530 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Aug. 



ITALIANS AND RED CLOVER. 



I have heard the assertion made, that Italian 

 bees could not or would not work on red clover. I 

 should like to have all unbelievers here to-day, or 

 any other day, to witness my yellow pets g-athering- 

 honey from the red cups. I have a patch of four 

 acres in white and red clover mixed, and the bees 

 seem to be just as busy g-athering- from the red as 

 they are from the white. 



In ' our market we get from 20 to 2.5 cts. per lb. for 

 comb honey and don't get enoug-h to supply the de- 

 mand. Is It anj"^ wonder that an old man like me 

 should begin to stick up his ears and care for bees? 

 I always loved the bees; and even when a little boy, 

 45 years ago, I did not like to see father smother 

 them to get their honey. To be sure, I liked the 

 honey. M. Fickel. 



Helton, Kansas, June 2,5, 1884. 



MORE ABOUT KEEPING AWAY ANTS. 



I would say, for the benefit of friend J. M. Brooks, 

 page 457, In particular, and the bcc-fraternity in 

 g-eneral, that, in putting common salt around hon- 

 ey-boxes and sugar-barrels, I have never been 

 troubled with ants. Salt, when exposed to the air, 

 is g:enerally damp, and they will not crawl over it. 

 I have put boxes filled Avith comb honey on the 

 floor, and put salt around them, and have never 

 found an ant on the combs; and I find by experi- 

 ence that chalk marks around jars and boxes will 

 generally keej) them out. They do not like to crawl 

 over chalk any better than they do salt. These 

 may not be infallible, but I have always experi- 

 enced the best results from them. 



HONEY FROM RED CLOVElf, AGAIN. 



Bees have had quite a boom on red clover here this 

 season. In the same field where white and red clo- 

 ver are mixed, the most of the Italians left the 

 white and were found on the red clover. I saw no 

 black bees on the red, but plenty on the white. A 

 friend slung- about 18 or 20 lbs. of the red-clover 

 honey out,which tastes sweeter and pleasanter than 

 the white-clover honey. We know it was the red- 

 clover honey, because he had slung the honey out 

 just at the beginning of the boom, and threw it out 

 the third or fourth day in the height of the boom. 



Ripley, O., July 8, 1884. G. W. Fokman. 



Is it not a fact, friends, that there are differ- 

 ent kinds of ants, and that, wliile some will 

 stop at a pinch of salt or a chalk mark, there 

 are others that have no regard for such hin- 

 drances V 



HARVESTING BUCKWHEAT; WHO CAN TELL US THE 

 BEST \fAY TO DO IT? 



Please give in Gi-eanings the best method of har- 

 vesting and thrashing- buckwheat. 



Spring Station, Ky., July 17, 1884. L. G. Lucas. 



Friend L., I have had but comparatively 

 little experience in this matter. However, I 

 will tell you what I know about it, and 

 doubtless some of those Avho raise buckwheat 

 largely will correct me where I am wrong, 

 and add what I omit. We cut the buck- 

 wheat with a reaper, and after it has lain a 

 little while, so as to cure partly, we twist it 

 up into a little cock, say about enough for a 

 good forkful. To prevent it being scattered 

 around, it is wisped together so as to stand 

 wind or rain. When it is dry enough to 

 thrash out nicely we draw it directly to the 

 machine. As it is great stutf to collect 



dampness and mold, it ought never to be 

 stacked or stored away on mows. After the 

 seed is thraslied, be careful or it will mold. 

 Have it spread out on the lloor where it can 

 be raked over occasionally until thoroughly 

 dry ; and even then, unless it is watched 

 it is lial>le to collect dampness. It may 

 be well to say. that now is about the 

 time to sow buckwheat in many localities. 

 In 1882 we got a tine crop, sowed the loth of 

 August ; but the frost injured the seed 

 somewhat. The last of July or iirst of Aug- 

 ust is perhaps the better time. 



where did the honey come from? 



I wrote you a few days ago, asking- if you could 

 tell me from what probable source my bees were 

 gathering honey. Thie morning early I noticed 

 them carrying- pollen, and they were carrying some 

 bright red pollen, some light yellow, and some dull 

 green, while many of them had no pollen at all. 

 Can you tell from the pollen, from what source they 

 were gathering honey? C. W. Costello. 



Waterboro, York Co., Me., July 13, 1884. 



I confess, friend C, it is rather a conun- 

 drum. If the pollen Avere all of one uniform 

 color, we might try to decide; but from 

 what you say, it looks as if they got honey 

 from about torn- different sources. Perhaps 

 every thing is just right for the secretion of 

 honey, and therefore bees tind honey on al- 

 most every thing, as is sometimes the case. 



DO BEES VARY IN SIZE, AGAIN? 



In your reply to J. W. Martin, of Greenwood, Va., 

 in your Notes and Queries, in July Gleanings, you 

 say that bees are larger where fdn. is used, than 

 those built naturally. I do not understand how that 

 can be, as fdn. is 5 cells to an inch (except yours), 

 whei-eas my bees (and I suppose all bees arc alike in 

 cell-making-) will make 14 cells to 3 inches, if they 

 make perfect cells. Now, wouldn't the fdn. tend to 

 diminish the size of the bees, instead of eularging- 

 them? 1 buy mj' fdn. of you because you have cells 

 a little larger, 14 '2 to 3 inches. What is the reason 

 that the fdn. is not made just right? Is it because 

 they draw it into drone-cells? My bees made some 

 that I bought of you, into di-one-cells. 



J. L. Hyde. 



Pomfrct Landing, Conn., July 11, 1884. 



Friend 11., this is an old subject that has 

 been gone over pretty thoroughly. If we 

 make "fdn. with the cells too small— that is, 

 too closely together, the bees become both- 

 ered, as it were, and occasionally make a 

 false (^ell, in order to give the requisite room. 

 Our Iirst expcrimenls were with cells 4^ to 

 the inch, and tht^se did very well generally, 

 Imt sometimes tliey would be converted into 

 drone-comb, and a lot of drones were raised. 

 Then we tried exactly live to the inch ; and 

 after a great many reports it was decided a 

 little too small ; ard as the size of cells we 

 make now scmus to be just about tlie thing, 

 we have thought it best to let well enough 

 alone. There are several mills now in use 

 that make ii to tlie inch, and v,e have a few 

 people who say they prefer them. We have 

 sometimes thought the bees from this fdn. 

 were a little larger, but tinally decided that 

 cells a little large made no difference with 

 the size of the bees, although cells a littletoo 

 small do certainly produce small bees. 



