1900 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



267 



EVERGREENS FOR WINDBREAKS FOR APIA- 

 RIES, GARDENS, ETC. 



Mr. Root : — As you have had experience in 

 planting an evergreen windbreak, can you 

 give me some information about it ? I should 

 like to plant one to shelter house and bees 

 from the north and west ; soil is sandy, run- 

 ning out to heavy loam. It is difficult for me 

 to get trees from the woods. Would it pay 

 me to go a considerable distance, rather than 

 buy from a nursery ? 



What kinds would you advise purchasing, 

 and what size of tree f How many rows are 

 necessary ? how far apart for the rows, and 

 for the trees in the row? and is it necessary 

 to cultivate them for a few years ? 



Frederick H. Clarke. 



Coleman, Mich., Feb. 21. 



[Friend C, I would not get evergreens from 

 the woods, even if they were near by, because 

 you can get transplanted trees grown and 

 trained in the nursery so much better and so 

 much cheaper. On page 190 of Gleanings 

 for March 1 you will find an advertisement of 

 one of our largest and best dealers in ever- 

 greens. Trees a foot high cost only f 3 00 per 

 100. I think our own cost about $5.00 per 100; 

 they were planted about 20 years ago, and are 

 now almost too large (40 to 50 feet high and 

 some of them over a foot through), if any 

 thing. We have tried them at different dis- 

 tances. Only one row is necessary if you let 

 the branches come out clear down to the 

 ground, which they will do in a very few 

 years. The Norway spruce is very hardy, and 

 a very rapid grower. We have not lost one 

 tree in 100, and these would not have been 

 lost had not water been allowed to stand 

 around their roots. Trees 10 feet apart in the 

 row (as ours are) will make a windbreak for 

 bee-hives rather quicker than if a rod apart; 

 but in a few years, where placed so closely, it 

 will bother j'ou to get through them if you 

 should happen to want to. One who has not 

 tried it would hardly realize what a difference 

 it makes during a windy time. One can work 

 in comfort when shielded by evergreens when 

 it would be very tedious if not dangerous to 

 undertake the same kind of work where the 

 wind has full sweep. A windbreak around a 

 home, the barns, poultry-house, etc., is not 

 only a great comfort, but a positive saving in 

 feed for stock as well as a comfort to the own- 

 er. The nearer you put the trees, the sooner 

 they make an efficient protection ; but they 

 are more apt to be crowded so as to die out as 

 the Irees get older. — A. I. R.] 



ECHOES FROM THE WISCONSIN CONVENTION ; 

 TALL SECTIONS. 

 Wisconsin is not and has never been any great 

 comb-honey producer, most of her bee-men 

 having become convinced that markets, prices, 

 and the amount of product being considered, 

 extracted pa} s them better. Nevertheless, 

 there was interest enough in comb-honey pro- 

 duction to bring out a lively discussion on the 

 merits and demerits of tall sections, 4x5, as 

 compared with 4^ X 4^ inch. Although your 

 humble servant defended the tall section as 



best he could, there seemed to be a decided 

 majority against them. But when a show of 

 hands was called for of those who had tried 

 them the number was small indeed, and there 

 seemed to be a confusion among the members 

 between no-beeway sections and 4x5 sections 

 \yhen this point was not really under discus- 

 sion. 



The points claimed for tall thin sections 

 were — better finish, quicker sealed over, hence 

 more product ; also looks better ; therefore 

 will sell for more. The reasons urged against 

 them were — cost of extra fixtures, cost of ex- 

 tra foundation, and a general unwillingness to 

 help supply-dealers. 



KEGS AND BARRELS V. CANS. 



This came up for a tussle, and here, as well 

 as on the tall sections, Wisconsin would have 

 none of the cans. The strong point against cans 

 was cost, and inconvenience of handling when 

 full. Dealers are unwilling to pay more for 

 honey in cans than in barrels. These argu- 

 ments are all valid ; but, on the other hand, 

 the leakage and loss from soaking in the wood 

 is no small matter on barrels amd kegs, and I 

 am sure that dealers who supply honey for 

 family use would soon appreciate the difference 

 between liquefying that in cans and that in 

 barrels. 



Mora/. — Know your customer, and suit your 

 package to your trade. 



There was one entirely new feature introduc- 

 ed into the convention — a debate on the fol- 

 lowing : 



Resolved, That contraction is better than ex- 

 pansion for spring management of btes. Af- 

 firmative, Harry Lathrop ; negative Jacob 

 Huffman. The debate was quite spir ted and 

 interesting from first to last. The affirmative 

 claimed that all weak colonies should be tuck- 

 ed up close — i. e., contracted and let alone, 

 while the negative claimed that they should 

 be expanded by brood from strong colonies. 

 Successful bee-keepers adhered to both sides, 

 which shows that the same result may be at- 

 tained, and the same point reached, by entire- 

 ly different routes. The point here aimed at is 

 strength of colonies, and whether this can best 

 be attained by bringing strength from others 

 at the expense of the colony robbed, or to let 

 them develop strength from with'n. 



At the close of the debate Secretary France 

 brought down the house by presenting the 

 contestants with a tray of honey-cakes made 

 by a Wisconsin biscuit company. May be he 

 thought they needed refreshment after their 

 exhaustive efforts. 



One other feature which I am sure you and 

 all friends of bee culture will be pleased to 

 know is that the whole convention joined the 

 National Bee-keepers' Association. May it 

 live and prosper until fraud, adulteration, and 

 foolish prejudice are all wiped out. 



Richland Center, Wis. C. A. Hatch. 



I commenced keeping bees in the spring of 

 1886 with one colony, for which- 1 paid $5.00. 

 I have been strictly in the business ever since. 

 I now count mv colonies by the hundred, and 

 sell honey by the ton. F. B. Jones. 



Pease, Minn., Mar. 8. 



