148 



THE AMERICA]^ BEE JOURNAL. 



riously upon our frame, and particu- 

 larly when we are young. That trade 

 should be done away with, and tlie 

 trader sliould be forced to stop it, if 

 his own conscience does not do so. A 

 time will come wlien it will be scarcely 

 credited, that in our advanced nine- 

 teenth century, it was possible in open 

 day to sell to little children, things 

 that would poison their blood. 



Sweet Clover. — The editor of the Bee- 

 Keepers^ Instructor makes the follow- 

 ing remarks on this honey producer : 



This is destined, we think, to be- 

 come the great honey plant of the 

 future, its great adaptability to soil 

 and climate, the ease with which it 

 can be raised, the great length of time 

 it continues in bloom, and the fact 

 that it can be grown on waste places 

 and barren land, all being points in 

 its favor, that will recommend it to 

 every bee-keeper. 



Honey from Corn. — Will bees gather 

 honey from corn V is answered by a 

 correspondent of Oleanings us follows : 



Yes, and lots of it, too, sometimes. 

 They gather it from the tassels at tlie 

 same time they gather that dark- 

 green pollen. I always know what 

 my bees are working on. It is not 

 every year they get a large amount, 

 say about as often as one year in four 

 or five. I have liad them average from 

 5 to 10 lbs. per colony of the nicest 

 honey. It comes after basswood. 



Continuous Honey Bloom. — One by 



one they come to tlie music, take up 

 the refrain, and join the chorus con- 

 cerning continuous honey bloom. 

 This was begun by us as a " solo " 3 

 years ago, and we now feel certain 

 that ere long its " swelling chorus " 

 will fill the World. The National 

 Agriculturist adds its note thus : 



No topic is more worthy the earnest 

 consideration of bee-keepers, than 

 that of bee-forage. It often happens 

 that our bees can find honey for not 

 more than 5 or 6 weeks, and yet in 

 that brief time they will often store 50 

 to 200 lbs. per colony. What might 

 we expect if the nectar-secreting 

 flowers were to bloom the entire season 

 through ? The September flow of 

 honey, often exceeding the yield in 

 spring, in some parts of the country, 

 answers the question. How we may 

 supplement the natural yield of honey 

 by judicious planting of honey plants, 

 may well receive earnest thought and 

 consideration during tlie winter. We 

 already know that by planting fig- 

 wort, cleome, catnip, borage, mustard 

 and alsike clover, we may oridge over 

 the famine of honey bloom. Of these, 

 alsike clover is good also as a forage 

 plant for cattle, etc., and by cutting a 

 portion of the crop as soon as it conies 

 into bloom, we may secure a second 

 crop of flowers, anil so a continuous 

 vield of honey-producing flowers. 

 Figwort and cleome, though of no 

 other use, furnish abundance of good 



honey, and that too at a time of usual 

 dearth. The thoughtful apiarist may 

 with profit give to this subject much 

 study during the leisure of his winter 

 hours. 



One-Pound Sections. — Mr. J. H. Mar- 

 tin, Hartford, N. Y., remarks as fol- 

 lows in Gleanings : 



The recent action of the North- 

 eastern New York Association in re- 

 lation to the proper size for section 

 boxes, is much like the " pope's bull 

 against the comet." If the market 

 demands pound sections, and they sell 

 better, why not leave tlie bee-keeper 

 free to use what size lie desires i* I 

 tliink tlie pound section has been upon 

 the market too long to be now with- 

 drawn. It is safe to say, that over 

 half of the crop of comb lioney for the 

 coming year will be stored in one- 

 pound sections ; furthermore, as far 

 as I have read the proceedings, I 

 should call it a comb-liouey associa- 

 tion. The production and sale of ex- 

 tracted honey has not received the at- 

 tention it should. 



Seasonable Hints. — Mr. Dougherty, 

 in the Indiana Partner, gives the fol- 

 lowing on stimulative brood rearing : 



It is not necessary that an ordinary 

 sized colony of bees should occupy the 

 entire brood apartment of the hives. 

 Indeed, it is much preferable that 

 they be conlhied on as few combs as 

 they will well cover. So long as the 

 queen has room to lay, there is no 

 danger from over crowding, care be- 

 ing taken that they do not run short 

 of stores. With the reduced space to 

 occupy, they can much better keep up 

 the requisite heat for necessary brood 

 rearing. After the combs which they 

 occupy become well tilled with brood, 

 more room should be given them, by 

 spreading the brood and inserting an 

 empty comb in the center of the brood 

 nest. If on examination the center 

 combs are found quite full, while 

 those on the side yet contain room, 

 it is better to cliauge position of tlie 

 combs without adding more, until all 

 the comb in the hive is tilled very close 

 up to the top-bar. Just here we wish 

 to caution you about spreading the 

 brood too fast. So long as the queen 

 has room in which to lay, they do not 

 require any more room. Brood rear- 

 ing proceeds very slowly in the early 

 part of the season, and it takes them 

 quite a while to till the first four or 

 five combs which they occupy with 

 brood, and the cluster increases very 

 slowly, the old bees dying off quite as 

 fast as the young ones increase. Con- 

 fining the bees to a few combs neces- 

 sitates the use of a division-board, and 

 they should be kept covered up as 

 warm as possible to assist them in re- 

 taining the necessary heat. It is very 

 essential that all colonies be made 

 good and strong by the time the honey 

 harvest begins, and to do this, that 

 operation should be commenced 5 or 6 

 weeks before thiit time. The first 

 thing to be done is to give all colonies 

 a thorough examination, ascertain the 

 condition of the colony, and the 



amount of stores on hand, remember- 

 ing that as soon as brood rearing com- 

 mences, the stores will be consumed 

 very rapidly, and unless they have 

 plenty, provision must be made to 

 supply their needs, and when feeding 

 is once commenced, it must he con- 

 tinued until such time as they can 

 gather a sufficiency to keep going. 



The "Sqnare List."— Novice has 

 started a list of dealers in apiarian 

 supplies, which he calls a " square 

 list." We notice that he does notput 

 himself into that list ; but in place of 

 that, in Gleanings for March, he re- 

 marks as follows : 



If you wish to deal with some one 

 who always has everything right, 

 every time, and never makes a mis- 

 take, don't send to us. If, however, 

 being always ready to make good 

 every error, the minute it is dis- 

 covered, will do, .send along your or- 

 ders, and we will be glad to serve you. 



And in the same paper, Mr. W. Z. 

 Hutchinson gives the following good 

 reasons for not being included in that 

 " square list " : 



I can subscribe to the declaration 

 with which the " square list " is head- 

 ed ; yet there is something repugnant 

 to me about the whole business — this 

 advertising, in this manner, one's 

 honesty and good name. Public opin- 

 ion says, that the physician must not 

 advertise his wonderful skill ; it says : 

 "Let his works speak for themselves;" 

 and I say, let a man's works or deal- 

 ings speak for themselves. Dealer 

 after Jealer has advertised to '• guar- 

 antee satisfaction ;"but, judging from 

 the manner in which some of them 

 deal, it must have been unto them- 

 selves, and not unto their customers, 

 that they guarantee satisfaction. A 

 bee-keeper once said to me, " When a 

 man advertises, or boasts of his hon- 

 esty, I think it advisable not to trust 

 hini too far." Please don't think that 

 I am casting reflections upon those 

 whose names have already appeared 

 in the " square list" — far from it. I 

 consider them the squarest of square 

 dealers. Perhaps, though, if I had 

 lost a good round sum through the 

 dishonesty or negligence of some 

 "scaly" dealer, I might feel differ- 

 ently about this matter. 



1^° The Lancaster, Pa., Fanner, 

 makes the following kind mention : 



The Ameeican Bee Journal, the 

 oldest and ablest paper devoted ex- 

 clusively to progressive bee-culture, 

 published in the country, is now is- 

 sued in a royal octavo form, weekly, 

 at S2.00 a year, by Thomas G. New- 

 man, at Chicago, 111. This is a far 

 better and more convenient form than 

 that of a quarto, in which it was is- 

 sued in 1881. But, whatever its form 

 may have been, its substance is, and 

 always has been, of the highest ffpi- 

 cultural order, and we do not see how 

 any one who makes bee-keeping a 

 specialty, can afford to do without it. 



