848 



gleani:ngs in bee culture. 



Nov 



ARTIFICIAL PASTURAGE. 



SCATTERING SEED BY THE WAYSIDE. 



T WAS very deeplj' interested in the bee-pastur- 

 M[ age question of Mi-s. Chaddock's, especially al- 

 ^[ sike clover, in Gleanings for Oct. 1.5th, and I 

 "*• had decided to g'ive my views upon the ques- 

 tions taken up in her article (not the latter part, 

 of course). The question of bee-pasturag-e may be 

 taken up in a practical and an impractical manner; 

 and it is perhaps oftener the latter than the for- 

 mer. I will give my views, based largely upon prac- 

 tical experience and observation, and a little on 

 theory. 



It will not pay to cultivate plants for honey alone 

 —that is, to take land fit for cultivation and sow or 

 plant it with honey-producing plants which are of 

 no other value. But if we can cultivate plants, etc., 

 the llciwers of which will produce honey, and at the 

 same time you can secure from them an otherwise 

 fairly remunerative crop, then you ai'e all right. 

 Or if you can scatter honey-plant seeds in places 

 where they do not take up space which otherwise 

 would be under cultivation, I consider such an in- 

 vestment remunerative. We should always, how- 

 ever, be very careful as to what we sow, that it be 

 not a plant which will become a noxious weed. For 

 instance, I could never permit myself to scatter one 

 seed of " Viper's bugloss " {Echiurn vulgare); it is a 

 pest in some parts of Ontario, where a few years 

 ago it was almost unknown, and still a growing one, 

 and no conscientious or right thinking man should 

 scatter another seed of it until he finds out what Its 

 nature is. As to the Chapman honey-plant, I have 

 seen it in bloom, have questioned closely Mr. Goldie, 

 of Guelph, who had 50 plants on his grounds to ex- 

 periment with, and who is an able botanist. Mr. 

 Goldie stated that the plant is a biennial, does not 

 Increase from the root, is extremely hardy {extreme- 

 ly hardy, mark you), and, in his estimation, might 

 easily prove to be a noxious weed. Now, are we 

 justified in assisting to spread a plant broadcast 

 over America which maj' prove to be another pest 

 to those who cultivate the soil? If we assist and 

 countcnane? actions which at least are a risk to 

 our neighbors, have we a right to expect the fellow- 

 ship and good feeling of such from a natural stand- 

 point? No. We are a hel p and a profit to the horticul- 

 turist and agriculturist; do not let us run the risk 

 of more than counterbalancing the benefit we con- 

 fer. 



Then we can profitably strive to have our neigh- 

 bors, citizens, etc., plant such trees as we know 

 are productive of honej-. Much can be done in this 

 direction, at a very small outlay. The linden, soft 

 and hard maple, and, in places, willow, are excellent 

 and beautiful shade-trees. And then we must be 

 guarded in not overestimating- the benefits derived 

 from a Hower. We stroll about after linden-bloom, 

 and possibly near frost, and see bees working con- 

 stantly upon sweet clover; are their frequent and 

 continuous visits an indication of the quantity of 

 honey obtained? By no means; it may simjily be, 

 and, I believe, fre<iuently is, only an indication that 

 there is a little honey there. There are no other 

 honey-producing fiowers about, and the bee, unlike 

 some individuals when out of work, thinks half a 

 loaf— yes, far less— is better than no loaf at all. Of 

 course, a careful, observing, and experienced bee- 

 keeper can readjly see if guch be the case or pot. 

 Next, as to <;lover, and Mrs, Chaddock's argujpptit, 



that alsike clover would not pay, as there is more 

 honey in white than the bees can gather, I find 

 that bees never touch the white after the alsike is 

 in bloom. They commence blooming within a few 

 days of one another. Bees will, in fact, leave white 

 in the more immediate vicinity, and take alsike. As a 

 honey-plant, my observations of five years prove 

 to me that, during that time, it has not failed to se- 

 crete nectar which is slightly superior to the aver- 

 age white-clover honey. We all know white does 

 fail. As to a remunerative hay and seed crop for 

 the farm, it is decidedly that, and very much on the 

 increase through our part and the most of On- 

 tario. You, as a beekeeper, can make no mistake 

 by encouraging its cultivation, praising it, and 

 giving away seed, to induce its cultivation. As a 

 farmer, you can make no mistake if the soil is at all 

 adapted to it— an inclination to a low soil, or, at 

 least, not high, and not too light. As to buckwheat, 

 it fails hero at times. I do not think it would pay 

 to cultivate it apart from its utility in plowing un- 

 der for a crop of wheat. R. F. Holtermann. 

 Brantford, Canada. 



j Friend II., there are extremes in both 

 ways in this matter of troublesome weeds. 

 Even buckwheat is an extremely trouble- 

 some weed if the seed is allowed to scatter 

 itself ; and it will oome up year after year 

 where a crop has been raised, and the seed 

 allowed to shell. Friend Chapman is an ex- 

 perienced market-gardener, and knows all 

 about weeds, about as well as any of us, and 

 I think we can safely abide by his statements. 



PERFORATED ZINC. 



THE SIZE OF OUR PERFORATIONS .JUST RIGHT; NO 

 QUEEN CAN GET THROUGH. 



AM getting veil stai-ted in the hive and queen- 

 f bee trade, and am doing better than I bad 

 I reason to expect. My hive takes well, though 

 some find fault wiih it. lam ti-ansferrlng and 

 Italianizing every day. Your perforated zinc 

 is exactly right. I would not have it changed a 

 fraction. I believe it will hold the smallest queen, 

 as I have daily trials of it in my s warming-box. I 

 spend no time hunting queens. I rush all into 

 the swarming-box, then draw the slide over the per- 

 forated side, and Bingham's " Doctor" soon emp- 

 ties the box of all except the queen and drones. 



Some one said, in your journal, " Leave the old 

 queen in till the new queen is ready to liberate." I 

 tried it, at a loss of two queens — the first I ever 

 lost in my life in introducing. Now I fall on the 

 old way, and take out one when I put in the other. 

 Scaly, Texas, Oct. 19, 1886. J. L. Dewey. 



The result.s of your experiments with onr 

 make oi zinc contirm exactly the results we 

 arrived at as recorded on page 424, May loth 

 issue. We were very particular to have our 

 machinist make the dies of just such a size 

 as are the perforations of the zinc we send 

 out. In the new edition of the A B C book 

 now in preparation, we have carefully con- 

 sidered the proper size of perforation to be 

 both drone and queen excluding, and yet 

 permit the easy passage of workers. Your 

 method of finding the queen by means of 

 the zinc is good, and I should think it would 

 answer an excellent purpose when it is de=- 



