1190 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTUllE. 



Sept. 15 



for they dislike to use any other, and must 

 have it. The center of the gingerbread trade 

 id the city of Dijon, which uses something 

 like 1000 fifty-gallon barrels per annum. 

 The bakers claim no other honey will cause 

 the bread to rise and remain light as buck- 

 wheat does. Some of the "patent" food 

 companies in this country ougbt to take up 

 the manufacture of this gingerbread, as it is 

 evidently something good, for no one is a 

 better judge of culinary affairs than the av- 

 erage Frenchman. 



A CHANCE FOR BEE-KEEPERS IN NEW TER- 

 RITORY. 



The first irrigation government project 

 optu for use by the lleclamation Service of 

 the United States was the Truckee-Cai'son 

 system in Nevada. The town of Fallon oc- 

 cupies the business part of the project, so 

 that it may be located on late maps. The 

 land to be watered was practically all gov- 

 ernment land, subject to entry under the law. 

 The amount of land under ditch is now about 

 200,000 acres; but this will be largely in- 

 creased later by additional dams and canals. 



Much of this land is still subject to entry, 

 and the Department of the Interior is anx- 

 ious that it be taken up at once. The gov- 

 ernment fees amount to $8.00 for 80 acres, 

 which makes it cheap enough for any one. A 

 tract of 40 acres will cost $b.50 Of course, the 

 cost of water is additional, but that is dis- 

 tributed over ten years of time. 



A good deal of the land has been taken up, 

 and the desert has been transformed into a 

 garden wherever the water has been turned 

 on. The climate is said to be fine. The gov- 

 erniuent is desirous of having the land set- 

 tled quickly so as to make the money receiv- 

 ( d for water available for other projects. 

 The town of Fallon, which had 16 persons 

 three years ago, now has 1000, and steadily 

 gFows. This land is peculiarly suited to bee- 

 keepers, fruit-growers, and gardeners. 



FIVE-BANDERS, AGAIN. 



Two of our subscribers pi'otest against the 

 ])lack eve we have given the extra yellow or 

 golden bees by stating that they were lack- 

 ing in hardiness. One of them, Mr. G. W. 

 Martin, of Stroudsburg, Pa., says he has kept 

 five-banders since early in the OO's, and that 

 his winter losses have been so small that it 

 would make an incredible statement. Mr. 

 E E. Pressler has had the same experience; 

 and not only that, but he finds that they are 

 extra hustlers for honey. 



We have tested a good many five-banded 

 strains in our yard, and are very sorry to 

 have to report that, while some of them are 

 gixid honey-gatherers, exceptionally so, yet 

 all of them seem to be about the first to go 

 in winter or spx'ing; while the darker strains 

 of Italians, and especially Carniolans and 

 Caucasians, seem to be able to stand the win- 

 ter well. 



It should be remembered that many of 

 these extra yellow strains came from South- 

 ern Italy, while the leather-colored Italians 



came from Northern Italy, and the Alps, 

 where the winters are severe. The Carnio- 

 lans and Caucasians also came from cold cli- 

 mates, and for centuries back have been the 

 survival of the fittest. It would be natural to 

 suppose that a strain whose habitat is in lo- 

 calities where winters are severe would be 

 able to stand our Northern winters better 

 than a strain whose natural habitat is in a 

 tropical climate. 



ALSIKE CLOVER GROWING IN POPULARITY. 



We note with pleasure the statement made 

 by the old reliable seedhouse of T. W. Wood 

 & Son, of Richmond, Va., that alsike is 

 growing in favor with the farmers of that 

 section. They say that it lasts longer, is 

 hardier, standing more adverse conditions 

 of weather than ordinai*y clovers, and is bet- 

 ter adapted to grazing purposes, and that 

 it should be a constituent part of all graz- 

 ing mixtures. This is in line with experi- 

 ence elsewhere. But alsike is most popular 

 as a combination with timothy, in which 

 case it furnishes very fine hay. 



In this connection The Fartner, of St. 

 Paul, Minn., comes to the defense of alsike 

 clover against its detractors in other jour- 

 nals, claiming it will grow for a number of 

 years without reseeding, and that it thrives 

 on poorly drained, unpx'epared soils in the 

 newer sections of the country. It also says: 



Then, too, in the timber districts where red clover 

 grows extremely rank and coarse, the alsike variety 

 has an advantage in that it has a fiaer stem, and con- 

 sequently turns out a better quality of hay. 



General experience will bear out the above 

 statements, and it may pay some of our bee- 

 keepers who reside in suitable localities to 

 keep a supply of alsike seed on hand to be 

 sold at low prices to near-by farmers. One 

 of the reasons why farmers do not grow al- 

 sike is they can not get seed except at high 

 prices. 



HONEY markets AND CROP CONDITIONS. 



The situation so far as crop conditions are 

 concerned is about the same as reported in 

 our last issue, except that there seems to 

 have been a fair honey-fiow in Texas, or at 

 least parts of it, and a late fiow in Florida. 

 Later information seems to confirm the re- 

 ports made in our last issue, to the effeiit that 

 the aggregate crop for the country would be 

 about the same as last year, which was a 

 light one; but the very great scarcity of fruit, 

 the general advance in food stuft's. and the 

 effect of the new pure-food law, will make a 

 strong demand for table honey, especially 

 No. 1 and fancy comb. It is clear to us that 

 some of our honey-merchants, at least, are 

 not ottering enough for these two grades; 

 two of them, as will be noted, are ofl'ering 

 20 cts. We are satisfied from reports in hand 

 that many bee-keepers are holding back their 

 crops until the market shall feel the scarcity 

 and otTer better figures. Mr. Irving Cross, 

 of Hoosick Falls, NY., commenting on the 

 price offered for honey at Albany, N. Y., and 

 in New York city, writes: 



