A66 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



J. E. Crane 



IFTING 



If Mr. F. A. Conner's jumbo hives are as 

 great a success in producing honey as they 

 are neat in appearance in the picture, page 

 183, they are a success, sure. 



I have examined several yards of bees this 

 spring, and those wintered out of doors 

 appear to be in much the better condition 

 in spite of the severe winter. 



* * * 



After reading Mr. Van Wye's experience 

 in court, page 190, one can not help won- 

 dering if the old-fashioned rule of loving 

 your neighbor as yourself is not, after all, 



the best way. 



* * * 



Wesley Foster says, page 166, that he has 

 " made mistakes and always shall." Just so 

 "me too;" but it is more than half the 

 battle to acknowledge our mistakes. Give 

 me your hand, my brother. 



* * * 



On page 163 Dr. Miller quotes from a 

 German bee-journal the statement that hon- 

 ey from some soils contains 75 per cent 

 more iron than that from other soils. This 

 may have a bearing on the color of honey 

 from different soils. 



» * « 



That house apiary of Mr. Newsome's, 

 page 181, is certainly attractive. Such api- 

 aries have some advantages. I run across 

 tliem now and then in inspection work; but 

 I find they have some disadvantages as well. 

 They are, however, a complete protection 

 against petty theft. 



Do we beekeepers realize how fast the 

 larvae of bees grow? If a chicken were to 

 grow as fast it would in a week weigh about 

 125 lbs. ; and if a wee pink human baby 

 were to grow as fast as these baby bees, it 

 would weigh in the course of a week not 

 far from four tons, and be as large as a 

 good-sized elephant. These are, of course, 

 estimates, and, like the weights on freight 

 bills, subject to correction. 



* » * 



I will say in regard to that four-foot 

 board referred to, page 85, by Dr. Miller, 

 that one is enough for a yard. We give 

 just one line across the board to a hive, and 

 use shorthand thus. 27. S.6-20-X7-4 0. 

 Let me read it : " No. 27 has a queen two 

 years old ; wing clipped ; is strong in spring, 

 and on June 20 found eggs in queen-cells. 

 The queen was removed July 4th, and in 

 seven or eight days a virgin queen was 



given, which in due time was found to be 

 fertile." Having eight yards to look after, 

 we haven't much time for bookkeeping, and 

 a few signs seem to answer our purpose. 



* * * 



HOW THE MUCH-DESPISED SWEET CLOVER IS 

 WINNING ITS WAY INTO FAVOR. 



F. W. Lessor says, page 230, that sweet 

 clover is a great crop, and he is going to 

 sow nine acres of it this spring. Dr. Miller 

 says, p. 205, that in his county the farmers 

 have bought twenty bushels of the seed. A 

 man in Kentucky writes me that he has sold 

 a carload of sweet-clover seed ; and our 

 State Commissioner of Agriculture told me 

 not long ago of a man in Kansas who had 

 plowed up 4000 acres of alfalfa to sow to 

 this despised sweet clover — not that alfalfa 

 was not good, but that sweet clover was 

 better, in that (for pasture) there was no 

 danger of bloat in cattle. Let the good 



work go on. 



* » * 



REQUEENING WITH VIRGINS WITHOUT 

 DEQUEENING. 



On page 126, Feb. 15, I inquired how far 

 young virgin queens could be introduced 

 into hives having a laying queen, and have 

 them become fertile, and take the place of 

 the old queen without the trouble of looking 

 her up. Ml". Adrian Getaz, of Knoxville, 

 Tenn., writes me queens tlu'ee or four years 

 old will be destroyed invariably. Those two 

 years old, not always. Those of the previous 

 year's rearing will often succeed in destroy- 

 ing the virgins — how often, I don't know — 

 perhaps in one-third of the cases — ^^often 

 enough to make the scheme unprofitable. I 

 wish he would tell us how he introduces his 



virgin queens. 



* * * 



THE FELLOW WHO DOESN^T READ A BEE-PAPER. 



An old gentleman offered me his entire 

 lot of twenty colonies of bees in all sorts 

 of hives, three years ago, for $60. I called 

 to see him a few days ago. He was not at 

 home, but his family informed me that the 

 bees had increased to thirty-five colonies, 

 and he was fixing them so as to put on 

 sections, and had made 250 sections for use 

 this season. I didn't smile — at least till I 

 got away from the house. It wouldn't have 

 been polite; but I couldn't help thinking 

 that, if he read Gleanings or some other 

 good journal, he would have wanted 2500 

 sections and 20 pounds of light foundation 

 to go with it. How much it has saved him 

 to go without a bee-paper or bee-book both 

 in time and expense! 



