716 



AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL 



They Want to Exchange. 



Meester Dr. Meeler, I like to ax mit 

 you somedings. Mine friendt, Hans, 

 haff lots off vrames off voundation all 

 vired goot, und I haff lots off pees und 

 proodt. After de honey-vlow ve vants 

 to oxchange bees frames off voundation 

 vor som off my vrames off proodt. Eflery 

 vrame moost pe vull mit proodt und 

 coffered mit pees. How mooch moniiigs 

 he moost pay me to boot for dot, on 

 each vrame? Hees vrames pe de best 

 vired vons, und mine pe de werry pest 

 Italians. Gusty. 



Hansburg, Vestgoncian. 



Answer. — Now see here, Gusty, my 

 dear, I'm not going to get into a quarrel 

 between you and Hans. You must try 

 to get into the ways of this country, and 

 have everything on a cash basis. Take 

 your knitting along some evening and 

 talk it over with Hans. Settle on what 

 you think is a fair price for your goods 

 on each side, then deal accordingly. Or, 

 if you're Hans' best girl, just leave it all 

 to him, and he will make a fair bargain. 



Sweet Clover — Rearing Queens, Etc. 



1. I find the ecomiums on the honey- 

 virtues of sweet clover not a few by cor- 

 respondents of the " Old Reliable," but 

 no one has (as far as I know) given any 

 direction how to raise it. I would like 

 to know how much seed is required per 

 acre, and if it can be sown in the spring 

 among the wheat like other clover, or 

 must the soil be specially prepared ? 



2. When the Doolittle method of rear- 

 ing queens is practiced in colonies not 

 queenless, after the cells are formed, 

 wherefrom is the royal jelly procured in 

 which the young larva is placed ? 



3. Would there be any loss of honey, 

 if, when a prime swarm issues, the old 

 queen were disposed of, the old and new 

 swarms united, and a new queen reared 

 from the existing queen-cells '? and 

 would it prevent after-swarming, or 

 rather, would it not prevent swarming 

 entirely if the old queen were destroyed 

 before the prime swarm issues ? 



Wadsworth, 0. H. F. R. 



Answers. — 1. I'm not sure that I ever 

 saw explicit instructions for raising 

 sweet clover. I have had some experi- 

 ence in the matter, and it rather leads 

 me to the conclusion that to get a good 

 stand you should avoid doing anything 

 that would be likely to make a success 

 in cultivating anything else, and do 

 everything that would be likely to make 

 any other crop a failure. 



One year I had a piece of ground 

 beautifully prepared, and sowed with 

 oats and sweet clover. It came up nice- 

 ly, the stand was very even, but the fol- 

 lowing spring there wasn't a plant to be 

 seen. At the same time, out on the 

 hard roadside, where the wheels had 

 run over it and the horses trodden upon 

 it, there was a luxuriant growth. I sup- 

 pose it should be either upon very hard 

 ground or else so deep that freezing 

 would not make it heave. 



I don't know just how much seed is 

 needed for an acre, and I doubt if it 

 need make very much difference. If 

 the plants are close, they will grow all 

 right, and if they are two feet apart 

 they will stool out so as to occupy the 

 ground. 



If you sow in the fall or early spring 

 directly on sod without plowing, I think 

 you may expect a fair stand, providing 

 the ground is somewhat trodden by 

 stock. I say this from the fact that 

 some of my ground has been thus occu- 

 pied, and from the fact that sweet clover 

 flourishes on the hardest roadside with- 

 out any care. 



I am inclined to believe there is a 

 future for sweet clover, when it is 

 known that it makes excellent pasture 

 and hay for stock that have learned to 

 like it. 



2. Of course there's no way but to get 

 the first start of jelly from a cell of the 

 bees' own starting, either in a colony 

 made queenless or making preparations 

 for swarming. After getting a start, 

 part of your cells can be sacrificed to 

 start others. 



3. In some places I think there might 

 be a loss of honey, as where there is a 

 long flow or a principal fall floWj making 

 the colony and swarm get more than the 

 colony without swarming. In places 

 where there is no harvest after clover, 

 there might be no loss. If you destroy 

 the old queen at or just before swarm- 

 ing, then kill all queen-cells but one at 

 the right time, of course there will be 

 no swarming. But that's easier said 

 than done. It may, however, be worth 

 some effort. Try it and report. 



The Amateur Bee-Keeper, 



is the name of a neat little pamphlet 

 designed for the class its name indicates 

 — amateurs and beginners in bee-keep- 

 ing. It is written by Mr. J. W. Rouse, 

 of Missouri, a practical apiarist and 

 helpful writer. It (;ontains over 60 

 pages, and we will send it postpaid for 

 25 cents ; or club it wfth the Bee Jour- 

 nal for one year — both for only $1.15, 



