200 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



and found the qneen missing, but could 

 not detect the egg layer. I at once insert- 

 ed a queen cell, which hatched within 

 24 hours. She has become fertile, and is 

 filling the combs with brood. The 

 worker continued to deposit eggs, until 

 about the time the queen commenced lay- 

 ing, but since then I do not see any of her 

 eggs. I was able to distinguish her eggs 

 from those deposited by the queen, as 

 they are much smaller, and not one out of 

 a dozen appeared to hatch. As these 

 modes of supplanting a fertile worker 

 are much more convenient than the plan 

 suggested in the July number, and have 

 succeeded quite as well as any other plan 

 could, I give the bee fraternity the benefit 

 of my experience. 



Bees wintered poorly on their summer 

 stands, but in-door wintering succeeded 

 well here the past winter. Bees had no 

 fruit blossoms this spring, hence the first 

 honey was gathered from white clover, 

 which was abundant; but about the time 

 it was fairly in bloom, it commenced to 

 rain, and has kept it up almost daily ever 

 since, and while I write, it is pouring 

 down for the eighth hour in succession. 

 There can be no surplus unless the 

 weather becomes more dry, although 

 there is an abundance of blossoms in 

 early fall plants. J. E. Reihie. 



Lima, O., August 1st, 1875. 



For the American Bee Journal. 

 Alsike Clover. 



Alsike or hybrid clover, which takes its 

 name from the Alsike district, near Stock- 

 holm, we have sowed and tested for five 

 years, and have found it superior to red 

 clover. The root is fibrous and the heads 

 globular. It bears a greater resemblance 

 to the white than to the red clover. The 

 advantage it has over other varieties, are 

 that the frost does not afl'ect it, and conse- 

 quently can be sown on damp ground 

 with good results. I have sowed some 

 seed in a wet place, and at the same time 

 sowed some red clover seed. I had plenty 

 of Alsike clover but not one plant of red 

 clover. From four to five pounds of seed 

 is required for an acre when sowed clear; 

 and about half that amount when sown 

 with timothy. This clover makes finer 

 and better hay than either white or red 

 clover, for the stalks are not as thick and 

 woody as those of red clover. It will re- 

 main green until after harvest, when it 

 will be as white as time thy, and not turn 

 black like red clover, when cut as late as 

 timothy is, after being left standing until 

 harvest. It can also be threshed with 

 timothy, the seed easily separated, and 

 al.so imparts a flavor to tlireshed timothy. 



When allowed to ripen its seed, it can- 

 not be cut more than one season, as it 

 bears its seed with the first blossom in 



each year; but if it is grown for a hay 

 crop, it can be cut again in the fall, and 

 will yield a nice lot of fine hay for calves 

 and sheep. It yields about one-third more 

 seed to the acre. 



Among its disadvantages maybe reckon- 

 ed its rank growth, rendering it liable to 

 be lodged. D. N. Kern.» 



Shimersville, Lehigh Co., Pa. 



For the American Bee JournaL 

 My Bees. 



Perhaps you would like to hear about 

 my bees. I have had a good many ups 

 and downs, especially dotcm, in the pur- 

 suit; enough to have discouraged me from 

 any other pursuit almost. At present I 

 am not keeping bees under the most fa- 

 vorable circumstances, as I am sixtj^-seven 

 miles distant from them. " Ah, yes ! " say 

 you, "some one takes care of them for 

 you." Nothing of the kind. I do all 

 that is done with them myself, except 

 sometimes taking them out or putting 

 them in the cellar, and — but first let me 

 tell you some of my previous experience. 

 After keeping bees for some years, at first 

 with box hives, afterward with a kind of 

 frame hive, having bought several stocks 

 at dilferent times (I didn't buy my first 

 swarm), and having obtained honey enough 

 to use on the table at a cost of — well, not 

 over a dollar a pound, — I finally adopted 

 the regular Langstroth hive. I believe 

 this was in 1870, some nine years after get- 

 ting my first swarm, and the same year I 

 got a honey extractor. I began the season 

 of 1870 with eight colonies increased to 

 nineteen, and took about 400 pounds of 

 honey. This warmed up my zeal consid- 

 erably. In the winter 1 lost three stocks, 

 so I commenced the season of 1871 with 

 16 stocks, took 408 pounds of honey, and 

 the season being favorable, I increased 

 without much dilficulty, till I reached 30 

 or 40, and I thought it would be a nice 

 thing to have an even 50, so I reached about 

 that number, for so many of them were 

 weak, that I am not sure exactly how many 

 it would be fair to call them. I fed them 

 some quite late, too late for them to seal 

 over, and they were put in the cellar with 

 little anxiety as to the result. In the win- 

 ter they became quite uneasy, and on Feb- 

 ruary 11th I took out five hives, which flew 

 a little, and I put them back. They con- 

 tinued to become more uneasy and to be 

 afl'ected with dysentery, and on February 

 22, I took them all out and found only 23 

 alive. They flew a little, but it was not C 

 warm enough for a general cleaning; and 

 soon after, there came a cold storm with 

 snow a foot deep, and by April 1st, I had 

 only three stocks living, two of which I 

 united, making a total of two left from the 

 45 or 50. It was some comfort to know that 

 nearly every person lost heavily the same 

 winter. 



