THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



33 



the hive is again shut up, and not opened until 

 the following afternoon." M. J.— Lockerslie. 



The foregoing plan is so nearly allied to that 

 of Mr. Kohlcr that I, in common with Mr. 

 Woodbury, deemed it desirable to decline re- 

 ceiving any more names of subscribers at 10s. 

 Gd. each, for the secret of the German discover- 

 er, though at the same time feeling very sorry 

 that he should so soon have tost the chance of 

 receiving a little p cuni try benefit for his plan. 



I have no doubt that the course of proceeding 

 recommended by M. J.'s Scotch friend, will be 

 found fully to answer the purpose intended 

 It is strange that, while feeding the young 

 swarm and the stocks containing pure Ligurian 

 drones, for the purpose of inducing the young 

 quei n and the pure drones to fly out earlier in 

 the day than the drones of the generality of hives 

 would ordinarily do, has been more than once 

 recommended, thf apparently equally simple 

 mode of inducing them to go abroad after the 

 usual time of flight, should have been com- 

 pletely overlooked. 



In addition to ihe directions given by M. J., 

 I would suggest that the bees confined in the 

 nucleus, should be supplied with a little artifi- 

 cial food, just prior to their being allowed their 

 liberty. I think this w>uld stimulate both the 

 queen and drones to take flight. I shall hope 

 to hear of favorable results from any of our ar- 

 tificial queen-raising friends who may be dis- 

 posed to try this experiment. 



S. Bevan Fox. 



[From the Canada Farmer.] 

 Alsike Clover. 



[For the American Bee Journal] 



Is Puff-Ball Smoke Injurious? 



One question I would like to ask : Does it 

 hurt bees to smoke them with puff-ball ? One 

 of my neighbors ke ps bees, and sometimes 

 smokes them with puff-ball, and I have noticed 

 that his bees do not swarm as well as others in 

 the neighborhood. I do not know whether it 

 is flint, or because his hives are rather small, not 

 measuring more than l,b00 cubic inches. 



Rufus Stickney. 



East Templeton, Mass. 



tS~The use of puff-ball in fumigating bees, 

 has been objected to, when the hives contain 

 brood, on account of its tendency to destroy 

 the uncapped larva?. We never used it our- 

 selves and cannot speak from experience, but 

 if such be its effect, hives so treated in the 

 spring would be very likely "not to swarm as 

 well as others." Small sized hives would 

 rather promote than prevent or retard swarming. 



Monmouth, III., June 17. 

 Till the 10th of June, bees here did not gather 

 honey enough for their daily need. Since that 

 time, with the exception of three days, they 

 have done well. They are now just beginning 

 to swarm. 



_ All the bees in this county are black, except 

 eight stands, which are Italians. 



T. G. McGkaw. 



EfT" Send us the names of bee-keepers, with 

 their Post Office address. 



The following is an extract from a farm jour- 

 nal :— u May 26, 18G8. Made the weekly in- 

 spection of the farm. Went first to the Colt 

 grouud, where the span of colts, now three 

 years old, are growing into the future team. 

 'ibis place consists of four acres, fenced in with 

 black ash pole, or log fence, so high that they 

 cannot jump over, and so strong that th y can- 

 not break through. This is the true way to 

 prevent colts from being breachy. Thepusfum 

 is very rich, and is more than will be necessary 

 to support the colts during the season. 



"I noticed the Alsike clover particularly, 

 which is now about five inches high. It pos- 

 sesses one unusual peculiarity, viz : that of 

 doing best in the holes covered with water 

 during the winter and spring. No doubt this is 

 a valuable property as compared with red clo- 

 ver, which will not stand such hardship. 

 Another thing to recommend its use is, that, 

 before timothy or red clover is ripe enough to 

 cut for hay, the top-flowers of the Alsike are 

 ripe and shed their seed, which seems to catch 

 at once and grow, as I find vast numbers of 

 young plants, only two inches high, the results 

 of last year's haying. Our colt pasture ia an 

 uneven piece of land, and the root9 and stumps 

 are not out sufficiently to enable us to level it 

 yet." 



This property of withstanding water in the 

 winter and spring renders it a very useful plans 

 for undrained farms, and reminds us of the na- 

 tive p. ace of the Alsike clover, which was first 

 discovered in the ditches of the fortifications of 

 " Alsike," in Sweden. 



[For the American Bee Journal.] 



Revived Bee-Culture. 



Mr. Editor:— I have alwiys felt a lively 

 interest in the bee question , that is, since I 

 was old enough, though that is not yet a great 

 many years. My father kept bees, in an old 

 fashioned hive, for quite a number of years, or 

 till they run out. He came to the conclusion 

 that it was the mothworm that des' royed them; 

 and that there was no u c e in trying to keep 

 bees any longer. Thus the thing was settled, 

 till I took it up again. I procured Mr. Lang- 

 stroth's book and two swarms of bees in frames, 

 and went at it, with the help of some of my 

 knowing friends. The consequence was that 

 the experiment came to a speedy termination 

 the following winter. Since then, I have had 

 better success. Last fall I took the first pre- 

 mium for honey, in New Haven county, and 

 intend to do the same this season. I get my 

 honey in drone comb as much as possible, and 

 generally in small frames. These are set in a 

 large box over the hive; and then, while the 

 comb is built, they are moved apart gradually, 

 till I obtain very thick combs— in fact, as thick 

 as I please, if the season is favorable and long 

 enough. It is very saleable —much more so 

 than in thin comb. Then too, if the clover 



