140 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



Febeuaey, 1917 



HEAM""OF'MMNn Pf™^[i rD^^ FIELDS 



(s), put a dot between; example, Fl. d. s. s. 

 When several abbreviations are strung to- 

 gether, put a dot after each to avoid con- 

 fusion; example, No. 13 Q. Iss gave Qc .j- 2 

 frs. sbd & H. Took 2 frs. mt. C. Other ab- 

 breviations will no doubt suggest themselves 

 to those who may take up these suggestions. 

 Lyndhurst, N. J. B. Keep. 



inch deep, ten pounds of scarified sweet- 

 clover seed per acre without a nurse crop. 

 I believe that this clover will be resistant 

 enough to make good in his locality, especial- 

 ly if the OT^e growing it is determined to 

 succeed. 



The Wild The plant referred to 



Sunflower as giving the yellow 



honey, page 1085, Nov. 

 15, is the wild sunflower of Florida, com- 

 monly called jiggerhead, also blackeye Sue. 

 The center part is black. It flowers for 3 

 to 8 weeks. The honey is yellow, and of 

 fine flavor. It granulates quickly. Bee- 

 keepers will do well to get some of the seed 

 and get it started in their marshes. It will 

 bloom after the water has risen on the stalks 

 a foot or two. C. H. Clute. 



Sanford, Fla., Dec. 1. 



The Growing of Will sweet clover grow 



Sweet Clover in in our portion of the 



Llano County, Texas state? The land is a 

 deep-red sandy loam — 

 more or less stony. We are subject to long- 

 continued drouths, sometimes lasting for 

 months. Some of the land has been in culti- 

 vation for 30 years or more. 



Llano, Tex. L. B. Smith. 



[The above inquiry was submitted to Mr. 

 Frank Cover dale, Delmar, la., who replies:] 

 No doubt there will have to be special meth- 

 ods used in starting the crop, such as feeding 

 at the right time, and covering sufficiently 

 deep to insure growth. The feeding should 

 be done at a time when sufficient rains will 

 be likely to follow in order to give the young 

 plants time to root sufficiently to withstand 

 the oncoming drouth. A seed-bed mulched 

 and firmed will best suit such a locality. 



It is not always possible to secure a stand 

 on land by sowing on the top of the ground, 

 on account of severe drouths which will 

 affect the hard uncultivated ground just that 

 much worse. A little experimenting is 

 necessary in semi-arid regions, even where 

 success has been attained by the growing of 

 a stand from seed scattered off from a for- 

 mer stand. 



When a stand has once been secured it will 

 be easier to get the next, because the large 

 long roots will have broken up the sub-soil 

 and left deep cavities to be filled up by 

 heavy rains, so that the water is stored be- 

 low, to be used later during severe droutli. 



I would suggest that Mr. Smith plow a 

 field, and, just before a rainfall is due, 

 harrow the ground thoroly, then drill in, one 



Freak Bees that This new "style" of 



Made Sections comb honey is a prod- 



" Wholly Holey" uct of one of my best 

 colonies (pure Italian) 

 the last week in June. With three comb- 

 honey supers almost finished (one finished 

 had been taken off) the bees did a very 

 foolish thing — cast an immense swarm, I 

 put the swarm in a new hive with full sheets 

 of foundation, removed four frames, and 

 gave them, instead, four of their brood- 

 frames. I then put them on the old stand 

 with the three supers on top; removed the 

 old hive to a new location, cutting out all 

 queen-cells but one and giving them the four 

 frames of foundation. With their new 

 queen they built up in a ten-frame hive 

 ready for the September honey-flow. 



Two supers of sections, each with a hole in the 

 center of the comb. 



Here is the result. This section is one of 

 28 built in an N super with clean fences 

 between each row of sections. Every one 

 of the 28 had a hole thru it, all very much 

 alike, all near the center. I put on top 

 anotlier super, as this one was about finish- 

 ed. A part of the sections were pretty well 

 drawn out, and in each one a hole was made 

 as in the finished super. In all these the 

 bees cut thru the foundation sheets. There 



