1881 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



83 



right to be so too ; but as it is we are glad to 

 hear from him, even if we do not just exactly 

 agree with all the deductions he makes. 



RED CLOVER AS A HONEY-PLANT. 



Friend Doolittle says (on page21, present Volume), 

 bethinks "there is nothing in the world that se- 

 cretes as much honey, year after year, as red clo- 

 ver." In this he is perfectly right; but when he 

 says, "Still, it is of little use except to the bumble- 

 bee," in my mind he is a little wrong. 



What were the bees doing when friend Doolittle 

 "got off his mowing machine"? (See Gleanings, 

 page 152, Dec. No., Vol. III.) There he tells us, Ital- 

 ians were working on red clover, four miles from 

 their home, and he even saw blick bees working on 

 that same red clover. 



You have my views on page 164, Gleanings, May 

 No., Vol. VII., and I still think that if we have good 

 Italians there Is no honey-pl int equal to red clever. 

 But the heads must be small, or the corolla will be 

 "so long the bees can not touch the honey." 



I will tell you how to manage it. A few years ago 

 I was crossing one of neighbor Henry Root's fields, 

 and there I found our nice Italians, and hybrids too, 

 working. Why I the whole field was a perfect hum. 

 I wondered why they did not work on my own fields; 

 but I soon found out the cause. We had always 

 sowed our seed too thin, and the ground was rich; 

 consequently, the heads were 1 irge. 



Moral.— Get your neighbors to sow more seed than 

 usual, even if you have to "furnish the extra seed 

 gratis. It makes better and finer hay, does not 

 freeze out so easily, and in no way interferes with 

 raising seed, and you will be delighted and well re- 

 paid. ILA MiCHENER. 



Low Banks, Ont., Can., Jan. 10, 1881. 



A NEW WAY OP STOPPING ROBBING, ETC. 



I started last spring with 3" stands, all Italians, ex- 

 cept one black and a few hybrids; lost none through 

 wintering the last two years. I winter them on sum- 

 mer stands, with chaff on top of frame, which I 

 think is a good way in this part of Pennsylvania. I 

 do not keep bees for profit only, but more because I 

 like them. I increased by artificial and natural 

 swarming to 40 stands, and got between 800 and 900 

 lbs. of honey, all comb, in frame and sections; also 

 some in boxes. The season was so poor that I have 

 to feed some of my first natural swarms that came 

 out as early as May 9th, and are not self-siistaining; 

 but I expect to get them all through. A good many 

 of my neighbors did not get any honey at all. We 

 have to depend on clover entirely for surplus, and 

 the nectar failed, and hence a poor season. 



The queen which I received from you some time 

 last July proved to be pure and prolific. 



I will here give you my way of curing robbers, 

 which always proves satisfactory to me whenever I 

 try it. When the robbing commences, and the stock 

 to be robbed does not fight the robbers away, I close 

 up the entrance pretty small; then I take a small 

 piece of broom corn (which I like best) or quite a lit- 

 tle whip, and stick it in at the entrance, and shako it 

 pretty often. That makes them so cross that they 

 will mount a robber before he is halfway down to 

 get in; but put on a veil, or they will take you for a 

 robber. If they have full sway of a colony before I 

 find it out, I close it up entirely till next morning, 

 when I make them defenders before the robbers are 



up. Sometimes it must be done pretty often before 

 they stop it. 



BLACK WILLOW. 



You spoke about a willow-tree on page 599, in last 

 No. of Gleanings, that was budded with a kilmon- 

 ark. That willow is called black willow about here. 

 I have raised from just such a nursery tree, budded 

 the same way (and the top dried), a good many trees. 

 They produce the earliest natural pollen (and honey 

 too) that the bee can get in spring. They are raised 

 the same as grapes, bs' cuttings, and grow very fast, 

 and will bloom about a week or two. Mine are just 

 swarming with bees almost as soon as the ground 

 opens in spring. I generally top my trees in the 

 spring after the pollen is all gone. I will send you 

 some cuttings if you wish to have some. 



Val. D. Urich. 



Myerstown, Lebanon Co., Pa., Dec. 28, 1880. 



A LAW AGAINST FRAUDS IN WEIGHT, ETC. 



I inclose $1.00 to continue Gleanings. Will you 

 not urge all j'our readers to join in petitioning, 

 through their representatives in Congress, for a law 

 to protect us against short weights, short count, and 

 short measure, and' particularly against adultera- 

 tions in all we eat, drink, or wear? that Congress 

 pass a law requiring that every package destined for 

 sale shall show exactly its weight, measurement, 

 count, or composition, so each consumer can see ex- 

 actly what he is buying, selling, or using; so the 

 people may know exactly what they are using, and 

 the pure and the adulterated articles would be put 

 upon their individual merits, and there could be no 

 premiums in the way of profits to deception and dis- 

 honesty? Without such restriction, these evils 

 must go on increasing, until every pure article of 

 consumption will necessarily be driven out of the 

 market, and the buyers left entirely at the mercy of 

 dishonest manufacturers and speculators. Surely, 

 Congress can not refuse to grant us such relief if 

 the people will show that they need it. 



W. R. Whitman. 



New Market, Ala., Dec. 27, 1880. 



With all my heart, friend W., and, while 

 Congress is getting around to it, let us, each 

 and all, reform ourselves in every thing we 

 make or sell. If any one has a "peck meas- 

 ure"' that don't hold out, let us '^burn itup."' 



CROSS BEES GATHERING MOST HONEY. 



I wintered four swarms last winter. They in- 

 creased to nine, and made 200 lbs. of comb surplus 

 honey, most of it in 1-lb. sections. Mine are com- 

 mon blacks, and the best swarm to gather honey is 

 the worst to sting me if they can get a chance, and 

 they watch close for a chance too, unless the honey 

 is coming in freely. 



WINTERING WITH BOTH CHAFF AND CELLAR PRO- 

 TECTION. 



My bee's are wrapped up in a cloth, and oat chaff 

 is packed around them, top and sides. They are in 

 Simplicity hives. I took out the brood frames, and 

 took a cloth that would go over the remaining 

 frames and down on the sides to the bottom-boards, 

 and then packed in the chaff. I wintered them in 

 my cellar last winter, packed in that way. My cellar 

 is damp, but my bees were dry all winter. The chaff 

 took the moisture, and I never had so few dead bees, 

 nor had them winter so well before. 



I sent to you last spring for hives and other fix- 



