10 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



Jan. 7, 





CONDUOTBD BT 



OK. O. O. MILLER, SdARENGO, ILL. 



LQuestlonB may be mailed to the Bee Journal, or to Dr. Miller direct.] 



moist Ground in tlic Bcc.Cellar. 



I would like to learn if it would be injurious to bees to re- 

 move them from the cellar and make a warm pen or other 

 place for them above ground. We had a three-days' rain 

 Thanksgiving week, and water got into the cellar, making 

 the ground moist, though not very wet. Which would be best 

 to do, leave them in the cellar and risk the dampness, or take 

 them out and leave them above ground the rest of the winter ? 



S. J. T. 



Answer. — Probably you'll do as well to leave the bees in 

 the cellar. A little moisture will not hurt them, especially if 

 the cellar is not too cold. Indeed, success has been good in 

 cellars with water running through them all winter. It isn't 

 the moisture that hurts so much as the bad air, only bees can't 

 stand as much cold in a wet as in a dry cellar. See to it that 

 the air of the cellar does not get foul, by opening up windows 

 or doors at night, and if the temperature gets below about 

 45°, plan some way to warm it. 



Alsilic and Sweet Clover. 



Where does Alsike clover grow? About how tall is it? 

 When should it be sown ? We have some wild clover here 

 that grows from two to five feet high. Some people call that 

 sweet clover, but 1 don't think it is. It grows very much 

 along the roadside, in ditches, etc. 



W. W., Union Hill, III. 



Answer. — Both sweet and Alsike clover grow all over the 

 State of Illinois, as well as other States. Alsike is easily dis- 

 tinguisht by its blossoms — beautiful pink and white, in size 

 and color between white and red clover, and grows about as 

 high as red clover. On some ground sweet clover grows about 

 as high as you mention, two to five feet high ; on other ground 

 higher. The blossoms are not iu heads like most clovers, but 

 more the shape of a stem of currant blossoms, sweet clover 

 blossoms being small and white. When wilted, the leaves 

 have a peculiar and strong fragrance. It keeps in bloom 

 among the last things in the fall, the blossoms often appear- 

 ing along the almost-dead stalk. It would bo nothing strange 

 if the plant in question should turn out to be sweet clover. 



Feeding for Pollen to Prevent Bees Bceoming 

 a IVui»anee. 



Feeding for pollen will be a necessity with me in the 

 spring. Not that the bees need it. but peace in the neighbor- 

 hood will make It a necessity. Last spring cattle-feeders came 

 with a complaint that my bees were so thick in the feed- 

 troughs that the cattle could not eat. At first I thought their 

 statements were exaggerated ; but on examination, I found it 

 too true. Bees were just rolling over each other in the feed- 

 troughs, and about the mill men grinding had been stung. 

 In fact, the bees were a nuisance. To stop the trouble I 

 thought to feed something they liked better, and near the api- 

 ary. First rye-flour was given, then (Iraham flour, and then 

 corn-meal. To my surprise, the rye-flour was not toucht, 

 and the (Jraham flour but little. The meal they workt at 

 but it was ground with a steel mill and only the fine part was 

 taken. It was evident that corn-meal was preferred. Has 

 any one tried sweet-corn ground, or corn-starch ? If they can 

 be fed something they like better then corn and cobs ground, 

 It will be very desirable. L. M. B., Glen Ellen, Iowa. 



Answkk. - I think no case of this kind has ever been pub- 

 llsht before, but it might easily occur In any place where 

 there wore some warm days In spring with no natural pollen to 

 be had and roeal of any kind exposed. I'm not certain wheth- 



er you can head off the bees, but I think you can. One ele- 

 ment in the problem is to try to get the bees at work at home 

 before they have had a chance to work elsewhere. If you give 

 them exactly the same feed that they get abroad, you may still 

 have the advantage by getting them in the habit of working 

 on something nearer. 



I never heard of any one feeding bees meal from sweet- 

 corn, but it is well worth trying. You will probably find that 

 they will prefer corn and oats ground together, to corn and 

 cobs. They will take only the fine parts, and the coarser parts 

 can be fed to horses or cattle afterward. You will, I think, 

 find that they will prefer unbolted rye-meal to rye-floui, part- 

 ly because the bran gives them a better foothold, and partly 

 because perhaps they prefer the material that is next to the 

 bran. But nothing seems to suit them better than ground 

 corn and oats, so far as I have tried, and I've tried a good 

 many things. 



llig^nonette— Planting for Hone}'. 



I am very much interested in the question of honey-produc- 

 ing plants. In the summer of 1895 I had a large quantity of 

 mignonette growing in a flower-garden. It began blooming 

 about June, and continued till Dec. 1. I never saw bees work- 

 ing in such numbers on any other plant. I had all varieties 

 of mignonette, but the bees did not care as much for "Parson's 

 White" as the other kinds. I was thinking of soiving a piece 

 of ground for them next spring, and would like your opinion 

 about it. Also, what is the quality and quantity of honey pro- 

 duced therefrom. 



On account of cold, wet weather it has not been a very 

 good honey season here this year. S. S. A., Essex, Ont. 



Answer. — It is now very generally agreed that it doesn't 

 pay to raise any plants for the sake of the honey alone. Un- 

 less you can get enough for the seed to pay for land and labor, 

 you may do well to put in some other crop. Just how much 

 honey can be obtained from an acre of mignonette would be a 

 a very diOioult thing to determine, and I couldn't even make 

 a respectable guess at it. Probably there's no one now living 

 who knows with any sort of exactness how much honey can be 

 obtained from any honey-plant in existence. 



How and Wlien to Feed in Spring. 



I have about 250 pounds of good thick honey, and I would 

 like to know how you would feed it without much expense in 

 time in the spring to do most good. The nights are quite cold 

 here until away along in May, and often quite cold even in 

 June. Therefore it has been a question with me just when 

 and how to give it. Colorado. 



Answer. — If there are no neighbor's bees near by, it might 

 be a good plan to feed outdoors. If it is necessary to feed in the 

 hive, some plan should be used that would waste as little heat 

 as possible, and not knowing what your feeders are I can't 

 suggest just what should be done. If the feeding is done out- 

 doors, it may be safely left to the bees and the weather as to 

 when they carry it in. Wherever fed, it may be well to dilute 

 with water, half and half. It may also be given quite hot. 

 The question arises as to getting the benefit ot what is called 

 stimulative feeding. From what you say as to cold days 

 and nights, I doubt whether I would do much else than to let 

 the bees carry in the honey just as fast as they would, when- 

 ever there are days warm enough for them to work. If plenty 

 of honey is in the hives I generally find that my bees have all 

 the brood in the spring that they can cover, and I hardly see 

 what good it would do to have more, even if by feeding you 

 could Increase the queen's laying. 



Bee-Sting Poison — S warming-Time Management. 



1. In working with my bees I have noticed a peculiar 

 smell when they were mad, or in other words, on the war- 

 path ? What is it? 



2. To place an empty hive under a colony with a dipt 

 queen at swarming-time, would the bees and queen go into 

 the new hive? W. P. 



Answers. — 1. It is the poison thrown off from their stings, 

 and when you smell that odor, look out. 



2. Your plan, It I understand you, is when a swarm 

 Issues, to lift the old hive from its stand, put the empty one In 

 its place, and then set the old hive on top, depending on the 

 swarm to enter when they come back after finding there is no 



