1899 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



687 



mash. Then I would cover it with an old 

 quilt, and repeat every day until the seed 

 sprouted. It took about ten days, stirring or 

 mixing the seed thoroughly each day as I wet 

 it, so as to have all the seed sprout as near the 

 same time as possible. Some of the seeds 

 would have sprouts nearly an inch long before 

 all would crack open. 



In planting I would take some seed from 

 the box, letting it dry a little so as not to stick. 

 Then I made paper funnels long enough so a 

 man would not have to stoop so much in dis- 

 tributing the seed nicely in the rows, so as not 

 to injure the sprouts. When ready to plant, 

 it makes lively work where one plants several 

 acres. I write this that you may have one of 

 the many ways of getting tough-shell seed to 

 grow. 



It now looks as if we should lose nearly all 

 if not all of our bees by reason of the drouth. 

 Irrigation does not seem to supply the nectar 

 that winter rains do. Still, we might be worse 

 off, as we shall receive nearly or quite $100,000 

 for our dried fruit in the valley this year ; so 

 you see the push of Young America has been 

 busy in the San Jacinto Valley since you vis- 

 ited us. H. J. Morse. 



Hemet, Cal., Aug. 12. 



BLACKS VS. ITALIANS. 



I had a more favorable opportunity last sea- 

 son to compare the merits of the blacks and 

 Italians and their numerous crosses than I had 

 before in forty years' experience in bee cul- 

 ture. The winter previous was very mild, and 

 all the bees came out in March in good condi- 

 tion ; and as fast as they began to crowd in 

 the hives I gave them more room by adding 

 empty frames, and kept it up for eight months. 

 The bees were in ten-frame hives ; and when 

 the hive was full of bees I would lift the two 

 outside frames on each side into an empty su- 

 per, placing them directly over the four mid- 

 dle frames, then filling the empty space above 

 and below with empty frames. Then as fast 

 as they increased in bees I moved the old 

 combs apart and inserted the empty ones, first 

 moving those in the lower hive, then in the 

 super, until the space was filled ; then I would 

 add another super of ten frames as needed. 

 None of the black bees made over one super- 

 ful, and all of the cross-breeds made two su- 

 perfuls. None of the Italians made less than 

 three superfuls, and several of them four su- 

 perfuls. Any one blindfolded could tell the 

 grade of the bees by simply lifting the hives. 



The black queens occupied but one set of 

 ten frames of the improved Langstroth size, 

 while the cross-breeds occupied part of two 

 hives, and the Italians all of two. There were 

 leather-colored and straw-colored Italian bees, 

 and the straw colored ones proved to be the 

 better. Henry Bidwell. 



Valley Center, Kan., July 30. 



see a honey-flow when clover is nearly all 

 killed, and spring opens wet, and the new 

 plant comes on and blooms freely on account 

 of a wet spring bringing it to that state, you 

 are ahead of me. If my experience is of any 

 value it is the second season when clover 

 yields honey, and not the first. I said, as E. 

 T. Flanagan can tell you, we should get little 

 or no clover honey, as far ahead as last March; 

 and when clover came into bloom I still stuck 

 to it, though many laughed at me, and we did 

 not get it either ; and, by the way, this is the 

 only time I ever saw the fields full of bloom ; 

 and no honey, as you often hear of, is obtained 

 under these conditions. Study your plants as 

 well as bees, or you can not be successful. 



D. D. Hammond. 

 Malone, la , Aug. 17, 1899. 



CONDITIONS UNDER WHICH CLOVER DOES NOT 

 YIELD. 



I see in your Aug. 15th number one of the 

 old-time bee-keepers wonders why, when white 

 clover bloomed so finely, we did not get any 

 honey this season. If any of you folks ever 



A SIMPLE ENTRANCE-CLOSER. 



I send you a model of an entrance- closer. 

 I have used them for several years, but have 

 not seen them advertised in any catalog. The 

 one I sent is a little short. On moving a bee- 

 hive they can be nailed over the entrance, and 

 the bees will have plenty of air. They are 

 good in hot weather. Jerome Poole. 



Rockport, Mass. 



DRAPER BARNS EIGHT FRAMES WIDE. 



I see that Gleanings for July 15 describes 

 the Draper barns, and also gives an illustra- 

 tion of one. I am sure I don't want such a 

 hive, neither do I want the regular ten- frame 

 hive ; but it seems to me that an eight-frame 

 hive, with frames the depth of those in the 

 Draper barns, would be a very desirable hive, 

 both for breeding and for wintering. Such a 

 hive would have about the same comb surface 

 as a regular ten-frame hive, and it would suit 

 me a great deal better than to use the two 

 extra combs in order to get it. I use mostly 

 the eight-frame hive ; and the only drawback 

 I find with them is that they are liable to have 

 a scant amount of stores for winter. The 

 same hive, with frames and hive-body 2y& 

 inches deeper, would overcome this objection. 



You say nothing about eight-frame hives 

 with Draper frames ; but it seems to me that, 

 if you get a call for those Draper barns, you 

 will also get a call for eight-frame Draper 

 hives. I should like to hear what others have 

 to say on this subject. 



We have not had a good willow-herb season 

 here since the summer of 1896, when I raised 

 3600 pounds of extracted and 4600 of comb 

 honey from 55 colonies, spring count. Wil- 

 low-herb promised fairly this year, but it has 

 failed. The blossoms seem to be blasted. 

 Basswood also failed after blooming fully. 

 We are thankful, however, that we got some 

 clover honey, and there is a chance that we 

 shall get a fall run. If not, the feeding of 

 bees will be in order. R. S. Chapin. 



Marion, Mich., Aug. 8. 



