98 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Feb. 1. 



the Root Co. make a few mistakes, I know 

 they mean well to us all. 



Cuba, Kan., Dec. 12. Wm. H. EagerTy. 



SWEET CLOVER ; HOW TO GET RID OF IT, AND 

 HOW TO TEACH COWS TO EAT IT. 



Friend Root : — Mr. Lewis A. Sawyer seems 

 to be at a loss to know what to do with his 

 sweet clover. I sowed some around fence- 

 corners and little odd places about my farm, 

 not knowing it would grow so high. It grew 

 to about 8 or 9 feet, right where it was in the 

 way, so I cut it down, just as it was coming 

 into bloom, and that was the last of it. It 

 never troubled me any more. 



I say yes, the cows can be taught to eat it. 

 I just sprinkle a little salt water on it and they 

 soon learn to eat it without the salt. My cows 

 like it very well. Edw. Smith. 



Carpenter, 111., Dec. 8. 



SWEET CLOVER, AGAIN. 



What kind of cattle does Mr. Sawyer have, 

 anyhow ? If I had a cow that would not eat 

 sweet clover after I had kept her six months I 

 would certainly dispose of her. I have sweet 

 clover growing in my pasture, but I have as 

 yet to see it bloom. The cattle keep it eaten 

 down all the time. Jas. Pratt. 



Cumminsville, Neb., Dec. 31. 



A. F. H., Me. — Our bees are taxed like 

 other property. As a rule, bees are taxable in 

 nearly all the States of the Union. 



J. C, J r a. — If you will keep hybrids or Ital- 

 ians you will have little or no trouble with the 

 moth-worms. Empty combs taken off in sum- 

 mer, and stored in hives, will usually be safe 

 enough from the depredation of the wax-moth 

 — especially so if the ordinary spider can get 

 access to the combs. Combs previously sub- 

 jected to freezing and shut in a tight box or 

 in a hive, bee and moth tight, will be safe for 

 any length of time. 



G. W. M.,0/iio. — Tarred roofing paper will 

 in no way be offensive to the bees, especially 

 when used as a lining to the building you 

 speak of ; but if you put the bees in an up- 

 ground building it should be frost-proof. All 

 things considered, if bees are to be wintered 

 indoors it is better to put them in a cellar 

 where the temperature can be kept somewhere 

 about 45. Wintering in up-ground buildings 

 is not as successfully practiced as in buildings 

 partly or wholly under ground. 



J. L., Tastnania. — I note what you say in 

 the matter of foul brood. In regard to p. 587 

 you got a wrong impression, probably because 

 the language is not very explicit. I did not 

 mean to convey the impression that foul brood 

 would be sure to revisit an apiary after hives 

 have been scalded and bees treated. What I 

 did mean to say was that the disease would 



surely return unless treatment and disinfect- 

 ants were administered. I send you our foul- 

 brood pamphlet, and from this it appears that 

 it may not be necessary to boil hives. This is 

 probable ; but some authorities think that 

 hives and utensils should be disinfected also. 

 However, if you follow the treatment in the 

 pamphlet you will probably not have very 

 much trouble from the disease reappearing in 

 your yards. 



H. C. A., Wis. — Your method of using a 

 large winter case, to accommodate ten or a 

 dozen hives, is used by some ; but while first 

 cost of this method of packing may be cheaper 

 it means a good deal of labor. The majority of 

 bee-keepers prefer, if they winter outdoors, 

 regular chaff hives, because they are always 

 ready for winter and are cooler in summer. It 

 is not necessary to use shade-boards or shade- 

 trees with double-wall hives, and some prefer 

 them just for the protection they afford in sum- 

 mer. In regard to feeders, we have for years 

 sold butter-dishes or trays just for this very 

 purpose. One does not need to purchase the 

 more expensive Miller or Boardman feeder, 

 each of which has special features peculiar to 

 itself. Both of them save labor, and with 

 either of them the feeding can be done, usual- 

 ly, at one opening of the hive. As to the Hill 

 device, corncobs or any thing of that sort may 

 be used instead, but they are not as conven- 

 ient, nor quite so good. 



F. A. A'., Wis. — I note that you say your 

 bees are dying in your bee-cellar at the rate of 

 three quarts per week. Considering the fact 

 that you have 38 colonies in the cellar this 

 may not necessarily be bad ; and yet at the 

 beginning or at least the middle of the winter 

 this is a rather heavier loss than there should 

 be under favorable conditions. One who is 

 used to wintering outdoors, and then winters 

 inside, is often surprised at the number of 

 dead bees there will be found on a cellar bot- 

 tom in a few weeks' time, and he is likely to 

 imagine that all his bees will die thus before 

 the spring, when the facts are, even under the 

 best conditions, that old bees are pretty sure 

 to come out and die on the cellar bottom, and 

 there may be an accumulation of an inch or so 

 all over the floor, the number depending, of 

 course, upon the number of colonies in the 

 cellar. The loss in this way should be light, 

 comparatively, during the early part of the 

 winter, and increase as the winter advances. I 

 suspect, then, that your loss is greater than it 

 should be. Your loss may be occasioned by 

 the fact that the cellar is not absolutely dark ; 

 second, that the hives contain stores of inferi- 

 or quality ; third, an undue amount of damp- 

 ness ; fourth, temperature (38°) is low, if any 

 thing — 45 is better. The nearer you can keep 

 it at that point the better will be the results. 

 If a cellar is dark, ordinarily dry, and stores 

 are of good quality, then I should attribute 

 your loss to the low temperature. To bring 

 it higher I would bank the cellar up more or 

 put more colonies in. Fifth, there should be a 

 slight amount of ventilation. This may be 

 secured by means of a stove or by opening and 

 closing doors at night w r hen not too cold out- 

 side. 



