AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



465 



Will a man invite the intruder, or the 

 stranger, to reach his hand into his 

 pocket, and take out the gold and silver 

 without ever expecting anything in re- 

 turn ? No ; this would be folly, and not 

 in the least in nature's way. Will the 

 flowers of the field yield up their richest 

 all, for naught ? 



All of the clovers, which we are so 

 largely dependent upon for the restora- 

 tion of fertility to the soils of the great 

 corn belt, are almost absolutely depend- 

 ent upon the bee-family for their exis- 

 tence. Wind will not properly distribute 

 the fertilizing dust, hence the work 

 must be done by bees. . 



The apple and plum families are much 

 better served by wind ; however wind 

 does not blow every day, and on such 

 days bees will work most rapidly. Thus 

 a continual fertilization is carried on 

 until the bloom has faded. 



Ah, no ; the benefit of the honey-bee 

 to the agriculturist is not generally 

 known. Among the clovers is where 

 her greatest work is done. In sunny 

 June her hum will be heard in the pas- 

 ture field, gathering honey from white 

 clover, giving it such a perfect fertiliza- 

 tion that it is always filled with seed ; 

 this seed falls to the ground in great 

 quantities, aud, during the following 

 season, grows large quantities of feed 

 for live stock, thus furnishing beef for 

 the hungry, and fertility to the soil. 

 Alsike clover, which promises to become 

 a part of the pasture and hay fields of 

 Iowa, yields seed to perfection because 

 of the honey-bee. 



Just as white clover ceases to bloom, 

 the bee of the hive (with a few bumble- 

 bees) will, as a rule, be found on red 

 clover; hence, at this date, the above 

 begins to fill with seed, and continues to 

 do so until frost shuts them off ; and if 

 the grasshopper doesn't destroy the 

 bloom, or the clover-seed midge do her 

 work, a good supply of seed will be the 

 certain result. Much clover seed means 

 cheap seed ; cheap seed means cheap 

 fertility to the soil ; cheap fertility 

 means riches for the farmer ; and riches 

 for the farmer means prosperity for the 

 city. Let the agriculturist take good 

 care of the bees, for their agency is of 

 great importance, not only in their as- 

 sistance in fructifying the earth, but for 

 the production of a most delicious and 

 health-giving food for humanity. 



FBANK COVERDALE. 



Mr. Coverdale's essay was then dis 

 cussed as follows : 

 Mr. Fultz said he did not think that 



bees wore of as mnch benefit to fruit as 

 is usually supposed, as he raised fruit in 

 the State before many bees were in the 

 country. 



Mr. Clute said that he found wild bees 

 in 1850, aud also that bees are essential 

 to fertilize fruit-bloom. He found fruit 

 more perfect as bees increased in num- 

 bers. 



Mr. Kimball had learned by personal 

 experience that bees were very beneficial 

 to the fruit-growers. 



Mr. Coverdale — Is there a variety of 

 clover that bees cannot gather honey 

 from ? When they desire, I have known 

 bees to gather honey from red clover, 

 when grasshoppers cut the corollas. 



Mr. M. M. Hamilton, of Clearfield, 

 then read an essay as follows, entitled, 



My System of Wintering Bees. 



I have been requested to give my plan 

 of wintering bees. When I first turned 

 my attention to bee-keeping, the win- 

 tering of bees was what bothered me 

 most. I read books on the subject, and 

 inquired of those who were keeping bees 

 in this section of country, and the in- 

 formation gained was so varied that I 

 was at a loss to know which method to 

 adopt. 



Some wintered their bees on the sum- 

 mer stands, and saved all the colonies, 

 while others lost part, or all of theirs ; 

 some wintered their bees on the summer 

 stands, and placed a box over the entire 

 hive, leaving an entrance for the bees, 

 packing hay around the sides and over 

 the top, and then covering the whole 

 with long slough-grass. This last plan 

 proves very successful, but is very in- 

 convenient for examining the bees 

 (which, I think, is very necessary to 

 wintering), and is more expensive than 

 my method, which is this : 



I use the summer stand, which is made 

 of two pieces six inches high and about 

 16 inches long, with strips nailed from 

 one to the other for the hive to rest ou. 

 I first pick out as dry a place as possi- 

 ble, sheltered on the north, and build a 

 shed high enough to admit the hive with 

 the super on, about 4% feet wide, and 

 long enough to admit all the colonies. 



I place the first colony about 10 

 inches from the end, and 10 inches 

 from the back, packing with prairie 

 hay. I then place another colony about 

 10 inches from the first, and pack the 

 same as the first, and so on until I have 

 them all packed away I then place an 

 absorbing cushion in the super, and the 

 bees are ready for the cold weather. 



