THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



155 



Bees ill Nebraska.— My bees carried 

 in natural pollen on the 14th and 15th 

 inst.. which is the earliest I have ever 

 known them to gather pollen in this 

 part of the country. I think they ob- 

 tained it from the soft maple and the 

 hazelnut; but it turned cold since, and 

 tlie 20th was about the coldest day of 

 the winter. To-day is nice, but not 

 quite warm enough for my bees to fly. 

 Last spring my bees gathered tlieir 

 first pollen April 17th. I had success 

 in wintering on the summer stand 

 last winter, and my bees appear to be 

 doing all right so far this winter. 

 Whicli bee, in your judgment, is the 

 best— the Italian or Cyprian V Most 

 of my bees are dark-colored. I have 

 2 Cyprian colonies. Tliey are bad to 

 sting, but I think are more prolific 

 and bette'' honey-gatherers than tlie 

 common black bee. P. Bolinger. 



Salem, Neb., Feb. 23, 1882. 



[In onr judgment, the Italian bee 

 lias as many excellent points as the 

 Cyprian. It is possible that an amal- 

 gamation of tlie two races may de- 

 velop new and desirable traits. — Ed.] 



Sweet Clover. — I have a fine young 

 orciiard, set out last fall, and expect 

 to put two rows of raspberries be- 

 tween tlie rows of trees, and sow the 

 whole in some kind of honey produc- 

 ing clover. 1. Xow, will sweet clover 

 grow so rank that, if I fail to cut it 

 each year, it will be a detriment to the 

 trees by clioking themV 2. Does this 

 clover spread? 3. If I wish to eradi- 

 cate it, would it be liard to do? 4. 

 What amount must I sow to the acre'? 

 Please answer through the Bee Jour- 

 nal. Bees in this section doing 

 nicely, tliougli right now they might 

 use overcoats to an advantage. 



L. W. Wainwright. 



Noblesville, Ind. 



[1. Yes, it would prove a detriment, 

 unless cropped or mown. In rich soil 

 it would grow .5 to 7 feet in height. 



2. It would spread in consequence 

 of seeds dropping the second year; 

 but, in the common acceptation of the 

 term, it does not spread, as tlie roots 

 grow in clumps. 



3. No harder than red clover. 



4. From 4 to 6 pounds. If drilled, 

 less will be required. — Ed.] 



Sure Cure for Bee Stings. — I have 

 never seen my cure for bee-stings in 

 the Bee Jouknai^. I charge nothing 

 for the recipe, except to be recognized 

 as its discoverer. It is as follows: 

 Buy from any drug store a small phial 

 of tincture of myrrh, as soon as you 

 are stung apply a little to the punc- 

 ture, when all pain and swelling 

 ceases instantly. It is also excellent 

 for bites of spiders and iioisonous 

 reptiles. I hope all will try it and re- 

 port result in the .Iourxal. Bees 

 here are in excellent condition. So 

 far, mine are doing finely, with a less 

 quantity of dead bees than I have 

 ever had at this time of year. The 

 coffee sacks over them, I think, are 



just the things for winter, being warm, 

 and very nice for the evaporation of 

 moisture through them ; they are 

 also excellent ventilators to permit 

 the escape of foul air. I have not lost 

 a colony this winter, and all have 

 been flying for the last week. 



R. L. Aylor. 

 Waterloo, Ky., Feb. 16, 1882. 



Metal Kabbets.— Would you advise 

 the use of metal rabbets, where the 

 liives are made to take frames with 

 open top-bars, or would you let t!ie 

 ends of the top- bars rest on the wooden 

 rabbets? G. H.Denman. 



Pittsford, Mich. 



[We would advise the metal rabbets 

 in all cases wliere tlie wooden lugs of 

 the top-bars rest on the rabbets. If 

 metal corners are used, then, of course, 

 metal rabbets are unnecessary. — Ed.] 



My Bnl.aiice Sheet.— I am not yet so 



far through tlie woods tliat I can hal- 

 loo much louder than a whisper, yet 

 these bright, sunny February days, 

 and the clieerful hum of the busy bee, 

 inspires me to venture at making my 

 report for 1881, as follows: Put into 

 winter quarters, fall of 1880, 50 

 colonies, worth, say, $250 ; bought 1 

 Barnes saw and freight, S41..52; lum- 

 ber, $19; 17 dead colonies for combs, 

 etc., 822.10 ; nails, postage, etc.,S25.16 ; 

 lost 23 colonies in wintering, §115; 

 bee-books and papers, $5.50; total 

 apiary debtor, $478.28. Cr. — .58 colonies 

 at date, $290; 13 empty hives, $19..50 ; 

 .500 frames, $20; fixtures, $10 ; 1 Barnes 

 saw, $40; 1,623 lbs. comb honey sold 

 at 20c., $324.60; 123 partly filled sec- 

 tions on hand, $12.30- 14}'2 lbs. wax. 

 $2.90; 32 queens sold for $40 ; total 

 credit, $7.59.30 ; deduct apiary debtor. 

 $478.28, leaving balance for labor of 

 $271.02. This report has nothing to 

 do with my bee-keepers' supply busi- 

 ness, which is a separate account. 

 Tlie weather here is very mild, with 

 bright sunsliine; the air is full of bees; 

 and all nature wears a smile. 



U. E. Dodge. 

 Fredonia, N. Y., Feb. 15, 1882. 



From Kentucky.— I am a constant 

 reader of the Bee Journal, and con- 

 sider it a boon to bee-keepers who 

 read, think, and act intelligently. 

 Tiiere are not a great many bees kept 

 in this (Mason) county, but the busi- 

 ness is gradually looking up, and 

 many are adopting the more improved 

 Iiives, and some the more improved 

 methods of manipulation. Although 

 the winter of lSSO-81 was unusually 

 severe for this latitude, bees wintered 

 well, and so far as I have been able to 

 learn not 5 per cent, of loss was sus- 

 tained. Last season was a poor honey 

 crop owing to the protracted drouth 

 wiiicli cut tlie white clover short. My 

 colonies did not average .50 pounds 

 surplus, and no swarms ; in fact the 

 bees here seem to have abandoned 

 the old plan of increasing Ijy swarm- 

 ing for the last three years. I had 7 

 colonies in the spring, increased to 9, 

 and all are now in excellent condi- 

 tion, on the summer stands, in Lang- 



stroth hives, with tlie upper story- 

 filled with coffee sack on frames, and 

 an abundance of old clothes and car- 

 pets on top of the sacks. I take the 

 packing out and dry it every warm 

 sunny day. I have not lost a colony 

 for 5 years from wintering. 

 Minerva, Ky. O. N. Weaver. 



Light Wanted.— I wish all who have 

 any improvements in tlie form of 

 hives, would let us hear from them 

 tlirough the Bee Journal before we . 

 get our hives all complete for the sea- 

 son. 



1. The sweet clover seed I bought 

 some time ago I find is all in the hull ->j 

 yet; please tell us how much we 

 should sovp per acre when in that 

 state? 



2. Will it germinate soon enough in 

 that condition? 



3. I expect to sow it in an orchard 

 in the spring with oats. Should I sow 

 anything with it? I intend to let it 

 lay for pasture and hay. I hope it is 

 decided by tliis time that it is no per- 

 nicious weed, as has been stated. 



I wish to state for the benefit of 

 those to whom it may not be the most 

 convenient to carry their bees from 

 the cellar to the summer stand for 

 winter flights, or wliere it is too much 

 shaded so as to prevent them from 

 flying (wliich is the condition with my 

 summer stands), that I find it un- 

 necessary to carry them to their re- 

 spective places, but set them in the 

 most convenient place in the sun, and 

 I have not seen a bee light m the 

 place where tliey are kept in the sum- 

 mer. I have but ;i few to experiment 

 with, but shall do the same hereafter. 

 Bees are doing well ; all have more or 

 less young brood ; averaged, per hive, 

 a little over 100 lbs. of extracted honey; 

 selling at 1.5c. per lb. 



H. G. Hickman. 



Schoolcraft, Mich. 



[1. All sweet clover seed we have 

 seen is in the hull. If sown broadcast, 

 5 to 6 lbs. per acre ; if in drills, less 

 will answer. 



2. Yes ; almost as soon as if hulled. 

 The imported Bokhara clover seed, 

 which is virtually the same, is hulled, 

 but we have discovered no difference 

 in its germination. 



3. If sown in the spring, you can 

 sow any grain witli it you please, and 

 realize a crop of grain, as the sweet- 

 clover will not bloom till the succeed- 

 ing summer. But we would not seed- 

 an orchard with it ; its growth is too 

 rank and tall to be beneficial to fruit. 

 It is no more a peuiicious weed than 

 red clover.— Ed.] 



Early. — Bees are booming, and 

 gathering honey rapidly. I shall ex- 

 tract some new honey on the first 

 clear, warm day. Some colonies have 

 ripe queen cells and are preparing to 

 swarm ; the drones are flying ; we have 

 no winter down liere. 



J. S. Tadlock. 



Luling, Texas. Feb. 25, 1882. 



