THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



125 



ure," you will find him whispering to him- 

 self as follows : 



"That you cannot winter bees, is very evident, 

 and unless you can show us that you can summer 

 them, we sliall have to conclude you are no bee- 

 keeper at all. " 



(He certainly must have forgotten to feed 

 his bees on A. Coffee sugar syrup). 



For these, and many other reasons, we 

 long ago concluded that Root, or "Novice," 

 as he takes pride in calling himself, is not 

 a safe guide, nor capable of the job he has 

 undertaken of regulating the whole bee 

 world. D. L. Adair. 



Hawesville,^Ky. 



Sundry Questions and Answers. 



CONDUCTED BY CH. DADANT. 

 QUESTION. 



How am I to subdue bees, and shake them 

 off deep combs ? I find it makes them cross. 

 0. S. Bkown. 



ANSWER. 



Here is the way we remove the bees off 

 the combs, to be emptied with the extractor : 

 We take out of the hive the combs to be 

 emptied and w^e replace tiiem by as many dry 

 combs ; we close the hive ; then with a small 

 broom of blue grass or with a goose wing we 

 brush the bees in front of the liive. As the 

 work is done quickly the bees do not have 

 time to become cross. 



QIIE.STIONS. 



1st. At what time does basswood blossom ? 



2nd. How many basswood trees are requir- 

 ed to furnish a colony of bees with as much 

 honey as tlicy can gather ? How old are they 

 when they first blossom '? 



3rd. Will they grow on poor dry sandy or 

 gravely land of drift formation ? 



4th. Has Esparcet ever been tried in this 

 country ? Where can the seed be obtained ? 



5th. 'is there any honey yielding hedge 

 plant that sheep will not browse ? 



H. A. Spkague. 



AN.SAVERS. 



1st. Basswood blossoms about as soon as 

 the main blooming of clover is over. Here 

 (Hancock Co., 111.) it blossoms between the 

 1st and loth of .July. There are two kinds of 

 basswood which can thrive in the northern 

 IStates and which do not blossom exactly at 

 the same time. 



2nd. It is impossible to answer the second 

 question. Some times the basswood flowers 

 seem to have been dipped in honey, while at 

 other years the blossoms contain nearly no 

 honey. We have planted a nursery of bass- 

 wood in order to give the trees to our neigh- 

 bors to plant as shade trees around their 

 dwellings. We think that plan a good one. 

 Lindens will bloom after six years, may be 

 sooner, if planted already large. 



3rd. From what I know of basswood which 

 is growing extensively in France, around the 



cities, I think it will grow in the jtctorest 

 soils. 



4th. Esparcet is a plant so useful that I 

 cannot but suppose that it has been tried in 

 this country. May be the hard winters have 

 killed it, or i)erhaj>s it has been tried on wet 

 soil. Yet I believe that it can succeed in 

 some parts of the United States. 



Esparcette,or sainfoin,()f Burgundy, {Hedis- 

 artvrn onobrychls) like a calcareous soil ; its 

 flower is a rose and pretty. It is very good for 

 hay, as its French name indicates : sain- 

 foin, healthy hay, and is unsurpassed for 

 honey, as to quality and (juantity. 



There is in France a great quantity of 

 plants pertaining to the same family {the le- 

 guminous) which for the greater part would 

 prove a good acquisition for this country. I 

 can name : — the carnation clover, or farouch. 

 (trifoUum incariwtuin) which can be sowed 

 in March to be cropped in JiUy or August, or 

 sowed in June for September. A very good 

 plant for hay and honey. 



The Lucern {medicugo sativa) varieties : 

 media, falcata, etc. The lucern gives three 

 to six crops yearly for six or eight years, in 

 France, its flowers are deep violet and give 

 very good honey. 



The lucern lupulina {med. lupulina) an- 

 nual with yellow flowers ; good for hay and 

 honey. 



The lotus corniculatres— good for wet soils. 



The gesses (lathyrus) varieties : sativus, 

 hirsuties, cicera, prutensis, etc. 



The vesces {vicin) varieties : sativa, cien- 

 nis, cracca, this last so pretty that it is called 

 in France vescc elegante. 



The ers ervillia {ervuia ervllUa) 



The Lentil (ervxim lens) 



All these plants belonging to the same 

 family are good for honey, and are cultivated 

 for hay ; the last named is commonly eaten 

 by the French people ; it is with its seeds 

 that the French house-keepers make the 

 puree de lentUles. 



I think it is impossible to find the seeds of 

 the above iilants on this side of the Atlantic. 

 If any bee-keeper wants to try one or many 

 of them, I will be glad to get them from 

 France for them, without charging anything 

 for my work. I am aciiuainted with several 

 French bee-keepers wlio will cheerfully take 

 the trouble of buying and sending the seeds 

 desired. 



5th. I know of no honey yielding ])lant 

 good for hedging in this country. 



In describing the " smoker" on page 131 

 of our last issue, the printer made Mr. Cut- 

 ler's name Isaiah instead of Josiah, and it 

 ought to have stated that had but just 

 commenced the 84th year of his age. 



