238 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTUEE. 



Apr. 



From Different Fields. 



FRIEND KENNEDY S ASSISTANT; WIRING FRAMES. 



■a^^iRIEND ROOT: -As you do not know exactly 

 M who I am, or just where to place me, I guess 

 I shall have to inform you. 1 am not a juven- 

 ile, neither am I friend Kennedy's "helpmeet." I 

 am his oldest daughter. 



Why, Mr. Root, the bees do not go on the outside of 

 our section boxes. The sections are placed in the 

 wide frames, and you know the bees can not get on 

 the outside of them then. It is the edges of the sec- 

 tions that get soiled, and they look so much better, 

 and are so much nicer to handle after they are clean- 

 ed off, that wc think it pays to clean them. By the 

 way, our 58 colonies of bees are all alive yet. They 

 all had a good fly Jan. 30. 



I should like to ask a question. la your directions 

 how to put the wire in the frames, you say, "Double 

 the wire in the middle, and commence from the bot- 

 tom of the folded tin bar," etc. Now, what 1 want 

 to know is, what holds the wire at the center? I 

 should think that you mean, place it under the bar, 

 if you did not say, "Spring in the bar." the last 

 thing. If the bar is to hold the middle of the wire in 

 place, it would have to be placed in the frame. about 

 the first thing— before you commence putting in the 

 wire. Resides, I should think that was a flimsy way; 

 for if your tin bar should happen to get broken, 

 away goes your wire. Louisa C. Kennedy. 



Farmingdale, 111., Feb. 0, 1«84. 



My friend, I was a little hasty in my direc- 

 tions for wiring franaes, perhaps. We first 

 wind our wire on a long strip, perhaps four 

 feet lung. Each end of the board is made 

 sharp, like a wedge, and then covered with 

 tin. The coil of wire is placed on a small 

 pair of swifts, as it were, and from that 

 wound around this board until we have quite 

 a quantity. It is then cut at one end with a 

 knife. This leaves it in pieces just the right 

 length to wire the frame, each piece being 

 doubled in the middle. The folded end is 

 put through the hole in the center of the 

 bottom-bar, and then a small tin tack push- 

 ed in, over which this loop slips; and then 

 the frame is wired as per directions in the 

 price list. As we are now selling this tinned 

 wire in such quantities that we have to buy 

 it by the ton every little while, it must be 

 that bee-keepers are pretty generally using 



wired frames. 



excessive swarming, etc. 



Having been engaged, on a small scale, in bee cul- 

 ture, and having had some difficulty in swarming 

 time, I have concluded to state the case to you, in 

 order to find a remedy, should there be one, and also 

 to inquire after the causes of such behavior on the 

 part of my swarms. My bees did not commence to 

 swarm until the 3lst of May, and the first swarm did 

 all right, but after that almost every swarm endeav- 

 ored to run away. When I found out their little 

 game, I began to clip the wings of the queens, and 

 thus hindered the absconding of my swarms. But 

 the most strange part of their behavior was the per- 

 tinacity with which they kept up their endeavors to 

 escape. I hived two swarms on the ~d of June, and 

 they remained in the hive apparently satisfied until 



the 8th, and then when their hives were nearly filled 

 with comb, brood, and honey, they came out and en- 

 deavored to abscond; but, as they were unable to 

 get away, they of course came back ; but one of them 

 came out several times. When my second swarm 

 began to come out, I was compelled to kill the un- 

 fertilized queens, and then furnish them (the swarm) 

 with brood to raise queens, in order to save my 

 swarms. I think that I hud but two swarms during 

 the season that did not endeavor to abscond, and 

 some of them 3 times; had 3 swarms at one time on 

 the wing trying to escape, with thosetwo exceptions. 

 Whenever I neglected to clip or kill the outcoming 

 queen, I lost my swarms. My hives were the Amer- 

 ican, new and clean. Now, what was the cause of 

 such abnormal behavior, and how could it be reme- 

 died? My bees did very well considering the short- 

 ness of the honey season here. I wintered 14 stands ; 

 took about 600 lbs. of honey, saved 16 swarms, and 

 lost about My stands are all living at this date, 

 some of them somewhat light; Viut I have some sec- 

 tions partly filled with honey which I will give them 

 as soon as the weather moderates. My hives all have 

 chaff cushions over the frames, and so far I have not 

 lost many bees. They are standing outdoors with- 

 out any protection whatever. Which pay the best, 

 so far as honey is concerned, the 1 or 3 lb. sections? 

 Dr. J. Wesenbero. 

 Moore's Vineyard, Ind., Jan. 36, 1881. 



Friend B., your bees had what we call the 

 swarming mania, and it is one of the vexed 

 questions as to how to control it. I should 

 divide them until they were so weak they 

 could not swarm. But of course they could 

 not then get a crop of honey. I do not 

 know whether it is a mania that may get 

 hold of any apiary, or whether it is some- 

 thing in the strain of bees you have. It is 

 well known, that many queens are very much 

 given to leading out swarms, and it usually 

 follows that swarms inherit the same dispo- 

 sition. In such a case, the remedy would be 

 to get another strain of queens. Doolittle 

 has written on the subject, as has also friend 

 Hasty, and a good many others of our veter- 

 an bee-keepers. 1 believe none of them can 

 control this disposition when it gets well un- 

 der way, or, at least, without much trouble. 

 Hasty buries them in the ground until they 

 get cooled off and come to their senses ; but 

 we should think that a good deal of trouble. 

 The size of sections is a matter of opinion 

 and locality. 



alsike clover seed. 

 The following, in regard to alsike clover 

 seed, we clip from the American Grocer; and 

 if I am correct, alsike deserves all the praise 

 there given it. Tlie cultivation of alsike, 

 and the planting of basswood forests, will do 

 more to increase the honey business than al- 

 most any thing else. 



Alsike clover seed is each year becoming more in 

 demand by the farmers of this country :ind Europe. 

 Its value as a hardy variety of clover, both for hay 

 and pasture, is being more'fullv' established. In our 

 issue of the 10th of May last, referring to this article, 

 we said that after a few years' trial, alsike clover 

 soed became very popular with the large grazers, 

 who laid down their farms for permanent pasture. 

 Year after year the value of this clover is becoming 

 more generally admitted. It appe.irs to flourish in 

 all soils and in every climate, and at present stands 

 high in the esteem of large and small farmers alike. 



The hardy nat\ire of the plant is proven by the 

 fact of its thriving by transplanting, which no other 



