472 



GIpaninm in Bee Culture 



K]©si(i]© (dU (S[pgiD[]D i!\P(E)m MiF[!(B[P(BmiiWmMi 



How Long can Bees be Kept Confined in a Glass or 



Observatory Hive ? How to Supply them with 



Fresh Bees. 



I received a nucleus and demonstration hive sev- 

 eral days ago. They arrived Friday. May 12, I be- 

 lieve, for we are on a branch road, and things are 

 slow in reaching us. About 1000 bees were dead, 

 but the others are doing very nicely now, I think. I 

 loolced into the hive to-day, and the queen seemed 

 to be laying well, and the bees were quite gentle. 



1 wish to ask a question as to how to manage the 

 demonstration hive. How long can 1 keep a frame 

 with the queen In such a hive away from the other 

 bees without causing trouble? My class recitations 

 are 45 minutes long, and I have from two to three 

 in succession. How long could a frame of bees be 

 kept in this without the queen? Should I have 

 some old woria-out queen in the demonstration 

 hive simply to show what she looks like? How 

 could I get her in with the rest for a week, say, 

 without trouble— long enough for my classes to see 

 the various lines of work going on? 



I presume we should have an eight-frame hive 

 with glass sides, so as to slide the frames along to 

 the glass, but I am not sure how soon I shall feel 

 justified in asking for the extra appropriation. 



I have 150 girls, high-school graduates, mostly 

 from cities like Newark and .Jersey City, and a few 

 from the country. Most of them are afraid of any 

 thing that crawls, and I want them to see as much 

 as possible of the work of the bees without throw- 

 ing the hive into confusion. 



Upper Montclair. N. .7. C. H. Robison. 



[You can keep a frame of bees with a queen in a 

 glass hive for about a week. At the end of that 

 time the bees begin to get uneasy. They ought to 

 be given a flight so they can cleanse themselves. 

 They may then be shut up again and used over. 

 No, we do not think it is necessary to use old worn- 

 out queens, r.se the best .vou have. Keeping them 

 in a glass hive where they can be seen by the pu- 

 pils will not injure the queens in the least. 



A full-sized glass hive is very nice, but it enables 

 the scholars to see only the outside of each outside 

 frame. A single-comb observatory hive is usually 

 much better. By having a regular hive in the 

 yard, in the rear of one of the college or school 

 buildings, you can draw a fresh supply of bees eve- 

 ry week. Our suggestion would be this: Get one 

 full-sized colony, eight or ten frame size — the latter 

 preferred. Then, once a week, take a frame of 

 bees and put it in your glass hive. The first time 

 you do this, take the frame of bees, brood, and 

 queen. At the end of the week pick the queen oflf 

 the comb. After it has been taken from the glass 

 hive put her on to another comb. Put this comb 

 with bees into the glass hive. Queens can stay in 

 a glass hive indefinitely, but the bees must be 

 changed from week to week or given a flight. 



The writer has made a number of public demon- 

 strations, and finds no difficulty in getting college 

 students— girls, young women, and young men 

 alike — familiar enough with the bees so they are 

 willing to take a frame of bees in their own hands. 

 But the teacher himself must first take out the 

 frame very carefully, and show them the inii)or- 

 tance of not pinching any bees when handling the 

 comb. We have frequently pa.ssed frames of bees 

 clear around an audience-room. — Kd.] 



The Spider Flower for Honey. 



Can you tell me if the spider flower is a good hon- 

 ey-producing plant? We have what is called the 

 spider flower. Some of our friends ordered the 

 seed from some seedhouse, and the bees covered it 

 over morning and night. There is a small drop of 

 honey in the bloom. It gi'ows about 3 ft. high, and 

 springs out. It has from four to eight heads to the 

 stalk. It blooms till frost. After it blooms the 

 bees will not notice buckwheat where this plant is 

 in bloom. Some of my neighbors say it is not good 

 for bees. Would it pay to sow it for the bees? It 

 grows almost anywhere around the place. Stock 

 will not eat it. 



New Boston, Texas. J. K. Larue. 



[You will find the spider flower mentioned in the 

 old editions ot the A B (' of Bee Culture, and a brief 

 mention of it in the new edition of the same work. 



It is indeed a very remarkable honey-plant ; but 

 there is not enough of it growing to make much of 

 a showing in the supers. The nearest relative that 

 we have to it to produce honey in any considerable 

 quantity, or enough so that we can taste it in con- 

 nection with alfalfa, is the Rocky Mountain bee- 

 plant. It looks very much like it, and a good many 

 might confvise the same plant for one and the same 

 thing. The Rocky Mountain bee-plant grows in a 

 higher altitude, while the spider flower grows in a 

 lower altitude and in the Eastern States. But the 

 distribution of it is so scattered that it does not 

 amount to much commercially. It would not pay 

 to sow it for the honey it yields. Aside from the 

 honey and being an ornamental plant, it has no 

 value.— Ed.] 



Long Cold Spring. 



To-day I took a drive through the country, saw 

 several bee-keepers, and am able to report the con- 

 dition as it is here. It has been warmer for the last 

 four days, but we have had a long cold spring— the 

 the same conditions here as were reported by the 

 Redlands correspondent in the last issue of Glean- 

 ings: and as nearly as I can find out, the loss of 

 bees has been 15 per cent. 



I came to California seven years ago, and was 

 near Redondo Beach, where I had a few colonies. 

 A year ago I came to San Diego Co. and bought a 

 place with 90 colonies and 300 hives. The bees were 

 run down, so it will take this season to get them in 

 shape. I have also two more yards I am caring for 

 on shares — one of 70 colonies, and the other of 120. 

 All were in the same condition mine were. I shall 

 have a fair crop in all three yards. The stronger 

 are working in the second super. 



A GOOD .SHOWING FOK HONEY. 



In my trip to-day I saw six bee-keepers, and their 

 yards represent 1500 colonies. The best yard I saw 

 was one of 100 colonies. All but three had three 

 extracting-bodies on, of nine frames each. The 

 owner works on the tierlng-up plan. I have tried 

 it with half of my bees ever since I came into this 

 State, with good success. 



Our nights are so cold the bees must have plenty 

 of room. I want a ten-frame hive of standard size. 



.SWEET CLOVER, AND HOW TO TEACH STOCK TO 

 EAT IT. 



In regard to .sweet clover, I have sown hundreds 

 of pounds of it, and I never saw a hor.se nor a cow 

 but would eat it after learning to like it. 



I made a test in Michigan with 15 acres. I sowed 

 it with Dutch white, alsike, red, sweet clover, and 

 timothy seed: got a good catch of all: pastured it 

 several years. The second .year cows and horses 

 would pick out the sweet clover and leave the oth- 

 er grasses to go to seed. Two families pastured 

 their cows there and claimed the milk and butter 

 better and richer than ever before. I had a small 

 patch last year. I put a little in the feed, but 

 neither cows nor horses would touch it; so I began 

 by very small do,ses, and soon they learned to eat it 

 readily. 



Dr. Cook said, several years ago, " Nothing will 

 eat it. I gave my cow and horse some and they 

 would not touch it." That was no test, for I have 

 found sweet clover is the farmer's best friend; and 

 if he gives it a fair test he will find I am right. 



De Luz, Cal., June 26. David Bertsch. 



How Bees Ventilate the Hive and Evaporate Honey. 



Please tell me how I can learn the different 

 sounds of the bees and what they mean. What do 

 they indicate when they stand about the entrance 

 and fan with their wings, with their heads down 

 against the bottom-board? I have looked at them, 

 but do not find any thing wrong. They are work- 

 ing well, but have spells of doing as above. What 

 causes them to make a roaring sound? They are 

 not robbing nor fighting. 



Billings, Mich. M. L. Kent. 



[Usually, when bees stand on the alighting-board 

 and make their wings go rapidly they are fanning 

 at the entrance, so to speak — that is, they are cre- 

 ating a draft of air through the hive to aid in evap- 

 orating the honey. Sometimes the interior of the 

 hive gets too hot, and the bees fan at the entrance 

 in this way to cool it. 



There are several causes for the bees roaring. 



