1884 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



239 



prrass will do. A single plant may be divided into 

 several parts, and each part will produce a luxuriant 

 plant; so that farmers need not have a bare patch 

 on their fields. 



For several years past, alsike clover seed has been 

 imported from the Ignited Kingdom and the conti- 

 nent of Europe, and year after year the quantity im- 

 ported increased, in proportion to the estimate put 

 on it by our farmers; but last year and ihis the tide 

 has changed its course. We are now exporting to 

 Europp, Ht prices ranginir from 16c. to 19c. per pound, 

 all that f aimers are ivilUnij to dixpnae of. Farmers 

 will do well to note the above fact. The seed is much 

 easier saved than red clover, and this export de- 

 mand is likely to continue for many years to come. 

 Thomas M'Elroy. 



M.4MMOTe CLOVEH. 



Friend Chapman, p. 97, Feb. Gleanings, is inter- 

 ested in mammoth red clover, as he says bee-keep- 

 ers should be greatly interested in this, as it is an 

 excellent crop, as it furnishes an abundance of seed 

 as well as honey. Our crop of honey, though small, 

 was entirely from this. A near neighbor of ours 

 had this season over 30 acres, which yielded 7 bushels 

 per acre. If any of the friends want some for seed, 

 we can get it for them, and no charge will be made, 

 only for sacks, and just what we have to pay for it, 

 and we will make no charge for our trouble. We do 

 this to introduce it to bee-keepers; that is, we mean 

 in small quantities. We can get it at present for 

 about $7.00 per bushel. J. A. 05BUN & Son. 



Spring Bluff, Wis., Feb. 5, 1884. 



swarm that gave 56 lbs. in sections, making 212 lbs. 

 and a good swarm, spring count. I have Italianized 

 47 of them besides, by transposing larvfe, as direct- 

 ed in A B C; 40 of them are purely mated. I In- 

 creased one swarm to 10 for an experiment, and It 

 was a success. I make all my hives, frames, and 

 foundation, and do all my work without help; how 

 is that for a two-year-old ABC scholar? Please tell 

 us how far to set our bees from the road and line 

 fences. There is some controversy here about it. 

 Wm. H. Smith. 



Caroline Depot, N. Y., Jan. 28, 1884. 



Friend S., it does not seem to me we can 

 very well lay down any rules for the distance 

 that bees should be from the road or line 

 fences. If the line fence were of tight 

 boards, and pretty high, I should think the 

 bees might be close up, or if evergreens or 

 thick shrubbery intervenes ; also the kind of 

 neighbors you have might make a difference. 

 If they object to having bees near them, I 

 think I should take them quite a way off. 

 "If meat maketh my brother to offend," etc. 



nONEY-DEW FROM HOUSE-PLANTS. 



I have quite a large English ivy in the house, and 

 this winter it is infested with the bark louse, called 

 scale. I found my fern-ease, which stood under the 

 vine, covered with small spots of something sticky; 

 and on investigating I found quite large spots of a 

 thick sticky substance on some of the leaves. It 

 tastes sweet on touching my tongue to it. I think 

 it must be a species of honey-dew. Is the scale an 

 aphis? and might not some cases of honey-dew 

 where no aphides are discovered, be caused by the 

 scale, which is not so easily seen? 



Mrs. p. p. Cobb. 



Middleville, Mich., Feb. 10, 1884. 



MIGNONNETTE IN TEXAS, ETC. 



November 23d, 1882, 1 bought me two colonies of 

 Italian bees, and brought them home. I paid f20 for 

 them. My neighbors made fan of me; but I told 

 them to never mind; they would be buying bees 

 from me, and paying me $10 per colony, and, sure 

 enough, now I have calls for more bees than I can 

 sell. The smoker I bought of you is the first one 

 that has ever been in these parts; and the mignon- 

 nette that I got from you is the first that has ever 

 been planted la this county. It grows finely. On 

 the25ih of December I took all of my friends and 

 went out and showed it to them, and it was as pretty 

 a sight, I think, as I ever saw in my life. Now ycu 

 just imagine it all in bloom, and the bees so thick 

 sucking honey that you could hardly walk through 

 it. People wouldn't believe that bees could gather 

 honey on Christmas day. John T. Laice. 



Troy, Texas, Feb. 22, 1884. 



FRO.M 26 TO 80, AND 2O0O LBS. OF HONEY. 



I set my bees out of the cellar, April 18, which was 

 two weeks too early for this section last year; lost 

 two in wintering, and two by spring dwindling; 

 united one, and commenced business with 26, being 

 in strength from light to heavy; increased to 80, and 

 took 2000 lbs. surplus. My best swarm gave 56 lbs. in 

 1-lb. sections, and 100 lbs. extracted, and a large 



MILK and EGGS AND HONEY. 



Friend Root : — Mauy, very many thanks for a 

 stopping-place to "Who Shall Keep Bees?" I 

 thought if friend Hutchinson kept on, there would 

 be nothing left for us farmers. He denied us the 

 right (or, at least, the intelligence) necessary to 

 handle foundation, wired frames, and extractors, 

 and to raise our own honey. There was such a dark 

 side to poultry-raising that it would not pay. I ex- 

 pected the next thing would be to take away our Al- 

 derney cows, deprive us of milk, eggs, and honey, 

 and what is on the farm worth living for. My father 

 is in his eighty-fifth year; and for more than 30 years 

 we have kept bees, and always had some honey. For 

 the past two years we have had a scientific bee-keep- 

 er to farm them; and although we have not as yet 

 opened up a bank account, they have paid about as 

 well as any other "stock " on the farm. 



Bell L. Duncan. 



Black Lick, Pa., Feb. 25, 1884. 



ALSIltE CLOVER. 



Some of ray neighbors have started the alsike 

 clover pretty well, and like it. Now they want to 

 know if the seed is worth as much, or more. In com- 

 mon market, as our red clover, or nearly as much. 

 Next season I will have about 23 acres within reach 

 of my bees; and if the people can sell their seed for 

 nearly as much as the red clover, I will have not less 

 than 100 acres in reach of my bees In 2 years. That 

 would be a nice thing for me. J. C. Mishler. 



Ligonier, Noble Co., Ind.. Feb. 2, 1884. 



Why, friend M., I should think our price 

 list, and what has recently been said in 

 Gleanings about alsike-clover seed, ought 

 to answer your question. The seed brings 

 nearly twice as much as the common red 

 clover, and the demand is always beyond the 

 supply. 



BASSWOOD seedlings. 



I would like to say, through Gleanings, that I 

 have no basswood-trees for sale, either "big, little, 

 or tiny." Basswood seedlings at the Rloomington 

 wholesale nursery are worth $25 00 per 1000, and 

 scarce at that price. I sold them at $10 00 by mail. 



Rantoul, III., Feb. 7, 1884. H. M. MOURIS. 



I presume our friends will get plenty of 

 basswood-trees of those who advertise in our 



