1892 



iii.KANiNtJs IN MiOK ri:i/riM{|':. 



••():$ 



As for Mr. ll;isty"s icnuirUs, they otivcr abniit 

 tho sanit> K'">"i"<l^ 'I'iit Mr. 1). doi-s. except the 

 possibility of soitie sti-ay swartn joiiiiiif,' tiie ex- 

 periiiieiital eoloiiy. 1 iliinU Mr. Hasty or any 

 other ohserviiifi liee-iiian would (|iiiokly disrov- 

 er any tliiii,ir of tliat kind if it siiould hap|)Oti. 

 lUit Sir. II. is wruiic; in liis foiijectnri'S altout 

 tlie failure of the honey-tlow soon after the 

 swanii w a"s liived. Thessvarin was hived .lone 

 10; the lioney was ample until .Inly :.'(). wiien 

 tho basswood gave ont. At. that, time I jiiive 

 tlie bees in ix'pjx'rbox f(M'ders (i lbs. of honey, 

 and kept honey in the feeders all the time after 

 that date. \\iiX. ".'4 I took away liiood for the 

 last time, and then let them go as they pleased 

 and liatoh brood. Of oourse, it. must have been 

 at)ont tlie 14tii of September before any brood 

 would hati'li. About that time I lixed my yard 

 for winter, and tiiere were a few bees there yet. 

 and some fi'w hatching. IIow lonjj they held 

 out I don"t know, as I did not look again. 



Now, my friends, if life is spared until next 

 summer 1 mean to try some more experiments: 

 and 1 should like to have otliers do the same. 

 Let us learn all W(> can. and let (Mich one i)rovo 

 for liimself any point that he or she is interest- 

 ed in. We have :.'(» acres of land. shai>ed about 

 like a brick. Now, as far as possible from tlie 

 bee-yard, and from each other, as I can, I in- 

 tend to i)lace two or three hives to experiment 

 with. Let others who can, try for themselves, 

 if they are interested in such matters. 



I'latteville, Wis.. ,Ian. -.'8. E. Fhance. 



Ud/es' Conversazione. 



I'LANTING ISKKUI- VS. HAD AVEED.S FOK BEE.«. 



If I were a man, and owned a farm. I think I 

 would plant for bees if I had as many as .50 or 

 100 colonies. Mr. Axtell says it does not pay; 

 but I believe it would pay — not so much in the 

 amount of surplus stond from such flowers, but 

 in the good it would do the colonies in keeping 

 them thrifty and built up between the honey- 

 harvests. 1 would give a little time to it eacli 

 year, and see to it that it was done right. If I 

 owned a larg(- farm, and had plenty of ground 

 to spare, I would set apart an acre or more for 

 such purpose; but if I could thoroughly till 

 what I had I would utilize the waste lands, the 

 fence-corners, and next to the hedges. I would 

 not send a hand out and have high-priced seed 

 scattered along the roadsides, in the stiff sods, 

 nor along tlie fences that are already overgrown 

 witli weeds, as I should not expect it would thus 

 pay: but I would take the spade and hoe, and 

 clean out the fence-corners, and plant such 

 seeds as an; tried and do well in each locality — 

 such bee-plants as will hold their own after be- 

 ing planted— perennials that will blos.som each 

 year at a time when the clovers or other farm 

 crops are not in blossom. I would hoe out the 

 useless weeds close to the hedges or fences, 

 where tin y can not be cultivated for farm cioits. 

 I would plant such seeds as catnip, Simpson 

 plant, hoarhound. pleurisy-root, sweet clover, 

 etc. How much better to grow such plants 

 than so many useless weeds that yield no hon- 

 ey, and are a nuisance to the faiinerl I would 

 have a regular string of flowers all around my 

 farm, and near the cross- fences besides. Some 

 argue that weeds thus grown would not be good 

 for the fence or hedge: but they could not b(! 

 worse than useless weeds or the grasses that 

 grow in the cultivated fields next to the fences, 

 that animals can not reach to eat off. I would 

 not sow bee-|)lants along the fences of neigh- 

 bors who would object to such plants, or who 

 annually mow down the weeds in front of their 



premises. There are many neighbors who are 

 so accommodating as to aid a brother i)(>e-keep- 

 er by giving (•onsent tn iiaving ><uch plants as 

 sweet clover sow n along the roadsides, as it Is a 

 beautiful plant, both in the foliagci and blos- 

 som, and is much more sightly tlian many of 

 the weeds often seen growing along the I'oads, 

 and which furnish nothing to bea'^t or bee. 



Down near the limber, neai' where our out- 

 apiary is located, are large patches of burdock 

 and ("aiiada thistles, both in the fields and 

 along the roadsides. How much better to de- 

 stroy such plants, and rais(> honey-plants that 

 are not such noxious weetisi I can advise, but 

 I can not i)ractice the above, though I b<'lievo 

 it would i)ay largely, both to bee-keepers and to 

 th(> farmers. 



I.Af K OF VENTILATION FOK CEI-I.AR WINTER- 



INO ; IIONEY-OEW, AND IT.S EFFECTS 



IN THE CEI,I-AK. 



In (ii.EANiNos. page n3, yon print my article 

 about our bees being so uiunisy. We did have 

 to take (Jilt another cellar window that was 

 plastered uj), and it was surprising how soon 

 they (piieted down. We can see no ditference 

 in the number of dead bet^s swept up in front of 

 the hives wintering on honey-dew, and those 

 wintering on sugar syrup. The bees are more 

 quiet than they were the fore part of the winter, 

 but they throw out twice the dead bees they 

 have some other winters: but they show no 

 signs of dysentry on the fronts of their hives. I 

 was looking this morning, and saw no hives 

 thus speckled. Those winten^d out of doors have 

 had several good flights during the winter. Mr. 

 Tilly, who has 30 colonies, and winters outdoors, 

 says that there are but few dead bees in front of 

 his hives, and his bees flew as if they were 

 strong, a few days since. Mks. L. C. Axteij,. 



Roseville, III., Feb. 20. 



[We are rapidly coming to the conclusion 

 that bees need more ventilation in the cellar 

 than many supijose. We notice that there is 

 less flying out in proitortion to the number of 

 colonies when there is a small number in the 

 cellar than when there are many. High temper- 

 ature may have some effect; but. usually, high 

 temperature is accompanied by a lack of circu- 

 lation in the air. and hence the result is impure 

 air, and restlessness on the jjart of the bees.] 



A KIND OF FIXED-DISTANCE HIVE THAT IS NOT 

 OF THE KIOIIT S<JRT. 



I wish .some of the advocates of " fixed dis- 

 tances " and •" handling hives instead of frames" 

 had some hives I was obliged to use last year. 

 I knew I didn't want them, as .soon as I saw 

 them, but had to have something, and they 

 were all I could get at the time. The ends of 

 frames, instead of resting on a tin rabbet, fit in- 

 to a notched piece of wood, and another notch- 

 ed piece across the bottom of the hiv(! holds the 

 bottom of the frames tight. I could gel along 

 with them while the hives were new. by han- 

 dling the framesover (|uite often: but I tell you, 

 those hives hav(^ lixed distance and no mistake. 

 I believi^ they would stay fixed, too. if the hives 

 were rolled over and over down hill for half a 

 mile. They are altogether too " fixed " to suit 

 me ; for. like Mrs. Atchley in Nehr<tsk<i Bce- 

 heeper, I don't care about " going down the lad- 

 der." 



I am sometimes asked why I am a bee-keeper. 

 Well, it was neither from choice nor because of 

 necessity, but the result of what most people 

 would call "a bad bargain." But as" all things 

 work together for good," I suppose it was not 

 an accident, after all. I'erhaps I'll tell the 

 story some time in the future. 



Ml{S. .\. L. HUIXENBECK. 



Millard. Xeb.. Feb. 17. 



