22 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Jan. 



comes strong, and better fitted to fly. I seldom lose 

 a queen by this way of introducing-. 



Mrs. Olivek Cole. 

 Sherburne, N. Y., Dec. 6, 1887. 



Your plan will almost always succeed, J 

 am well aware, my friend; liut the objec- 

 tion to it is the loss of time it takes. You 

 will notice that, in the ABC book, we ad- 

 vise letting the newly hatched queen right 

 into the hive, without taking away any 

 thing ; and our losses are so few, especially 

 where we wait until next day, as you recom- 

 mend, that we think it cheaper to lose a 

 queen once in a great while than to go to 

 the trouble of taking the brood away. If 

 we can get a queen within a few hours after 

 she has emerged from the cell, we have 

 found very little trouble in putting them 

 where we wish, even into a hive that con- 

 tains a laying queen. In the latter case 

 they will often be allowed to run about for 

 several days. 



SORGHUM-MILLS AND BEE'S. 



My bees average about 45 lbs. of honey to the col- 

 ony. One ran over 100 lbs. One gave no surplus, 

 but put some 60 lbs. in the brood-nest. The sepa- 

 rators I bought of you last summer I used, and con- 

 sider it a great Improvement, as I have been greatly 

 troubled with bulged combs. I use single-depth 

 caps, 28 sections in one hive, and 30 in the other. I 

 tier up, and can show my neighbors the superiority 

 of this method, as many of my acquaintances with 

 10 to 16 hives frequently fail to-obtain sufficient for 

 their own use. I manufacture sorghum molasses 

 in the fall, having a run of ten to twelve weeks, and 

 a portion of this fall my crusher and also my evap- 

 orating room were well nigh covered with bees. I 

 was wondering if they could or did secrete honey 

 from the juice or syrup. What do you think? I 

 could see no evidence in their hives. 



Assumption, 111., Oct. 33, 1887. W. N. Root. 



Friend R., the bees will fill their combs, 

 and may fill their hives, with what they 

 gather from your crusher, etc. ; but it will 

 be sorghum syrup, and not honey ; and if I 

 am not mistaken you will find it very bad 

 stuff to winter on. We shall be glad to have 

 your report in the spring ; and tell us if you 

 don't find it bad for wintering-stores. 



ENTRANCES TURNED TO THE SOUTH. 



Will bees in hives, with the entrance turned to 

 the north, do as well as if the entrance were turned 

 in some other direction? A. F. Fields. 



Wheaton, Ind. 



Friend F., we had a good opportunity of 

 testing this matter when using the house- 

 apiary. Half of the entrances were turned 

 to the north and half to the south. Now, 

 there were certain times in the spring when 

 the weather changed suddenly, while the 

 bees were out of their hives, say during ma- 

 ple blossom, when the bees on the north side 

 were, many of them, lost in trying to regain 

 their hives ; whereas on the south side they 

 got in all right. But it is also true, that 

 there are special times in the winter M'hen 

 the bees on the south side are tempted to fly 

 out, and hence get lost in a light fall of 

 snow, while those on the north side remain 

 quiet. So you see there are advantages and 

 disadvantages. On the whole, I should say 



one pretty nearly balanced the other. Where 

 there are but few hives, however, and where 

 they are placed a good way apart, I should 

 rather prefer having the entrances toward 

 the south, although I do not know that it 

 makes any material difference. Some way 

 it always seems pleasant to see them clus- 

 tered out around tlie entrance, to get the 

 warmth of the sun when the weather is 

 cool ; but I am not sure they do any better 

 with us. 



brood carried out. 

 One of my hives is rather weak, owing to the old 

 bees destroying all the first brood. I could assign 

 no reason for this, so I turned to my ABC, and 

 found that you said this state of affairs was caused 

 by moths; but no trace of moths was found in 

 the comb. Something was wrong, 1 knew not what. 



ALSIKE. 



How does alsike clover grow, compared with red 

 clover, on the same kind of land? How does it 

 stand drought? Of what value is sweet clover, 

 more than for honey? R. H. Guthrie. 



Powhatan, Ark., Dec, 1887. 



Friend G.. I can think of no reason why 

 the bees should destroy the brood, unless 

 they have been driven to it by starvation. 

 Have they not, at some period, been clear 

 out of stores ? Where the larvae are starved 

 they will die ; and a heavy flow of honey 

 coming soon after would present just the 

 state of affairs you mention. — Alsike clover 

 is very much like the red in its habits. It 

 stands drought just about the same, so far 

 as my information goes. 



grapevines around the hives. 

 How can we best keep down weeds in a grapevine 

 apiary? If we mulch them, are we not likely to set 

 the mulching on fire with our smokers? And if we 

 cultivate the vineyard, it would be rather muddy 

 when it rained, and when the frost comes out. 

 What about the Niagara grape? Does any of the 

 bee-men cultivate it? What can they be bought for? 



J. S. WiLLARD. 



Bedford, Taylor Co., Iowa, Dec. 8, 1887. 



Friend W., we use a lawn-mower and 

 sickle to keep the grass down. To get a 

 good growth of vines we occasionally dig 

 up the turf, and then work in some ashes 

 and bone dust. In this way we have secured 

 fine crops almost every year. We have a 

 Niagara vine, but it is a very slow grower 

 with us. At the horticultural convention in 

 Saginaw, some immense clusters of the Ni- 

 agara grape were on exhibition. The bunch- 

 es are not only large, but the berries are 

 squeezed in so tight together that the 

 bunches feel like lead. The grape is al- 

 most equal to the California raisin grape, in 

 sweetness and flavor. 



JAPANESE BUCKWHEAT. 



354 bushels from two lbs. of seed. 



IpTEREis my report of Japanese buckwheat: I 

 1^ bought 2 lbs. of you, sowed it the 25th of 

 E?| July. I got 3(4 bushels of nice clean buck- 

 ^■'' wheat. I wasted some in handling. 



Jos. Griffin. 

 Rio, Albemarle Co., Va., Dec. 7, 1887. 



