1114 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Sept. 1 



bumble-bee, showing that something had 

 happened to the industrious gleanei's after 

 they had gathered their winter store. l)ut l)e- 

 fore they had consumed any of it, so that I 

 found it intact in the spring. Possibly it 

 germinated better because is had been hull- 

 ed. The seed of the yellow was planted just 

 as it was gathered, with the hi;lls on. 



SHEEP IN THE APIARY. 



Where it can be managed, the best and 

 easiest way to keep down the weeds in an 

 apiary is to let sheep have access to it at all 

 times. When I came here I located my api- 

 ary in a patch of alfalfa. After a year's 

 struggle to exterminate it or keep it down 

 by using the hoe and scythe, I .got a couple 

 of sheep. The cow-yard adjoined the apia- 

 ry, and in the fence between I made an open- 

 ing through which the sheep could go. They 

 fed in the apiary when they chose: but if 

 the bees became troublesome they could run 

 behind the barn, which was something they 

 soon learned. Since then the apiary has 

 been kept free from grass and weeds, with- 

 out any attention on my part, until this sea- 

 son, when it became invaded with the "'squir- 

 rel tail" grass, which even sheep will not 

 eat. Not more than one or two sheep shoidd 

 be allowed in an apiary, unless the hives are 

 a good distance apart. A tlock is liable to 

 "bunch" and crowd eai-h other, knocking 

 the hives off their stands and displacing the 

 covers. 



<& 



HOW FAR DO BEES FLY TO GATHER NECTAR? 



One of the things that has been l)orne in 

 on me with increased force this season is the 

 great difference that exists between localities 

 that are only a short distance apart. I l)ought 

 out several apiaries this spring, and. wher- 

 ever I could do so conveniently. I left them 

 where they were; consequently with a few 

 less than 300 colonies to start the season. I 

 had six different apiaries. No apiary was 

 over three miles from the next one. and two 

 miles was the usual distance. The whole of 

 them are in a territory seven miles long and 

 three miles wide, and I can visit the whole 

 of them and get back home with only about 

 23 miles of travel. Yet, c^losely as they are 

 located, there are great differences in the re- 

 sults at the different apiaries, and the best 

 and poorest apiaries are only two miles 

 apart. There are several factors that enter 

 into the problem, which I have not worked 

 out yet to my satisfaction. All pai-ts of the 

 held are pretty nearly equally stocked with 

 l)ees; and the amount of sweet clover, from 

 which nearly all the sui-plus was gathered, 

 does not appear to vary enough to account 

 for the difference. The only moral I can 

 draw from it at present is ' that, in some 

 places at least, it is a great deal safer to have 

 several apiaries than one. 

 .& 



SIZE OF SECTION FOUNDATION. 



Many bee-keepers fail to have their sections 

 as well filled as they should be, simply be- 

 cause they do not vise as large a piece of 



foundation as they ought to. This applies 

 not only to those who use only a small piece 

 of foundaticm as a staiter. l)ut to many whf> 

 think that they are using full sheets.' The 

 regular size of section foundation sent out by 

 some manufacturei's is 10^ inches long. The 

 largest piece of foundation that it is practi- 

 cal to cut fi'om this is 3.3 by 3| inches, five 

 of Avhich may be cut from a sheet. If this is 

 hung in the section the long way down, there 

 is too much room between the foundation and 

 the sides of the section to secure good fasten- 

 ing. Besides, it does not work as wellinthe 

 foundation-fastener, as the thin edge of the 

 long sheet is not as easily handled on the 

 hot-plate machines as the edge that has been 

 cut. If the cut edge is used for the top, mak- 

 ing the sheet wider than tleep. there is a great 

 deal too much space left at the ))ottom, and 

 many of the comlis will not be well attached 

 to the bottom of the section, especially if the 

 honey-fiow has been a little light. 



A much Ijetter size is that adopted by The 

 A. I. Root Co., whose regular length is 15^ 

 inches. This cuts into four pieces 3| square. 

 A sheet of this size will just nicely fill a sec- 

 tion: and if put on during a good honey- 

 fiow, so that there is no gnawing of founda- 

 tion, it will result in perfect combs every 

 time. P^ven if the honey-fiow is not good, a 

 sheet of this size will make much better 

 combs than the smaller sheet. It is very im- 

 portant that the comli shoukl lie attached to 

 all sides, as such a section not only looks 

 and consequently sells better, but it will ship 

 with much less danger of breakage. To 

 scrimp on the size of foundation used is very 

 poor economy: and in ordering your founda- 

 tion you should see that you get a size that 

 will cut into full-sized sheets without waste. 



.Some prefer to use a shallower sheet in 

 connection with a very narrow bottom start- 

 er. This doubles the work of putting in 

 foundation — in fact, I think it more than 

 doubles it, on account of the greater difficul- 

 ty of putting in these small pieces, and. with 

 me. gives little if any better resiilts than the 

 single full sheet, certainly not enough to pay 

 for the extra labor. Perhaps I would think 

 diff'erently if I used the 1^ section, as I be- 

 lieve the bees fasten the coml)s to the wood 

 lietter in the narrow sections I use. 

 .^ 



SEEDLESS APPLES AND SEEDLESS GRAPES. 



This department is supposed to be devoteil 

 to ))ee-keeping: but Gleanings is devoted to 

 • • Home Interests ' " as well as to bees and hon- 

 ey, and A. I. Root's crusades against frauds 

 of various kinds have doul)tless lieen appre- 

 ciated l)y its readers. An extension of the 

 seedless swindle lately has led me to Ijelieve 

 that a word from me might ilo some good. 

 This is the home of the seedless-apple busi- 

 ness, and the reputed originator lives only 

 about a mile from me. I want to say to the 

 readers of Gleanings that the orchardists of 

 this locality are not planting the seedless ap- 

 ple, though apple-raising is the principal 

 Inisiness here. Of nearly half a million trees 

 planted in this valley last spring, it is safe to 

 say that not one in a thousand was of the 



