1888 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



711 



proof that comb honey is manufactured by machin- 

 ery. To g-et the matter squarely before such 

 falsifiers, please hand them one of our cards, offer- 

 ing the reward as above, and say to them, "Now 

 furnish your proof." IJear in mind, that these 

 cards are furnished free upon application. If you 

 know of any person who is in the habit of retailing 

 such slander against honest bee-keepers, please 

 hand or send to him one of these cards. We are 

 glad to furnish them in any quantity for judicious 

 distribution. 



AN ENEMY TO THE CLOVER, AND PERHAPS TO OUR 

 HONEY CHOPS. 



Whii.e at friend Terry's we went into a clover- 

 field, and he called attention to an insect-enemy 

 which seems to threaten trouble, not only to the 

 farmer, but to the bee-keeper as well. On page 686, 

 Prof. Cook speaks of a clover-mite, and of a clover- 

 seed midge. I can not remember exactly what 

 friend Terry called it, but he pulled up a clover- 

 stalk, split it with his knife, and showed us a live 

 bug, I should call it. It was the same with another 

 stalk, and he informed me that I would find one in 

 every stalk of clover in the field. It has already 

 hindered the blooming, and friend T. informed us 

 that scientific men were feeling considerably trou- 

 bled as to what might be the result if kept on. 



FIGITHES WON'T LIE. 



Yes, but they oftentimes make a deal of trouble, 

 owing to this very fact. A great many times cus- 

 tomers who wanted our regular Simplicity sections 

 have by mistake made wrong figures; and it has 

 happened over and over again, that somebody 

 ordered sections 4'/2 by 4;4 when they meant to say 

 m by 4}4. This mistake in figures not only made us 

 a heap of trouble in changing our machinery to 

 something irregular, but when the purchaser re- 

 ceived them right in the rush of the season, perhaps 

 there was more trouble still, for his sections would 

 not go into his wide frames and cases at all. Now, 

 let me give you a suggestion. When ordering sec- 

 tions or any thing else, if you want regular goods, 

 just say "Simplicity sections "—nothing further, 

 then you will get regular stock. If you attempt to 

 give dimensions of regular goods, it is the easiest 

 thing in the world to make the wrong figure. 

 Therefore, just because of the fact that figures 

 will not lie, do not have any thing to do with them, 

 unless you want something irregular, where the 

 dimensions must be given in figures. I have myself 

 had so much sad experience in this way that I avoid 

 figures whenever I can. For instance: If I want 

 some stuff cut up just so long, I cut a stick the 

 length I want it; then I am pretty safe; but if I 

 measure it off on a square, and say so many feet and 

 inches and fractions, there are two chances for a 

 blunder. Possibly I might make one in measuring, 

 and the man who measured again might make a 

 mistake. Cut a stick just right, and you have 

 nothing to do with feet and inches at all. 



SEPTEMBER WORK. 



INTRODUCING QUEENS. 



f HE months of August and September are, to 

 many bee-keepers, a time when but little 

 work is to be done with the bees. This is 

 particularly the case in those localities 

 where there is no honey-flow in the fall. 

 After the early yield is over, the bees are apt to be 



neglected until the approach of winter reminds the 

 owner that his bees need protection. I am inclined 

 to think that this is very unfortunate, aside from 

 the honey that might be secured, for it is during 

 these months that the foundation is laid for winter- 

 ing, successful or otherwise. The bee-keeper need 

 not be altogether idle, even if there is no honey to 

 care for. These months have always been my fa- 

 vorite time for rearing and introducing queens, and 

 they have many advantages for this purpose over 

 the earlier months. 



QUEENS REARED IN THE FALL, COMPARED WITH 

 THOSE REARED AT OTHER SEASONS. 



Queens can be reared more cheaply at this time 

 than at any other; and if you choose to buy, the 

 price is less. They are introduced at a time when 

 the bee-keeper is, as a rule, not very busy, and 

 when the bees are not breeding very strongly, so 

 that queenlessness tor a short time is but little loss. 



The claim is often made, that queens thus reared 

 " out of season " are not as good as those raised 

 earlier. This sounds well enough; and if the slip- 

 shod methods, sometimes advised, are followed, it is 

 perhaps true; but experience has convinced me 

 that, if properly reared, they are exactly as good as 

 the earlier queens, and I have sometimes thought 

 them better. The reason why I thought them bet- 

 ter was that they would have more brood in the 

 hives late in the fall than queens reared earlier, 

 thus leaving the colony in better condition for 

 wintering. Some have argued that a queen, intro- 

 duced too late to lay much in the fall, would prove 

 extra prolific in the spring, and it has sometimes 

 seemed as if this were so. I have had queens 

 hatched the last of September, that, owing to cold 

 weather, did not begin to lay until Nov. 9 — 40 days 

 after— and then laid only small patches of eggs, yet 

 proved prolific and long-lived mothers of vigorous 

 colonies. 



SUPERIORITY OF ITALIANS OVER BLACKS. 



If there is any thing that the past two seasons 

 should have taught bee-keepers it is, that the su- 

 periority of the Italian bee, so long argued, is a real 

 one. I started with black bees, Italianized my api- 

 ary, then experimented again with blacks as well 

 as with other races; and the result is, that I am 

 more firmly convinced than ever that the Italians 

 are the best. Some prominent bee-keepers, I know, 

 have decided in favor of the black bee; but they have 

 peculiar reasons for their preference, which do not 

 apply to all. These reasons I will try to give in an- 

 other article. In this article, though, I will give 

 just one argument for blacks vs. Italians that is 

 cold fact gained by experience. 



Last year I had a few colonies of blacks, kept for 

 experimental purposes. No surplus honey was 

 gathered, and I expected to be obliged to feed 

 heavily, as the neighboring bee-keepers having 

 principally blacks did. I was relieved, though, 

 when I came to weigh my bees in the fall, to find 

 that but few required feeding, and most of them 

 only a little. All the black colonies, though, had to 

 be fed from ten to fifteen pounds apiece. I then 

 calculated that, counting extra feed and time, it 

 had cost me at least a dollar apiece more, on an av- 

 erage, to prepare those black colonies for winter 

 than the Italians. What wonder that I decided 

 then and there that I would never again own black 

 bees any longer than I had to? James A. Green. 



Dayton, 111., Sept. 8, 1888. 



