508 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



This mammoth swarm was thp produft of one 

 191.T. From ,T. W. Davidson;- Yorktown, Ind. 



Tlie swarm issued June 11, 



bees were all carted in the iiiglit, and the 

 longest distance was 22 miles and the shoi't- 

 est 12 miles. Some of these colonies were 

 sprinkled with water (not more than a small 

 'cupful), but those that did not receive any 

 water I always noticed came through the 

 best. In this instance, also, the bees seemed 

 to have died through suffocation caused by 

 the water, as they were clammy and damp. 

 Eglinton, N. S. W., Feb. 10. 



[We are of the opinion that you gave too 

 much water. If the water is put directly on 

 the screen it must be applied in the form of 

 a fine spray so that it will not drench the 

 bees, and not too much should be given at a 

 time. We have tried all Avays of supplying 

 water, and like the cloth plan the best. That 

 is, we roll a long cloth over the row of 

 screened hives and sprinkle the cloth. The 

 bees reach through the wire screen to get the 

 moisture from the Avet cloth. — Ed.1 



S GET HONEY FROM RED CLOVER WHEN IT IS DWARFED BY 



BY B. A. MANLY 



On page 125, Feb. 15, Dr. Miller refers to 

 the " red-clover strain of bees." From the 

 little experience that I have had I am con- 

 vinced that it is not the difference in bees 

 that enables them to work on red clover, but 

 a matter of weather conditions. In 1910 we 

 had a summer in this State without rain. It 

 was so dry in midsummer that most of the 

 vegetation was dried up. The early honey- 

 flow was fair, and then it seemed as if the 

 bees had nothing to do. In August I was 

 sick; and as I sat on the back porch I no- 

 ticed the children would occasionally leave 

 the honey-house door ajar. I warned them 

 that they would funl it fnll of bees. But the 



bees did not come ; and as I thought I knew 

 that there Avas nothing for them to get in 

 the field I could not understand it. W^ell, I 

 Avalked down to the apiary on a day as hot 

 and dry as it often gets to be, and to my 

 surprise the bees Avere busy, giving no heed 

 to any thing but their work, and they Avere 

 all going in one direction, which happened 

 to be toward my place of business — the 

 lumber and grain office. The next day I 

 Avent to the office; and Avhile there I thought 

 I Avould see if I could find any thing of 

 these busy bees. Just beyond the lumber- 

 slied was a fortv-acre field of red clover. 



