490 



June 6, 1907 



American Hae Journal 



time. A paste of flour and honey smeared on 

 the combs might be worth trying. For out- 

 side meal-feeding ground corn and oats is 

 sometimes used here. Most likely it will 

 make little difierence whether you feed any 

 substitute for pollen or not, for the receipt 

 of your letter finds dandelions opening here, 

 and they are likely the same with you. 



It is just possible that your lack of pollen 

 may be an advantage in the long run. Dur- 

 ing the dreadful weather in April, your bees 

 remained quietly doing nothing for 3 weeks 

 or more, while others with brood were suffer- 

 ing. 



L Super and T-Super 



1. On page 337, you quote me as saying 

 " Langstroth " super. Please note that I 

 never used the expression " Langstroth 

 super" in my correspondence with you, but I 

 said the "L" super. Now, I do not know 

 what the letter L stands for, but I had refer- 

 ence to a certain kind of super designated as 

 the " L super " in the catalog, which is a 

 plain super for an 8-frame hive with slats 

 and fences running crosswise of the super- 

 body and designated to hold 30 plain sections 

 4x5xl;V, called " Danzen baker sections." 

 Your answers to my questions seem to be 

 very clear, but I can not tell how it will pan 

 out with me until I try it. Some 2 or 3 points 

 look sticky to me yet. 



2. First, in regard to that bee-glue. I have 

 cleaned sections at all times of the year; in 

 fact, I never did clean my whole crop at one 

 sitting, but just cleaned up small batches as 

 I would sell them all through the winter, and 

 I have yet to find the time when the propolis 

 won't stick more or less, and more or less 

 honey stand on the wood in the way to gtun 

 up my knife and make a messy job at best. 



3. Second, in regard to pushing out the 

 whole superful of sections at once. I have 

 done it with the L super, also with the Ideal 

 and Danzenbaker, but I never could see 

 where I gained anything by it, because when 

 I went taking off the slats and taking out the 

 fences I had an awful time of it just the same, 

 In fact, I rather appreciated having them 

 back in the super to hold a portion of them 

 steady while I pried another portion l03se, 

 and that is just the reason I adopted the plan 

 of taking them out while on the hive and 

 among the bees. When the super is first 

 tilted and the bees are still in it, the glue is 

 warm and soft, and the sections will come out 

 one row at a time without so much diiiiculty, 

 and then the fences are all separated and out 

 of the way. Perhaps if I had the T-super I 

 would find the case different; but I can 

 hardly believe the bee-glue would be any less 

 abundant or sticky. I think I will try a few 

 this summer. MissouKi. 



Answers. — 1. Upon first reading your let- 

 ter, throwing upon my shoulders the burden 

 of having changed "L super" to "Lang- 

 stroth super," I promptly prepared to make 

 an abject apology, but on turning to page 337, 

 I found that in my answers I had made use of 

 neither term, so I slid the burden off my 

 shoulders to let it fall on those of the Editor, 

 " the intelligent compositor," or the printer's 

 devil, whichever one it was who took liberties 

 with your copy. In pity for the delinquent 

 in the case, however, I may say that it is a 

 very common thing to find, in manuscript 

 sent in, the contraction " L '' used for " Lang- 

 stroth," and after having for a few hundred 

 times changed "L hive" to "Langstroth 

 hive," and "L frame" to "Langstroth 

 frame," one would almost unconsciously 

 change "L super" to " Langstroth super." — 

 [We had entirely forgotten the "L" super, 

 as it was never used extensively. Dr. Miller 

 was not the culprit in this case. It was— - 

 The Editor.] 



2. There may be some peculiarity about 

 your bee-glue with which I have no acquaint- 

 ance, but I was under the impression that all 

 bee-glue becomes brittle when suflioiently 

 cold. I wonder if it can really be that your 

 bee-glue is entirely different from mine when 

 the thermometer stands at zero. With re- 



gard to honey standing on the wood, that is 

 not a matter affected in the same way by 

 cold. When there is any honey on the top- 

 bars of the sections, we don't attempt to 

 scrape the glueofl until the honey is removed. 

 First a knife is slipped under the honey to 

 scrape it off, if there is enough honey to 

 make it worth while, and a wet rag removes 

 the rest. 



3. Of course, the kind of super makes no 

 difference in the character of the glue, but 

 the kind of super has much to do with the 

 matter of cleaning a whole superful of sec- 

 tions at a time. At least it has " in this 

 locality." 



Having a i'me Huiiey-iiuw. 



I have 11 colonies of bees in 10-frame 

 hives. We have a fine honey-flow now 

 from blackberry and white clover. Our 

 principal flow is from sourwood. which 

 blooms in July. G. F. Jones. 



Elkin, N. C, May 24. 



Tough Weather for Bees. 



We are having tough weather for bees. 

 They have been getting out about one day 

 in a week, on an average, since March. We 

 are still hopeful and look for better weather 

 ere long. F. A. Snbll. 



Milledgeville, III., May 25. 



First Honey "Chunk Honey." 



I took my first honey of the season to- 

 day. I sell in buckets — chunk honey. It 

 is "a much better way than to be fussing 

 with sections. More honey, more money, 

 more rest. J. H. Collins. 



Bardwell, Ky., May 23. 



Cold and Backward Spring. 



The American Bee Journal is "just fine," 

 and I believe it is the only bee-paper issued 

 in this country which is not biased in favor 

 of the supply dealers. The article by Allen 

 Latham on hive-making I consider valuable 

 to any bee-keeper who feels inclined to 

 make his own hives. I have tried a num- 

 ber of them and find them much superior 

 to any single-walled hive I can buy or 

 make, even when protected in the spring ; 

 and for comb honey, when the outside case 

 is used to protect the supers, they are pur 

 excellence in this cold northern country. 



Unless the honey-fiow is late this year 

 there will be but a very light honey crop 

 in this locality, as the unusual cold and 

 backward spring has caused much spring 

 dwindling, and there are but few colonies 

 in this neighborhood which can be brought 

 to a first-class condition in time for the 

 white clover. My apiary consists of 31 

 colonies this spring, in fair condition, con- 

 sidering the season. N. P. Andekso-N'. 



Minneapolis, Minn., May 18. 



blooms the first year. Sown about Aug. 1, 

 from that until fall, then the next year it 

 makes a seed crop, and the seed is on the 

 first crop, and enou^li of the seed falls off 

 to reseed the ground. The old plant dies 

 in the fall after growing the second crop, 

 but comes on the next spring without miss- 

 ing a crop. 



Alsike does the best on damp, moist land, 

 but will grow a good crop on clay land, or, 

 in fact, any land but land that is real 

 sandy. The seed is about half the size of 

 the "red clover seed, and can be sowed 

 either bv hand or with a seeder drill. 



Another fact I have learned this year is, 

 that while all the red clover is dead this 

 spring the alsike sown last year looks fine,- 

 although it has been very dry and cold all 

 spring. And with all these facts before us, 

 it seems to me to be the most desirable 

 clover to sow. 



Any further questions will be cheerfully 

 answered. O. P. Miller. 



Menlo, Iowa, May 14. 



Heavy With Honey and Bees. 



I never took bees out of winter quarters- 

 in better condition. They are heavy with 

 honey and booming with bees. I expected 

 them' to be swarming by this time. I 

 thought they had more honey than neces- 

 sary, but they have it pretty well used up. 

 I had some 40 or 50 pounds of brood- 

 combs kept over from last year, and some 

 extracted from unsealed combs, which I 

 have fed them. Owing to the late cold' and 

 drv weather the future is an unsolved 

 problem. .T. C. Armstrong. 



Marshalltown, Iowa, May 11. 



Sowing Alsike Clover. 



Mr. O. p. Miller : In the American Bee 

 Journal of April IS you say alsike clover 

 may be sown in the spring with small 

 grain. I have never seen any of it, but I 

 want to try a little this spring. I know 

 nothing abo'ut it. and your statement seems 

 to indicate that it is an annual, needing to 

 be sown every spring. Will you please tell 

 me if that is so? If not, does it bloom the 

 first year, and how long does the plant 

 live? How do you spread the seed and 

 what time is best to sow it? 



Monument, Colo. 0. H. Whittier. 



Mr. O. H. Whittier : Alsike clover does 

 not need to be sown (in this country) every 

 spring : on the contrary, one sowing will do 

 indefinitelv. But the plant dies every other 

 year, but" seeds itself; in other words, it 



Early Swarm — Feeding Bees. 



We had a swarm on May 9. It was a 

 small swarm with a virgin queen, result- 

 ing from superseding. We have been feed- 

 ing sugar liberally since the warm weather 

 in March. A good rain came day before 

 vesterday, for which we are thankful. There 

 is a little honey-dew on box-elder this 

 morning. J. L. Strong. 



Clarinda, Iowa, May 23. 



Honey Famine in the Southeast. 



We are having a honey famine in the 

 Southeast, and bees are on the point of 

 starvation. The blooms have come and 

 gone, and no honey ; and many barrels of 

 sugar have been fed. Many bee-keepers are 

 disheartened and will pull up and leave or 

 quit the industry. The honey-plants were 

 in bloom about 60 days. My bees got to 

 them part of 2 days, and are now in winter 

 quarters. J. J. Wilder. 



Crisp Co., Ga., May 14. 



Freezing 



Temperature - 

 Damaged. 



Fruit-Bloom 



As I write this morning the mercury in 

 the thermometer stands at 23 degrees, 

 about 4 feet above the surface of the 

 ground on a hill. On the low ground it is 

 S to 10 degrees colder. It is a surprise to 

 me that the few blooms on the fruit trees 

 seem to be filled with nectar, and the bees 

 are carrying loads of it when the tempera- 

 ture is moderate enough for them to fly. 

 The apple-bloom is just beginning to open, 

 but I am afraid that last night damaged 

 the opening buds seriously. No prospect 

 of its warming up to-day. E. H. Upson. 



Cromwell, Ind., May 11. 



Solving the Swarming Question. 



n. C. Aikin writes on page 374 : "It has 

 always been my contention that the apiarist 

 must be the master to the extent of con- 

 trolling swarming, and making increase, 

 when he was ready : that those who allow 

 natural swarming are always at a disad- 

 vantage." 



Yes, this gentleman speaks out loudly 

 and clearly his contention that the apiarist 

 must be master to control swarming, etc. 

 And yet we are at a disadvantage. Yes, 

 but that problem must be solved, and can 

 be. it we look at the bee as one creation in 

 the animal kingdom, and not idealize it, 

 hut look at it just in its reality ; just as 



