312 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTUKE. 



May 



MOVING BEBS TO CATCH THE BASSWOOD BLOOM. 



Friend Rant:— J have read every article published 

 lu Glkamnos upon the above subject, and I wish 

 to say that we have a Held for basswood that is un- 

 surpassed by any in the country, located on a rail- 

 road running- north and south. Last year I saw 

 tons of honey going to waste, and hundreds of 

 trees, and not a bee to bo seen on them. My boy 

 broke off branches, and at times shook drops of 

 honey from them. The hills here are a bright gold- 

 en hue for three or four weeks, beginning about the 

 1st of July. We are about 125 miles north of Kan- 

 sas City, and I would like to correspond with some 

 of the bee-keepers in that section between this and 

 the time of the honey-harvest. There are but few 

 bees kept here, and some object to their being kept, 

 because of their getting in the timber and inducing 

 people to cut it down; but bees can be, and are, 

 kept all the same. Bees need not be hauled more 

 than one mile from the railroad to the timber. 



FILLING EDGES OF SECTIONS SO AS TO AVOID 

 PROPOLIS. 



It is my opinion, that if the edges of sections are 

 fiUed as all woods are that are to be finished, as fur- 

 niture, etc., bees would not be very likely to cover 

 them with propolis. Being an old hand in that line, 

 I can tell you just how it is done, or how I am doing 

 my own. For filling, take equal parts of linseed oil 

 — either raw or boiled, but raw is better for every 

 thing — benzine or turpentine, and Japan varnish; 

 and to each quart of mixture add }i lb. wax or par- 

 afline. Now add any kind of pulverized starch until 

 you have a thick paint. Now place the sections so 

 that the edges of .500 can be brushed over with a 

 good bristle brush about one-third or one-half worn. 

 When the filling begins to look as though it were 

 drying, or looks as though the oil had been ab- 

 sorbed, take a piece of burlap and rub all the sur- 

 plus off; and as you rub off, rub the filling in; then 

 let them dry. The time and expense is but a trifle; 

 any one can do the work, if careful. It is important 

 to do the rubbing off at the proper time, and the 

 time depends upon the weather and the Japan. Aft- 

 er dry (next day or so), if a coat of shellac varnish, 

 made of bleached shellac, 2',4 lbs. to a gallon of alco- 

 hol (or cheaper, wood alcohol). Is added, all the edges 

 will have a fine appearance; or if soiled, can be 

 cleaned without any trouble. A. Collins. 



Milton, Mo., April 16, 1884. 



Your suggestion is a valuable one, friend 

 C. ; but I am inclined to think, that rubbing 

 on boiled linseed oil with perhaps a little 

 varnish with it would be sutficieiit. If the 

 bees liiid the surface smooth and waxy al- 

 ready, I do not believe they would attempt 

 to put any thing on it ; and if they did, tlie 

 linseed oil would give the surface enough of 

 an oily nature to prevent the propolis from 

 sticking. 1 have oiled woodwork where it 

 was exposed to the bees so that the propolis 

 would readily cleave off. It cleaves off pret- 

 ty well from the glossy sides of the enamel 

 sheets, and I presume a very little oil would 

 make it so it would not stick at all. In re- 

 gard to the appearance of the edges of tlie 

 sections, would customers fancy a filled 

 edge V I should want to see it tried before 

 deciding. 



ALSIKE CLOVEn. 



I mail you with this a sample of alsike-clover seed 

 of our own raising. I have UVt bushels for sale. It 



was the honey-plant par excellence here this season. 

 Five colonies and their increase gave over 1000 lbs. 

 of surplus honey, and more than half of it came 

 from five acres of alsike. It bloomed profusely and 

 continuously for over three weeks; and while it 

 lasted, the bees worked on it exclusively and In 

 preference to the abundant white clover in the pas- 

 tures. Walhing over the pastures one would scarce- 

 ly see a bee; but on going into the alsike patch, you 

 would seem to be in the midst of a swarm. 



Urbana, O., Feb. 3, 1881. John C. Barnett. 



Perhaps I may remark, that we have a 

 large stock of very nice clean alsike-clover 

 seed on hand at the present writing, at the 

 old standard price of SIO per bushel. Our 

 trade this year has amounted to hundreds of 

 bushels, and yet the supply of the seed is not 

 sufficient to bring the price down very ma- 

 terially. If the bee-keepers wish to raise 

 pasturage for their bees, it seems to me there 

 is no other plant that offers the inducements 

 that alsike does. 



A BEE-CELLAR WITH A SHOP ABOVE IT. 



We were intending to build this summer a stono 

 cellar for wintering bees, and shop above, to be used 

 for extracting, etc., in the summer, and a work-shop 

 in the winter. Would it suit, or would there be too 

 much noise above? Will sand or sawdust, or cheap 

 felt, lined in the floor, deaden the sound enough so 

 as not to disturb the bees? W. A. Murkar. 



Aberdour.Ont., Can., April 7, 1884. 



Friend M., there would be no objection to 

 the plan you propose, if you have your hives 

 supported entirely on the ground. If the 

 supports on which they rest touch any posts 

 connected with the lioor, the jar of the floor 

 would disturb them ; but otherwise you will 

 need no extra thickness on the floor above. 



WHITE CLOVER PRODUCING NO HONEY. 



We have nearly a two-hundred acre farm, and I 

 intend to sow 22 acres of silverhull buckwheat for 

 my own and neighbors' bees; and if alsike will grow 

 and do well here, I shall have a good many acres of 

 that in time. I do not want to compel my bees to fly 

 3 or 4 miles to carry honey for mc. I should think 

 honey might be made a reasonably sure crop, 

 managed in that way. Last year our bees did not 

 gel a drop of honey from the white clover. The 

 clover was very plentiful all around, but no bees on 

 the flowers. Did you ever have such experience? I 

 did not get much honey, but the little fellows did 

 the best they could. E. B. Hoke. 



Cordova, III., April 17, 1884. 



Yes, my young friend, we have seen times 

 \vhen the fields were white with the clover- 

 bloom, and yet the bees seemed unable to 

 find more than enough to barely live on. 

 This is not very usual, however; and gener- 

 ally before the'bloom is gone there comes a 

 sudden change, and honey comes in at least 

 pretty fairly. 



A WORD IN favor OF THE CYPRIANS. 



The Cyprian bees are the most valuable we have 

 got. They will not swarm, if given room enough, 

 and will make more honey than the Italians, and 

 they will not contrive so many ways to use it up as 

 the Italians. When our basswood ceases here, the 

 Italians rush their brood-rearing to the fullest ex- 

 tent, while the Cyprians seem to slacken up and 

 raise no more than the little honey and bee-bread 



