March IS, 19C6 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL 



235 



be all out. Don' be afraid of breaking the machine, but 6quee/.e it 

 down for all you are worth. If it bursts, get a new one — stronger. 



When you can not persuade any more wax to come out, release 

 the screw, take out the follower, remove the burlap, and dump the re- 

 fuse (and burn your fingers, until you discover how hot it if). Then 

 repeat the process until you are done. Have the boiler for melting 

 the combs on the stove boiling, and have a kettle of water boiling to 

 replace what is dipped out with the boiling wax; and have a pail of 

 cold water handy in case your boiler takes a notion to boil over; and 

 have a few dozen old newspapers spread around on the floor; and 

 have your press right up close to the 6tove for convenience ; and have 

 a tap in the vessel into which the wax and water from the press How, 

 so that the water may be drawn off as the vessel fills up. 



When you have finished, run some boiling water through the 

 press to remove any little bits of wax that may be in it. 



It is generally advisable to melt the wax again after it comes from 

 the press to get it into a solid, clean cake before selling it, or sending 

 it away to be made up into comb foundation. To prevent wax crack- 

 ing when cooling, wrap an old piece of carpet, or something, around 

 and over the vessel to make it cool as slowly as possible. It is cooling 

 too rapidly that causes it to crack. — E. G. H. 



Bees an Interesting Subject— Swarming Habit 



Reading agricultural exchanges has this broadening 

 effect — that it introduces one to writers on bees not often 

 met in the strictly bee-keeping periodicals. Sometimes 

 they hide behind initials — and wisely so. Then, again, 

 they come out boldly. 



F. G. Herman, in the Agricultural Epitomist, says : 



The subject of bees has always been of great interest to me, not 

 only because I started in the business of honey-producing several years 

 ago, and learned from so many different sources that the bee-industry 

 i6 not so well understood as other branches of farming, consequently 

 there is a lack of this necessary knowledge, and the investments 

 usually made in bees are not profitable. When we undertake such a 

 business, even on a small scale, we should study it in its details, so as 

 to be able to overcome difficulties. I think the reader will agree with 

 me that where any special line of farming, whether it be horse-breed- 

 ing, dairying, or sheep husbandry, is undertaken as a special pursuit 

 on a large scale, it very often is a failure financially. I am not going 

 to discuss why this is so, but that it is a fact no one can deny. True 

 it is there are plenty who succeed in all these many branches, but they 

 are exceptions to the general rule. With bees, unless it i6 undertaken 

 first on a small scale and gradually increased, learning as we go and 

 studying and planning, difficulties are sure to arise which are too hard 

 to overcome. 



Probably the thing most annoying to the bee-keeper is the swarm- 

 ing habit. If the bees did not persist in dividing their forces so fre- 

 quently much more surplus honey could be obtained, and the bee- 

 keeper himself would feel more easy about his bees. In producing 

 comb honey in 1-pound boxes it is necessary actually to crowd the bees 

 into the section-boxes, for they seem loath to begin work in such small 

 divisions, and this crowding is one of the initiatives which creates the 

 swarming fever. When producing extracted honey abundant room 

 can be given, and the swarming impulse is greatly checked. There- 

 fore, if bees are to be kept fir from the house, and can not be given 

 much attention, it is advisable to produce only extracted honey, 

 which is done by giving the bee6 large combs and plenty of room, for 

 it matters not whether the combs are entirely completed or not, as 

 the honey is taken from them and the combs retained to be used again. 



=\ 



Southern 

 4- 23eebom -f 



Conducted by Louis H. Scholl. New Braunfels, Tex. 



More About Sweet Clover for the South 



J 



Before leaving the matter of sweet clover as a forage 

 and honey-plant, I shall wish to ask for information con- 

 cerning its growth and its value from those who have given 

 it a trial, or have had experience with it in some way or 

 other. I should be very glad to have reports from all who 

 have grown sweet clover anywhere in the South. Who has 

 succeeded with it, and who failed ? How was it planted 

 and grown, and on what kind of soil ? How much was 

 planted, and what about the yield ? How was the honey as 

 to color, flavor and body ? Did stock eat the clover, green 

 or as hay ? Any and all such information will be greatly 

 appreciated, and will help in getting up valuable informa- 

 tion for our department, which should be an information 

 bureau on just such topics. 



Sweet Clover as a Forage and Honey-Plant 



"We often see in the bee-papers writers stating that 

 stock will not eat sweet clover. Such is not the case in 

 Central Texas. A few years ago we procured sweet clover 

 seed to scatter along the roadside so we could get it started 

 growing for a honey-plant for our bees, and it came up to a 

 good stand, and as soon as it grew large enough the stock 

 kept it eaten down so close that it died. But where it was 

 kept from the stock it grew to a fine growth, and makes a 

 fine honey-plant."— Dr. C. S. Phillips, in The Apiarist. 

 ^m i ^ 



Melilotus for Pasturage— Free Seed 



As I have just run across a letter from Prof. W. J. Spill- 

 man, Agrostologist of the United States Department of 

 Agriculture, on the subject of sweet clover, it will be repro- 

 duced herewith, as it contains some good points of informa- 

 tion. He says : 



"Doubtless many of your readers are more or less 

 familiar with sweet clover, also called melilotus or Bokhara 

 clover. This plant is a common weed over most of the east- 

 ern half of the United States, and is not uncommon on the 

 Pacific Coast. It is generally reported that stock will not 

 eat it either green or cured as hay, but on the black prairie 

 soils of Alabama and Mississippi— soils which are prac- 

 tically identical with the black, waxy soils of Texas— meli- 

 lotus is grown quite extensively, both as a pasture and hay 

 crop and as a soil renovator, and it is quite highly prized 

 in that section for all these purposes. Farmers there state 

 that stock nol accustomed to melilotus at first refuse to eat 

 it, but when they once acquire a liking for it, they do very 

 well upon it. 



"The plant is a legume, very closely resembling alfalfa 

 when it is young, and is undoubtedly a splendid soil-reno- 

 vator. It is also exceedingly hardy. It has occurred to me 

 that on account of its value on the black prairie soils of the 

 Middle South, it is worth testing on the similar black, 

 waxy soils of Texas. We are arranging to secure a quan- 

 tity of seed, and will gladly send a package of seed of this 

 plant to any of the readers who may be located on the black, 

 waxy soil, who will agree to report to us the results of their 

 test of it. We will send these seeds to applicants comply- 

 ing with these conditions as long as the supply lasts. 



" Melilotus is a biennial. It may be sown either in 

 spring or in fall. If sown in the spring it makes consid- 

 erable growth that year, but does not head out. The next 

 year it makes a very large growth, and makes seed in the 

 fall of the year, unless it is cut for hay, and then dies root 

 and branch. It is said to make very good pasture for hogs 

 and other stock, and it makes a good yield of hay. Farmers 

 should remember, however, what has has been said above 

 about stock not liking it at first. Being a legume much 

 like alfalfa and clover in many respects, it is probable that 

 there would be some danger from bloat when pasturing cat- 

 tle or sheep on melilotus."— W. J. Spillman, Agrostologist 

 U. S. Department of Agriculture, Washington, D. C. 



^^^ « ^^^ 



Spring Management of Bees 



Perhaps at the beginning of the season we have all 

 noticed the vigor of any colony that has its stores of honey 

 and brood in a compact form— that is to say, a colony that 

 has honey and brood in all combs occupied by the bees. 

 Colonies in this condition may generally be depended upon 

 to do far better work than others that are poorly supplied 

 with honey. This will apply to the nucleus as well as to 

 the powerful colony. 



To get all colonies in this prime condition, the bee- 

 keeper in most years will be forced to resort to feeding. 



Naturally this brings forth the question of whether 

 feeding is profitable or not. I think all, or nearly all, will 

 agree that it does not pay to feed the colony that has win- 

 tered well and has enough to enable it to reach the flow. 



Some even go so far as to say that all feeding is use- 

 less, and is time and money thrown away. This may be so 

 if there is always an abundant flow of nectar, but should 

 there be 3 or 4 months with little or nothing for the bees to 

 gather, these same people will be found feeding their bees— 

 that is, if they want to keep them alive. 



It pays all the time to feed bees to keep them from 

 starving, and if it pays to keep them alive, it will pay more 

 to keep them in good condition. For the colony that goes 

 through the season in poor condition will more than likely 



