1SM4 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CUI/IHiRE. 



271 



th(> bfcs from one hive to the otlioi', so as lo 

 work biith colonies in one \\\\c ;\i will?" 



" Tliii t is as simple as a t urn "f l li ■ hind, and 

 I will cxiihiiii it to yoii. Mr. l),i,'4'-it, li;i< l)i>en 

 wailinii ;i. liMiy; time for an (xplanalinn. He 

 came here in Jniie^ and here it is the fast of 

 .Inly, and I have had no time to explain the 

 work iny: of this hive before. The stand upon 

 which I he hives are placed is, as yon see, long 

 enoni^h to accommodate two hives, with an en- 

 trance at each end, one for each hive, which 

 admits the bees from the under side of the 

 brood -chamber, precisely like the Bristol-hive 

 entranc(>. The stand has a double bottom, 

 with a ^8 space between the two bottoms, and 

 is so constructed that, without any entrance- 

 slides, the bees can pass in at one end of stand 

 and out at the other, passing between the two 

 bottom-: or they can, if they choose, enter 

 either hive th -y wish fi'om this ^g passage. 

 Now. ill. II. yon -^ee I have the whole working 

 force of tlic-Je two colonies working in this left- 

 hand hive, upon which there are two tiers of 

 sections, or tour I!ii-!ol clamps." 



" How do yoM III, mage to force the bees from 

 the riirht- hand hive into i lie Icfr-haivl one. and 

 prevent thi'ir eniering iheir osvn hi ve ? "' asks 

 Mr. Daggett. 



" I do that >^iniply by th<> U'-e of the tin slide 

 you si'c aianding up against the lefl-hnu'l hive. 

 This tin cl"^'^s the irider or main euiranc' en- 

 tirely, forcing the 1. iiirning bees, wiiich In long 

 to the ripiif-hand liive. to pas-^ on through 

 between the two hottoiiis. ;i nd enter tin' left- 

 hand lii\e through an entrance sp"L-ially pro- 

 vided lor them by the use of the \\'()o(i slide, 

 with u loiiix slot in the middli'. w liicli re-is here 

 agiiiiKl ihe right-hand hive. The >li<t, how- 

 ever, in ilii- slide is not exactly in the middle; 

 as one side of this slide is narrower than the 

 other. 1 he nairow side is used when both colo- 

 nies work ill one hive, iunl the wide one is used 

 when ] wish to kee|) eaidi colony separate. 

 These slides and the entrances are so arranged 

 that iheywnik I'ompletidv in uniting or sepa- 

 raiiii'.i I lie t\\<i colonies. \n\\ will observe that 

 I ha \ I' t\\ o i-scape hojis Willi cone b' e esc.ii)es 

 ovei' iliein. through which ih.- hi'i'S can e-cape 

 from ihe ri'.'ht luind hive, that may have been 

 shut in l)v the closing of the main entrance. 

 These e.-capiug bees, whiui returning, naturally 

 go to the main entrance: and. being cut off by 

 the tin slide, are obliged to follow along and 

 enter the left hand hive, thereby making that 

 colony doubly -strong. Then in five or six days 

 I reverse the whole business by placing the sec- 

 tions on the right-hand iiive and exchanging 

 slides, when all the b(;es work in the right-hand 

 hive, and in five or six days more I again ex- 

 chauffe ihi^ slides an I'sections from one to the 

 other, and so on throufrh th<> season. It is 

 necessary, of course, for tin* operator to keep a 

 corri'ct record of every hive in each apiary, so 

 that none may be overlooked or forgotten, as 



tliat would make bad work, and cause the 

 strong colony to swarm. :ind tlu; light depopu- 

 lated one to heuiine so iiiiich reduced that it 

 would be ruined entirely." 



"Now, Miinuiii. after one season's trial of 

 this non-swarming principle, how do you like 

 it? Can you recommend it to otiiers?" asks 

 Scott. 



■• Well, genlle'uen, I hear thr; dinn(U--bell, 

 and we will respond to that call; and after din- 

 ner we will continue this talk over the non- 

 swarming method." 



S *VEET CLOVER. 



now IT I-OOSK,NS UP TIIK SOU,. 



Bt) G. J. Yuder. 



As is well known, sweet clover is a valuable 

 honey-plant, while some persons regard it as a 

 bad weed: hu*. with (deven summers' experience 

 I have learned quir<f a little about it. In the 

 first place, I sowed it for its honey qualities; 

 but I soon found there was something else of 

 value connected with it. I sowed it on poor 

 heavy soil in the spring of 1882. The following 

 year it was a boon to my bees, yielding abun- 

 dance of honey. I had sown it near the public 

 road, and many persons going by would stop to 

 sr>e the l)ees work nn it, and expressed surprise. 

 The roots peni'trate deep into the hard subsoil, 

 and make the land loose nnd friable, and, after 

 the crop is cleared ofT, it is in fine condition to 

 put to other crops. '" 



We once, just as it was done blooming, turn- 

 ed it under and sowed it to btickwheat, thus 

 getting two crops of bloom in one summer. 

 The following spring we sowed it to oats, get- 

 ting a fine crop, while at the same time the 

 sweet clover volunteered, making a heavy 

 growth by the l-^ith of Sept.. standing about 

 three feet high. Now was our time to -try its 

 qualitii'S for hay. and, suiting the action to the 

 thought, the mower was brought out, and in 

 due time we had it in a stack, making about 13^ 

 tons per acre. It was the sweetest-smelling 

 hay that T have ever .seen. In one instance I 

 had to call the doctor one very dark night, and, 

 as we came within a few rods of the haystack, 

 the doctor stopped short and said, " What 

 smells so wonderfully sweet?" On being told it 

 was a stack of sweet- clover hay he was much 

 surprised. It was actually so sweet that, every 

 warm day diu-ing the winter, the bees would be 

 flying about it. We fed it all out to our sheep, 

 with corn fodder for a change, and I never had 

 sheep do better. Hor.seswill readily eat it, but 

 cows do not care much for i;. 



^VHERE SHOULD WK SOW SWKK r ^T.OVKIS ? 



It will grow almost anywhere, even .in very 

 rocky hillsides and waste lands; but I prefer to 

 sow it where I can keep control of it and get a 

 crop of bloom and a cro]) of seed; then the next 

 spring a crop of some kind, and in the fall a 



