AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



269 



good condition, from which I get a 

 small amount of honey each year. I 

 propose to put queen-traps on each hive 

 next spring to prevent sw^arming. I 

 also expect to sov/ an acre of alfalfa 

 clover, and an acre of buckwheat near 

 the bees. How much honey should I get 

 during the season. 



The land where I propose to plant 

 alfalfa is a pasture lot with good soil. 

 How much seed would it take, and at 

 what cost? What is the best fertilizer ? 

 Can alfalfa be used for horses? How 

 should it be cured ? 



The queen-traps I would like to have 

 so that the queen could re-enter the hive 

 from the trap. How much would they 

 cost apiece ? Which is the best kind ? 

 O. R. Hawkins. 



Bellport, N. Y., Aug. 4, 1893. 



Answers. — Just how much honey you 

 can secure from an acre of alfalfa and 

 an acre of buckwheat, is probably one 

 of the things you will never know to a 

 certainty. Even after you have tried 

 the experiment you will find so many 

 things coming in to complicate the solu- 

 tion of the problem that you may have 

 to give up the solution. It is not easy 

 to tell just how much is gathered from 

 your acre, and how much from other 

 sources. Even if there were no other 

 sources within a thousand miles, and 

 you could thus tell to the ounce how 

 much came from your acre, no two years 

 are alike, and the next year you might 

 get double the amount, or you might get 

 none. 



Of course we can have some general 

 idea on the subject, and indeed may 

 have enough knowledge to be of real 

 value, but it is to be feared that such 

 knowledge will never be brought down 

 very definitely to pounds and ounces. 

 Quinby estimated that an acre of buck- 

 wheat would yield 25 pounds in a day, 

 and he was not given to making rash 

 statements, but we do not know just 

 how much foundation he had for his 

 estimate. It is certain that buckwheat 

 sometimes refuses to yield entirely. 



As to alfalfa, perhaps some of our 

 readers may be able to give the desired 

 information, but we are under the im- 

 pression that in the East the cultivation 

 of alfalfa is only in the experimental 

 stage, and that very little is known 

 about it. But the present season may 

 have added some knowledge, and if so 

 we shall be glad to get it. 



The Alley queen-trap is, we believe, 

 the only one on the market, and is ex- 



tensively used. The cost is 65 cents. 

 But you must not think that a queen- 

 trap will prevent the bees from at- 

 tempting to swarm, so that no attention 

 on your part will be needed. The trap 

 will hold the queen, and can be so ar- 

 ranged that she will return to the 

 brood-nest, but generally the bees will 

 go on rearing young queens, the old 

 queen will be killed, and then the bees 

 will swarm and swarm with the inten- 

 tion of going off with the young queen. 

 But with the proper attention on the 

 part of the bee-keeper, good results with 

 queen-traps are reported. 



CONDUCTED BY 



Greenville. Texas. 



Our Forefathers in Apiculture. 



When we behold the faces of our 

 benefactors and forefathers, such as 

 Father Langstroth, Father Gallup (and 

 many others I might mention that have 

 greeted our homes through the Ameri- 

 can Bee Journal lately), I often ponder 

 in my mind for a moment, and, oh, how 

 I would enjoy a meeting in reality of 

 these fathers of bee-keeping from one to 

 forty days, or as long as they would 

 tolerate it, and learn from their ripe 

 minds more and more of the little busy 

 bee ! Such a meeting would be a solid 

 comfort to me ; and seeing Dr Gallup in 

 the Bee Journal this morning prompted 

 me to pencil these few lines. 



How I would enjoy a travel over the 

 past in company with Dr. Gallup and 

 Father L. L. Langstroth, being led by 

 them as a child by its father, talking 

 about the wonderful strides bee-keeping 

 has made since our late cruel War ; and 

 how these fathers, with hard brain as 

 well as muscular labor, have hewn out 

 the way for our easy and successful 

 management of our pets. Their names 

 will ever stand as a monument in bee- 

 keepers' homes, and be read of and 



