906 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



Grace Allen 



THE DIXIE BEE h-^fa-"'". Tenn. 



Now that we have requeened the 

 rest of our little yard, we have 

 nothing but pure-bred 191G Ital- 

 ian queens in every hive. We hope 

 in this way to winter well, to have 

 no cross bees to bother our nice, 

 polite neighbors next summer, and 

 to be more nearly pi-epared to resist foul 

 brood — when it comes; and come it surely 

 will if not wiped out of this neighborhood 

 promptly, for it has only to come down the 

 pike a bit to start playing in our back yard. 



* * * 



I am increasingly aware that I can not 

 handle full-depth supers. Right now, in 

 mid-September, when they are nowhere 

 near full, I come in -really over-tired after 

 lifting a few of them off and setting them 

 back on, to get into brood - chambers. 

 Eventually we shall probably be forced into 

 shallow supers, and I don't happen to like 

 them — nearly twice as many frames and 

 bodies to handle, practically double the 

 work getting the equipment put together, 

 and a whole lot more expense. But — not 

 much more than half the weight. 



Tennessee farmers are adding every year 

 to the acreage put into crimson clover, as 

 well as sweet clover — a fact that rejoices 

 the heart of the beemen as well as the 

 farmers themselves. In a letter written 

 this spring, Mr, Ben G. Davis says of 

 Maury County, "Before the farmers began 

 to use crimson clover here, we had a dearth 

 of nectar from apple bloom till white clo- 

 ver. Now this is filled in nicely, as we have 

 hundreds of acres of crimson clover all 

 around us. We have also one neighbor 

 who put in 25 acres of sweet clover this 

 spring, another 20, and still another 5, so in 

 a few years we hope for a midsummer flow, 

 as I feel sure more of them will go into it 

 when they find hoAV fine a soil-builder it 

 really is." Incidentally, those gi'eat fields 

 of crimson clover in full bloom are won- 

 drously beautiful. 



Interesting indeed is the article, page 447, 

 June 1, " The Changes which Occur in the 

 Egg," by Dr. James A. Nelson. In the 

 constant presence of such marvels as de- 

 scribed therein, it would seem impossible 

 for any beekeeper to lapse into the Peter 

 Bell attitude of mind. Rather let us realize, 

 with Dr. Nelson, that the " real riddle of 

 development still remains unanswered," and 



feel the same awe and wonder and rever- 

 ence in our contemplation of a bee-egg in 

 the waxen cell that Tennyson and the scien- 

 tist who quoted him in the classroom felt 

 toward the " flower in the crannied wall." 



Referring to painting hives, I notice that 

 Mr. Miles, page 475, June 15, says that 

 paint for the first coat on new work should 

 be thinned with pure Linseed oil. Our 

 paint-man tells us that for new work on 

 pine the first coat is better thinned with 

 linseed oil and turpentine mixed, 1-3 oil 

 and 2-3 turpentine; for the second coat, 

 reverse the proportion, making it 2-3 oil 

 and 1-3 turj^entine; for the third coat, all 

 oil, no turpentine. This heavy proportion 

 of turpentine in the first coat is particular- 

 ly important on southern pine, he stated, 

 while for noithern pine a smaller per cent 

 might be used, the third coat in each case 

 being thinned with the pure linseed oil. 



« * * 



I believe it was the lack of shade that 

 lost us a swarm. Ten days after we had 

 requeened a certain strong colony with a 

 very disagreeable disposition, they cast a 

 swarm. Knowing that the queen, whether 

 the one given them or one of their own 

 rearing, was undipped, I labored mightily 

 that hot day to hive them, Mr. Allen was 

 in town, four miles away, and standing 

 in the tippest top of a step-ladder, reach- 

 ing up into space and the bees and a 

 peach-tree, was strenuous work, especially 

 for one taking things a bit easily this 

 summer ; but finally I had them more or less 

 inside an unpainted shallow hive, the only 

 one I had, with several drawn combs. I 

 was wise enough that day to give them 

 shade — such a hot little home — but as the 

 improvised shade-board was an essential 

 part of a chicken-house it was removed that 

 evening. In the morning I neglected either 

 to replace it or to provide another; and 

 while I was away from home, out came our 

 swarm and flew to parts unknown, leaving 

 eggs behind. Well, the next time there'll 



be shade. 



« * * 



The editor asks for reports from those 

 who have tried the Fowls adaptation of the 

 Alexander method of making increase. Both 

 last year and this we tried it in a limited 

 way, and it has worked satisfactorily both 

 seasons, except that, with us, the bees in the 

 original brood-chamber, set off later to the 

 new stand, have not stored any surplus. Of 



