756 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



December, 1921 



m^ FROM THE FIELD OF EXPERIENCE 



per pound, bottles extra, and Mr. Ford 

 should add nicely this year to the not in- 

 considerable savings that his bees have 

 brought him for many j^ears. Last winter 

 he rendered down 1,500 combs that would 

 have been of great value to him intact, if 

 there had not been disease among them. 

 A small orchard apiary of another kind 



Mr. Ford, a retired school teacher, derives great pleasure from the care 

 of his little apiary near Cheltenham, England. 



is that of Mr. Brinkworth at Stroud. He is 

 a successful breeder of queens, has never 

 had Isle of Wight disease, tho it has raged 

 round him for nearly 20 years, and he has 

 been instrumental in restarting hundreds 

 who had lost all but heart thru that malig- 

 nant plague. In the past he has imported 

 many queens from Italy, Carniola, and the 

 Caucasus, but this year is breeding from his 

 own stock rather than 

 go further, perhaps to 

 fare worse. When Eus- 

 sia gets settled enough, 

 he means to get Cau- 

 casians again, for the 

 considers them the 

 best bees he ever han- 

 dled. 



On the other hand, 

 Mr. Swatfield swears 

 by Carniolans. He has 

 three apiaries high 

 among the Cotswolds, 

 in one of which he has 

 an excellent chance of 

 mating pure. Here 

 these pretty bees ami 

 their drones are flying 

 by millions and thou- 

 sands. It is a treat to 

 open the hives, for 

 they are very quiet, 

 standing still on their 



combs almost like guardsmen on parade. The 

 prettiest bee of all and one of which Mr. 

 Swaffield speaks very highly is a Carniolan- 

 Italian hybrid, touched all over with pale 

 gold in a very pleasing manner. The stock, 

 a very strong one, was being goaded by all 

 means into swarming, to see how long it 

 would resist, which it had done to an extent 

 almost to warrant the 

 description non-swarm- 

 er. It has since given 

 a strong shook swarm 

 and 200 pounds of hon- 



e.y- 



Mr. S w a flfi e 1 d ' s 

 country is one of the 

 finest honey-lands in 

 Great Britain. You can 

 see for miles across 

 the swelling uplands, 

 cut into fields all 

 ploughed, and every 

 third patch gay with 

 sainfoin, crimson clo- 

 ver, turnip kept for 

 seed, or the charlock, 

 the weed welcome to 

 beekeepers and almost 

 invincible to the far- 

 mer. Up here, Mr. 

 Wood discovered the 

 virtues of wild white 

 clover which he sells 

 after a severe drop at some twelve shil- 

 lings per potind. He grows about a hun- 

 dred acres for seed and has a standing 

 agreement with Mr. Swaffield for their mu- 

 tual advantage in seed and honey. I rather 

 pleased them both by reading a paper at 

 Gloucester last year which showed that for 

 every pound of honey that the bees col- 

 lected from white clover they helped the 



E. Swaffield's white clover apiary located in one of the finest honey 

 regions in Great Britain. 



