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THE america:n bee journal. 



283 



is not so exbaustiug as some think. I 

 liad a new lieUl iu for IG years, and au 

 iidjoiuiug field ouly t\YO crops, tlieu sow- 

 od with timothy, and clover grew liuely. 

 Buckwheat docs uot e.xhaust the soil as it 

 draws most of its dampness from the air. 



Mr. Benedict — In my locality they do 

 well on clover and locust; the idea I 

 Avould go on would be to select a locality 

 where it is good to secrete honey. Our 

 honey ceases at the end of clover time, 

 the season lasts about five weeks. Linn 

 is the best that we can cultivate — easily ! 

 transplanted — I set out a great deal of it ] 

 last spring, it did well ; set out as soon i 

 as the frost is out of the ground ; blooms 

 last of June with us. 



Mr. Zimmerman — I discover iu my ex- 

 perience more honey along the rivers, and 

 bees do better on bottom timber. We 

 have clover and basswood. I would re- 

 commend that all would cultivate catnip. 

 Basswood is abundant iu my grove and I 

 cultivate some of it, it is next to fall 

 tlowers. Boneset, golden-rod (three kinds 

 of it), the low sort is the best. Use ex- 

 tractor iu summer, and get winter stores 

 from fall fiowers, and sometimes when 

 these begin I make three hives of one. 



Mr. N. N. Betsiuger — Asked if sowing 

 two acres of catnip will pay. 



Mr. Zimmerman — I think it will. 



Mr. Benedict — I think it will pay better 

 to sow white clover where the ground is 

 moist. 



Mr. Betsinger— Two years ago I sowedr 

 Alsike, and it came on last June. In pass- 

 ing through the Alsike clover, saw bees 

 swarming on it, (sowed it on low damp 

 ground) while white clover did uot do 

 near so well. 



Mr. Zimmerman — "Which does the 

 best? 



Mr. Betsinger — Alsike is my experience. 



Mr. Benedict — Bees work equally as j 

 well on Alsike as on white clover, think \ 

 Alsike will secrete more honey. 



Mr. Abner J. Pope — I went to the 

 Shauendoah Valley, Va., was there from 

 June 21st to Oct. 30th. I saw '"blue 

 thistles " in bloom, and some told me it 

 Avas their best honey source ; some fields 

 Avere full of it, and was troublesome ; in 

 • another field. by the side of it I saw white 

 clover. Thistle is the best honey source 

 and does uot hinder cultivation, it enrich- 

 es the soil and never fails to produce 

 honey. 1 also saw it in 3Iaryland. 



Mr. Clarke — I would say that there is a 

 Canadian thistle and you are welcome to 

 all of it. 



Mr. J. W. Sherif — I notice growing a 

 species of clover, it grows 3 ft. high, and 

 1 saw as many as tAventy bees on a flower, 

 both black and Italian bees. Blooms last 

 of August. 



!Mr. John Stevenson — I planted sun- 

 floAver for ornament and my bees done 

 Avell on it this summer. 



Mr. Rush — I planted plenty of it and 

 never saw a bee on it only for pollen. 



Mr.M. Winder — A friend recommended 

 it highly for honey. 



]\Irs. Tupper — We need a locality 

 which has locust, clover and fruit bloom. 

 This year my bees did Avell on fruit 

 bloom, but it does not occur one season 

 in ten. We shyuld arrange to have our 

 bees ready for the honey harvest. 1 

 Avould begin to rear brood freely, early. 

 I Avould give them empty comb in the 

 middle of the hive and get brood iu it, 

 and have the hive strong, and may have 

 as high as two bushels of bees ; continue 

 to feed and keep the queen going. Every- 

 one should study their locality. AVhen I 

 use empty comb I keep them from swarm- 

 ing. 



Mr. Betsiuger — What kind of a hive do 

 j'^ou use ? 



Mrs. Tupper — I use a plain box hive 

 with frames 12x12. Alsike clover when 

 sown in a good locality is the best I have, 

 better than Avhite clover. 



Mr. King — I think if I should go into 

 the honey gathering again I should look 

 to fall plants, -such as golden-rod and 

 aster, the golden-rod is rather yellow but 

 aster is much clearer honey. All through 

 Ohio Ave don't have much fall blooms, 

 and even east of it. 



Mr. Chapman — I am of the opinion of 

 Mrs. Tupper, I can control swarms by 

 giving empty comb. 



Mrs. Tupper — Many persons have more 

 fall pasture than they think they have, if 

 they would take the honey out and give 

 them a chance of gathering it. 



Mr. Replogle — AVhat is the difference 

 of the same kind of floAvers in different 

 localities and same climate ? 



Mr. Betsinger — Where I am located 

 now in Onondaga Co., N. Y., Ave have all 

 kinds. I saAv basswood so plenty, that if 

 you would shake a tree it would fall in 

 profusion and daub you with honey, it 

 lasted one week each year. Last year I 

 got all my surplus honey from teasel. It 

 is not best to raise over three acres of it, 

 it is a valuable plant, and I would give 

 up bees if I had nothing better than 

 clover. 



Mr. J. E. ]Sloore — I think, with me it 

 would pay to keep bees on Avhite clover, 

 near Rochester, Pa. I got 107 lbs. from 

 one hive from May 30th to July 4th. 



WINTERING BEES. 



Mr. Benedict — I have a plan better than 

 glass. I have a box made square to put 

 on top of my hives and the bees go up in 

 the top of my hive to fly and fall back on 

 the frames, have a quilt over the frames 



