — the bees having plenty of honej' in the 

 hives to winter. We value the Italian swarm at 

 $15, and the honey brought $128 — thus the total 

 profit on this swarm for 1867, was $143. Wc 

 hope this may have been excelled in the State oi 

 New York, but we think Alsike clover had 

 much to do in producing the foregoing result, 

 as we had one other small field — in all say three 

 acres. 



We think so much of it we have imported some 

 more seed from Europe, and hope to sow more 

 and have some to spare to those who may need. 

 From what we have witnessed with Alsike 

 clover the two past seasons, we should think 

 that two acres of Alsike clover would, in a good 

 season, furnish honey suQlcient for one hundred 

 and fiitj' or two hundred colonies of bees. And 

 as this croji is excellent forage for cattle, as the 

 stalk is always green when most of the seed is 

 fully ripe, it makes a good quality of liaj when 

 ripe enough to save the seed, which is not the 

 case with red clover generally. Moreover, the 

 seed threshes very easily and can be liberally 

 secured by a common flail or threshing machine. 

 We give it as our opinion, that if every far- 

 mer would put one-half of the land now seeded 

 to grass seed into Alsike clover seed, bees might 

 be very profitablj' multiplied in our country an 

 hundred fold, and each hive furnish manj^ times 

 its present profit, and quite as manj' cattle sus- 

 tained by the arrangement as at the present time. 

 We fondly look forward to a day, only a few 

 years in the future, when crops will be sown 

 largel}^ with a view to profit from bees as 

 from other stocks; and that, when that time 

 arrives and apiarian science is widely extended, 

 so as to empty combs of their honey and pre- 

 serve the combs, that a single swarm of bees 

 will be found to give from 300 to 700 pounc's ol 

 surplus honey in a single season! Why not? 

 Let us make a calculation. It is agreed that it 

 requires about one pound of comb to contain 

 twenty-five pounds of honey, and to make one 

 pound of comb, about from fifteen to twenty 

 pounds of honey arc requisite. 



