314 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Apk. 15. 



lows, at an angle of about 4.5° toward the left 

 for a right-handed man. This is about as much 

 of an improvement as the curved nozzle; for, 

 while the latter saves bending the arm, the 

 former saves twisting it. A good smoker is the 

 most valuable implenvnt in the apiary, and I 

 have written this for ihe benefit of bee-keep- 

 ers, and not for the benefit of the makers who 

 probably do not need the smoker trade as much 

 as do some of their competitors. 



WILT. HONKY GO ON THE FRKK LIST ? 



The Senate committee have lowered the 

 House duty on honey, and it would not be at all 

 surprising if honey were put upon the free list 

 before the Wilson bill passes. The Vermont 

 State Association have sent in a protest, but I 

 have not heard any thing from the standing 

 '•watch-dog" committee on legislation (Messrs. 

 Hambaugh, Taylor, and Secor), appointed at 

 Albany. The Mohawk Valley now produces 

 but little more extracted honey than a supply 

 for the home trade. 



The weather so far this monih has been as it 

 usually is in April. Our cellars being heavily 

 stocked, the warm weather caused the temper- 

 ature to rise beyond the point of safety. We 

 therefore set out a part of the bees. The waste 

 on the cellar bottom for the ten days before set- 

 ting them out nearly equaled that of the entire 

 winter before. Those from the cellar emptied, 

 appear in fair condition, with few dead swarms. 

 We had removed over three hundred before we 

 found the first dead one. This is earlier than 

 we ever set out bees before. 



Starkville, N. Y., March 20. 



MIGRATORY BEE-KEEPING IN GERMANY. 



gravenhorst's hive; some of its advan- 

 tages FOR MOVING. 



By C. J. U. Gravenliurst. 



As soon as I began keeping bees for a liveli- 

 hood I came to the conclusion that I could 

 achieve success only by adopting the migratory 

 system of our old bee-masters of the heath who 

 live on the large plains of North Germany, and 

 of whom I gave an account in a previous ar- 

 ticle. 



It may be that some of my brother bee-keep- 

 ers in Gtirmany have attained th(i desired suc- 

 cess in apiculture without liauliug liieir bees 

 around from place to place; buL it is only when 

 they live in one of those regions of Germany 

 where bees may gather honey from spring till 

 autumn. Uut such regions are very scarce 

 here. In most parts of our country we can ex- 

 pect a good honey harvest only, first, in spring 

 — that is, in April, May, and June, from rape, 

 bilberry, fruit - blossoms, etc.; or, second, in 

 June and July from locusts, lindens, corn-flow- 

 ers, etc. ; or, third, in July, August, and Septem- 

 ber, from buckwheat and £/v,ca'iHt/(/ari« (heath- 

 er). As I live in the second region I am obliged 



to move around with ray bees early in the 

 spring, and in July, if I wish to make money 

 with my bees; then early in the spring till 

 June, and from July to September, my bees live 

 at home mostly from hand to mouth. Thus I 

 have to be continually on the lookout for the 

 best bee-pasturage in my immediate neighbor- 

 hood, as well as many miles from my apiaries; 

 and when the frost killed the blossoms at home, 

 or when I perceived that the blossoms near my 

 apiaries did not yield any nectar, while at some 

 distance the frost had not done any damage at 

 all, or that the blossoms yielded more nectar on 

 account of rain, or when some one at that 

 place had sown several acres of good honey- 

 plants— for instance, rape, white clover, etc., I 

 did hot hesitate about hauling by bees to those 

 places which I found to be better. You see, 

 friend Hoot, I was forced to travel around with 

 my bees, and it often had to be done very quick- 

 ly. You know what a great advantage it is to 

 be in the right place at the right time, in order 

 that the bees may work fast. You know, also, 

 how soon a change of weather sets in, and how 

 soon the plants lose their blossoms. Consider- 

 ing all this, you will readily see why I have to 

 use a hive suitable for migration, that can be 

 made ready without the least delay, for a long 

 or short journey, and one that gives the great- 

 est immunity from damage to any colony or its 

 combs. The hive I have used for nearly thirty 

 years has proven to be such a one. Let me re- 

 late a little episode that well illustrates what I 

 have just said: 



On the first day of April, 1893, 1 hauled over 

 40 colonies to a friend who resides in a village 

 two miles from my home. Here abounds the 

 bilberry {Heklelheere) , yielding every year a 

 good crop of honey. One morning my good 

 friend called me and said: 



" You know, friend Gravenhorst, we have had 

 severe frosts for several nights, and so all the 

 blossoms of our bilberry are destroyed. There 

 is now uo hope for pasturage for our bees." 



" Yes, I know," said I, "and therefore it will 

 be better to haul my bec-s home." 



" You will not do that if I tell you what I 

 know. I heard, some days ago, that, six miles 

 from my village, there would be twenty or more 

 acres of rape in full blossom. I was there yes- 

 terday, and I saw the large field. It was just 

 as I was told. I also saw the bees hard at work 

 on it. The rape has not suffered in the least 

 from the frost. Now, I am of the opinion that 

 we had better haul our bees this night to that 

 place. Not far from the rape-field I have hired 

 a bee-house in the garden of an old friend. 

 There will be room enough there for our colo- 

 nies." 



"All right," said I. "Then I will go with 

 you and prepare my bees for the trip." 



I went to my neighbor, a cartman, and order- 

 ed him (as I have no team) to be on hand with 

 the bee-wagon at six o'clock in the evening, at 



