1900 



GLEANINGS IX BEE CULTURE. 



1197 



Thev adopted my plan, and I think we all 

 felt just as well as" (to say nothing about a 

 great deal better) if we had paitl 75 cents 

 apiece for an elaborate dinner. Of course. 

 1 could have paid for the boys' dinners, and 

 perhaps given them a little"^ treat. B\it the 

 lesson in economy and health that this inci- 

 dent helped to give them, I think was worth 

 more than any treat that could be given by 

 the free use of monev. 



DOCTORING WITHOUT MEDICINE — LEMONS. 



I have been sick ever since last -April, until I read 

 the article (see p. 6r.i, May \r>) in regard to takint;- 

 lemons: am happy to say that I have tried the lemons, 

 and went to the highest number (nine) mentioned, for 

 one day. then decreased. Xow 1 average live or six a 

 week, and it keeps me leelintr pretty well. 



W. Irving Ad.^^ms. 



South Granville, N. Y.. Aujj:. 12. 



THE GOVERNMENT FREE-SEED DISTRIBUTION. 



It is estimated that the total number of 

 packets of seed used in the Unitetl States is 

 ]20.O;»U.O00. Now. the government gives 

 away 4U, 000, 000 packets, and the seed-deal- 

 ers sell 80,000.000. If these seeds were new 

 and valuable varieties, and distributed for 

 the tirsttime among the farmers and garden- 

 ers of the United States, there might be 

 some consistency in the whole matter; l)ut, 

 as everybody knows, they are now and have 

 been for years sending out the commonest 

 varieties known, and poor seed at that. We 

 have tested them i-epeatedly year after year, 

 and we are satistietl it would be money in 

 the pocket of every person to buy first-class 

 seeds of a reliable seedsman rather than to 

 take these government seeds free of charge. 

 A relative recently said to me that if the 

 government had given him a dollar along 

 with a tive-cent package of tomato seeds he 

 \vould have been out of pocket then. For 

 five cents he could have bought a sufiicient 

 supply of seeds to have had a stand of good 

 plants — all he wanted in his garden. But 

 the government packet gave him the poor- 

 est-shaped tomatoes that anybody ever saw 

 — something away behind the times. After 

 all their pains in taking care of their plants 

 they had a lot of tomatoes that were not fit 

 to use. We are putting down the grafts and 

 grafters at a pretty good rate just now. 

 Why in the ^yorld not get rid of this old- 

 time graft? 



VETCH AS A HONEY-PLANT. 



Mr. A. I. Hoot: — On page 636 of the American Bee 

 Jou-nal for August 9 there is a statement in regard 

 to the value of vetch as a honey-plant. I believe you 



have had some experience with vetches. Now let us 

 know all about it. J. W. Shaw. 



Yorktown, Va., Aug. 15. 



In reply to the above 1 would say that we 

 have been watching for some time to find 

 out just how muc^ vetch is worth to the 

 bee-keeper. From the article referred to in 

 the American Bee Journal we make the fol- 

 lowing extracts: 



Vetcli has been in bloom for the past four weeks, 

 and the bees have plenty to work on. They were 

 hard at work on vetch when the picture was taken. 

 There is over a thousand acres of it within a radius of 

 two miles of my bees, and it is in bloom now, April 25. 



Augusta, Ga. J. L. Patterson, 



May 7, Mr. P. writes again: 



This year's vetch crop is the best in twelve years. 

 On account of that, all the bee-keepers in the South, 

 where they have vetch, ought not to complain about 

 not having any honey this year. Those who do not 

 get honey are lazy bee-keepers that do not look after 

 their bees. The trouble is, they do not take enough 

 interest in them, nor do they read the American Bee 

 Journal. If they followed its teachings they would 

 have success. 



July 2, Mr. Patterson adds: 



From the first hive on the top row I have taken 73 

 lbs. of the finest honey I ever ate. I get \'ZV« cents a 

 pound for it. I shall get later, when I take off honey 

 again, 127 lbs. all together from this same colony. 

 Every one to whom I have sold honey says that my 

 bees produce the best honey they have ever eaten. 

 I helped two other bee-keepers take off their honey. 

 and it is not as good as mine. Probably the American 

 Bee Journal helps me produce better honey. The 

 Journal is the only friend I have had since I started 

 keeping bees. 



Mr. York adds, ' ' It would he interesting 

 to know how far north vetch will grow suc- 

 cessfully and produce honey." 



From what experience I have had with 

 vetch I am inclined to think it can be sown 

 almost any time. On my place in Northern 

 Michigan it came up after we dug our pota- 

 toes, and made sufficient growth to stand 

 the winter. This latter point is not strange, 

 however, because the soil is so well protect- 

 ed by heavy snow that many plants stand 

 the winter there that will not here. Well, 

 when I came to plant potatoes again on the 

 same ground in June, some single plants of 

 vetch were so full of bloom, and so large, 

 that they would make nearly a wheelbarrow 

 load. We have a leaflet for free distribu- 

 tion in regard to the plant. The Country 

 Oentlernan thinks that, if sown in drills, one 

 peck will be ample; and the way the plant 

 spreads out, not only in Mit-higan but here 

 in Medina, I should think half a peck would 

 be enough. We should be glad to get more 

 reports in regard to its value for honey. 

 The seed can Ije had at almost any of the 

 large seedstores. The price should be fi"om 

 $5.00 to $7.00 per bushel. 



A WONDERFUL HONEY-PLANT 



is the century plant (maguey) just outside my bed- 

 room window. The bees swarm on it early in the morn- 

 ing as soon as they can see, and for about two hours 

 they get the nectar that gathers during the night, and 

 then a few keep at it all day long, some staying over 

 night, I have pumped a few of the blossoms this 

 morning, having covered them to keep the bees off 

 during the early morning hours. The amount secret- 

 ed over night (12 hours) was an average of !i drachm 

 (iSmin.) to each bud just opened, and there are 200 

 such buds to each branch, and 35 branches on the 

 stalk of one plant which continues in bloom for about 



