43 



THE AMERICAN BEE KEEPER. 



Feburary 



between black knapweed and purple 

 thistles. His flower for this outing 

 was evidently the knapweed, and when 

 he had exhausted all its blossoms in 

 the immediate neighborhood he was 

 beguiled by similarity in color in try- 

 ing a thistle, but, on alighting he in- 

 stantly discovered his mistake, and 

 flew about looking for more knapweed, 

 which he might easily have found by 

 flying a few yards further. Instead, 

 however, he returned to the inviting 

 thistle-head, and this time gave him- 

 self up with perfect abandon to its 

 luscious delights, stifling the voice of 

 conscience which on his first visit he 

 had so instantly obeyed. 



These little bumble bees repay the 

 time spent on watching their small, 

 busy lives. On another occasion, 

 when camping for the day in a fir- 

 wood, my sister became aware of two 

 of these soft little creatures buzzing 

 round and round the skirt of her 

 dress in such a determined spirited 

 way that we felt they meant business 

 and not mischief. My sister drew 

 her skirt away, when the bees instant- 

 ly made for a tiny hole in the bank, 

 evidently their home door. Their 

 gentle, persistent manner of making 

 their meaning known to us was most 

 striking. 



THE APIARY IN WINTER. 



The expert bee keeper watches his 

 apiary in winter as well as in summer. 

 True, the bees should not be disturbed 

 if they are doing well, for if a strong, 

 healthy colony is rudely disturbed 

 some bees will leave the cluster and, 

 perchance, the hive. If the weather 

 is cold enough to chill them, many of 

 these will perish. Another bad result 

 of such a disturbance is that from 



some instinctive cause the bees fill 

 themselves with honey, and if a pro- 

 longed period of arctic weather fol- 

 lows and prevent them from taking a 

 cleansing flight the colony will become 

 unhealthy, which causes its loss en- 

 tirely. 



But these cautionary suggestions do 

 not imply that there is no winter work 

 to be performed in the apiary. The 

 most skillful bee keepers look after 

 their bees at all seasons. He watches 

 them throughout the year, and is ac- 

 quainted with the situation and con- 

 dition of each colony. It happens 

 sometimes that a colony goes into 

 winter quarters with a large number 

 of old and nearly worn out bees and 

 but few of younger stock. In very 

 cold weather the old bees succumb, 

 and, falling, soon clog the entrance to 

 the hive. Unless they are removed 

 the entire colony will smother. The 

 entrance must be kept open. This is 

 easily done with a wire hook about a 

 foot long. Sometimes excessive mois- 

 ture in a hive causes some fatality, 

 often sufficient to block the entrance 

 at the bottom. Thus it is necessary to 

 watch the apiary every day to avoid 

 unnecessary losses. Care is required 

 in removing dead bees in order that 

 the live ones may not be disturbed or 

 aroused to activity. 



(From American Bee Journal.; 



IMPORTANT QUESTIONS ABOUT 

 SWEET OLOVER. 



BY DR. H, BESSE. 



1. How far from the apiary can bees 

 work profitably on sweet clover, when 

 they fly in the direction of a field for 

 it, and have nothing else to work on, 

 and come in loaded ? 



2. How much sweet clover seed is 



