1438 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Nov. 15 



CELLAR VS. OUTDOOR WINTERING. 



It is our opinion that, in all localities sub- 

 ject to two or three good fly days almost ev- 

 ery month in the year, that the outdoor 

 method of wintering will be far more satis- 

 factory, especially to the beginner. Cellar 

 wintering requires ideal conditions, consid- 

 erable skill, and a climate where there are 

 no fly days during mid-winter. Any locality 

 where it warms up so the bees can fly during 

 January and February is apt to warm up 

 the cellar so as to cause uneasiness on the 

 part of the bees. A repository that can not 

 be cooled off, and the bees are uneasy, is li- 

 able to cause a large death loss before spring, 

 especially if this uneasiness occurs cluring 

 the period of January-February. Where one 

 has a certain amount of open winter, this pa- 

 per method of protection will, we believe, 

 prove to be cheap and effective; and even in 

 climatjs where outdoor wintering gives fair- 

 ly good results without any protection, we 

 would say by all means use a paper hood 

 like those here shown, without any packing 

 underneath. The cost will be slight but the 

 gain will be great. There are a good many 

 localities in the South, especially those ex- 

 posed to strong winds, where a paper cover- 

 ing of this kind will be found to be very ad- 

 vantageous. 



While on this subject we would advise for 

 outdoor wintering that the entrance be con- 

 tracted about as shown in the illustrations; 

 namely, fx8 inches wide for strong colonies; 

 for the medium, f X4 or 5 inches; and the 

 weak ones correspondingly smaller; but very 

 weak colonies we would advise putting into 



the cellar during the months of Januai'y and 

 February where the climate is more or less 

 open, and then setting them out the first of 

 March; or, better still, unite the weak ones 

 and put them in an outyard. 



HARVESTING SWEET-CLOVER SEED. 



BY A. L. AMOS. 



When, in my enthusiasm, I commenced to 

 write of yellow sweet clover as a honey- 

 plant it was without the slightest intention 

 of going into the seed business; but so many 

 inquiries came to hand asking if I could 

 supply seed or tell where it might be ob- 

 tained, that I began to study whether I 

 could not do something toward supplying 

 the demand. I hit upon a plan of harvest- 

 ing the seed in a small way, which may be 

 of interest to those who would do likewise. 



I have the clover cut with a mowing-ma- 

 chine when the seed has partly ripened. I 

 have this cutting done after a rain, or in 

 the morning when the dew is on it, as the 

 seed does not shake off so easily when wet. 

 It is allowed to lie for a few days to finish 

 ripening, when the girls and I "go for it" 

 as shown in the picture. 



We spread the buggy canvas on the 

 ground, and pile on the clover. We do 

 this in the morning when it is wet, and al- 

 low it to lie till late afternoon, when it is 

 thoroughly dry and yields readily to the 

 feet and sticks of the young harvesters. 

 After a vigorous pounding and tramping we 



THRASHING OUT YELLOW-SWEET-CLOVER SEED. 



