1906 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTUKB. 



811 



the winter in good shape. If they are less 

 quiet when the ventilator is open, I should 

 think that some arrangenuent might be at- 

 tached to the ventilator to keep out the 

 wind, if there should be any, or the direct 

 cold air.— Ed.] 



ALSIKE. 



Some Cautions and Suggestions Concerning it. 

 BY J. A. CRANE. 



I have read with a great deal of interest 

 the various ideas whicn have been presented 

 by different writers in regard to the alsike- 

 clover question. While admitting the de- 

 sirability of having a large acreage of this 

 excellent honey-producer, I wish to sound a 

 note of warning, and I speak from a farm- 

 er's point of view, having been for 21 years 

 in the ranks, and 12 years in the bee-ranks. 



Several years ago the alsike craze struck 

 this section of the country hard. One or 

 two farmers who had land adapted to the 

 growth of alsike made some heavy crops of 

 alsike hay, of a very superior quality over 

 the common red clover, being much finer of 

 stalk, and more profuse of leaves and heads, 

 being eaten clean by all kinds of stock, 

 while the stems of red clover were left. As 

 soon as the people saw or heard about this, 

 alsike seed was soon at a premium, bemg 

 sown on ail kinds and conditions of soil, the 

 result being disappointing in a large major- 

 ity of cases, resultmg in condemnation of 

 alsike in all directions except by the few 

 who had happened to hit the proper combi- 

 nation. 



Now about the idea of furnishing free 

 seed for farmers to sow fields of alsike. My 

 advice would be to go slow by the majority 

 of bee-keepers unless you know that the 

 soil on which it is to be sown is proper for 

 alsike. 1 have grown alsike clover whose 

 stems were over six feet long, but that was 

 on an old onion-patch that had been heavily 

 feriilized, and the soil was full of humus, 

 and naturally moist and friable. If you can 

 get a chance lo have such land seeded to al- 

 sike, by all means furnish seed free if nec- 

 essary. 



My plan has been for a long time back, 

 when seeding a piece of land, to mix in a 

 little alsike, say 10 lbs. of alsike to the 

 bushel of clover, the alsike seed being so 

 much finer than red clover that I get many 

 plants to the acre; and where conditions are 

 right it makes a good addition- to the hay 

 crop, and in other spots it will, perhaps, be 

 about like white clover; but it will be full of 

 blossoms, and I never could find that the 

 bees preferred the heavy growth to that 

 growing in swampy soil. In this way we 

 can keep the land full of clover year after 

 year, as it seeds itself much like white clo- 

 ver. A good many of the farms around 

 here have been treated in this way till now 

 the pastures and roadsides are well sprin- 

 kled, and, together wich white clover, make 

 a fair location for bees. 



I would try by all means to get as many 



farmers to sow some alsike with their other 

 seed as I could induce to do it. The bees 

 will get a longer pull at it in this way; for 

 when alsike is sown alone it is cut two 

 weeks before other hay, thus losing the best 

 part of the honey crop; for I believe that, 

 other things being equal, the best part of 

 the honey- flow from any source is after the 

 middle of the season of bloom rather than 

 before. 

 Marion, N. Y. 



THE CONTROL OF SWARMING. 



Requeening on a Large or Small Scale; How 



to Do Away with the Swarming Fever. 



A Reply to J. E. Crane. 



BY C. W. DAYTON. 



I find on page 571, in the article by Mr. J. 

 E. Crane, the following : ' ' Destroy all old 

 queens of first swarms, allowing them to re- 

 turn." Indeed, that is brief management. 

 If the swarm is allowed to return as soon as 

 they please, the bees will still retain the 

 swarming fever, and realize their disap- 

 pointment, and will sulk more or less, some- 

 times for several days, even until the virgin 

 queens begin to hatch, or until the issuance 

 of the second swarm. The right way is to 

 put the swarm in a screened cage or hive 

 for eight to ten hours, queenless, then they 

 will forget about the queen they came out 

 with, and these hours of uneasiness will di- 

 vest them of the swarming fever or mania, 

 and when they return they will go to work 

 as industriously as if they had not swarmed. 



Mr. Crane also says, ' ' There would likely 

 be but little trouble with a few colonies; but 

 when you try to manage a hundred colonies 

 in one yard in this way, your patience will 

 be sorely tried." I find the opposite of this 

 to be the actual fact. The more swarms 

 there are, and the more they mix up, the 

 better the system works. One swarm sep- 

 arate is far more trouble than five swarms 

 all in a bunch. I want the queens to be 

 balled. That will show me where the queens 

 are, so that they can be picked out. Queens 

 in mixed clusters are very seldom balled in 

 a vicious manner, and " soon stung." They 

 are balled only lightly to show them they 

 are not befriended. Then if the queens 

 persist in staying they may be stung, after 

 a time. This gives the apiarist time to at- 

 tend to them as he likes. At the time of 

 the issuing of the second swarm there will 

 be plenty of young or virgin queens availa- 

 ble. In nearly all second swarms there is 

 but one virgin. If there is more than one 

 it is because of some interruption of the 

 regular course of procedure, such as in- 

 clement weather or the meddling with the 

 colony by the apiarist, etc. The young 

 queens can be obtained from the cells we 

 destroy. Some are found just gnawing out, 

 having been held prisoners in their cells 

 perhaps two or three days by the bees of 

 the swarm; yet all the time there may have 

 been one virgin hatched out and coursing 

 through the hive on purpose to let the bees 



