THE BEE-KEEPERS' REVIEW 135 



with the desperate hope that she can in this way perpetuate the 

 life of the colony. 



While I honestly believe that the best ''spring" treatment for a 

 colony of bees is to have an abundance of good stores given in the 

 fall before, and that early spring manipulation almost in any form, 

 is not to the best interests of the colony, yet I am not so foolish 

 as to try to persuade friend [Nlathewson and other believers of early 

 spring feeding to stop their practice which seems to give good re- 

 sults in their hands. However, as stated before, these comments 

 on the system advocated by friend Mathewson are for the benefit 

 of some who may contemplate entering the business and who may 

 be discouraged by the picture of barrels of sugar looming up in the 

 horizon whenever they think of bee-keeping. Sugar may be neces- 

 sary sometimes in the fall for winter stores, but deliver this chap 

 from the necessity of feeding any l^efore fruit bloom in the spring. 



PAINTING FOUNDATION WITH WAX. 



O. O. Poppleton is exceedingly good authority, but although 

 interested in his plan of painting the tops of the sheets of founda- 

 tion to prevent sagging, I am not at all enamoured with the idea, as 

 it appears to me it would take a lot of wax and a lot of work to 

 practice the plan on an extensive scale. With vertical wiring I 

 have found that the trouble is pretty well done away with, and 

 although many of my frames are wired horizontally. I unhesitatingly 

 assert that the best method is the vertical. It will not likely ever 

 be a popular method, as it is more trouble to pierce the top-bars 

 than the ends — this may explain why the vertical plan has not more 

 advocates. Perhaps another objection is that the ordinary bottom 

 bars will spring badly when the wires are strung from top to bottom. 



CIiOVER BI.COMING FIBST VEAB. 



White clover and alsike are. in "our locality." biennials. In 

 other words the plants that came up in '11 will bloom, go to seed 

 and then die in '12. This may not always be true, but it is the 

 general rule, as can be proven by all who cultivate the two plants 

 for seed. In the past we have raised hundreds of acres ot both 

 kinds of clover, and the seed crop is always taken the second year 

 after being sown. Sometimes the alsike will bloom in August the 

 first year sown, to a limited extent, if the season has been a moist 

 one. In such cases, while the bees would be seen on the blossoms, 

 yet no honey of any account would be brought in. 



BEE ESCAPES. 



Have never used bee escape boards to any extent, and as we are 

 thinking of getting a number to use at the apiary 200 miles away 

 from home, next season, I read with interest what Friend Getaz has 



