1883 



GLEANINGS IK BEE CULTURE. 



451 



swarm. The next year after, all my queens had 

 their wings clipped. I tried again, and 4 out of 5 

 thus treated tried to go to the woods, since which I 

 give no brood, and do not have one in 35 make a 

 trial to go off. After losing the one in 1871 1 talked 

 with friend Betsinger about it, and he said that it 

 was the brood which caused them to go; " for," said 

 he, "bees swarm to get away from their brood, 

 leaving their brood behind, not having any need of 

 it, as they have the old queen. By placing brood in 

 the hive they are to occupy, they were placed in a 

 similar condition to that which thej'had swarmed to 

 be free from;" and I believe Betsinger to be cor- 

 rect. That hrood is not a prevention to going off, is 

 proved by the many reports in back volumes of 

 Gleanings. If Maggie will clip the wings of her 

 queens, and put only empty comb foundation, or 

 nothing at all in the hives she puts her bees in, I 

 think she will have no more trouble. 

 Borodino, N. Y. G. M. Doolittle. 



Friend D., I agree to pretty much all you 

 say, except your concluding words. In re- 

 gard to the rate of railway trains, I think 

 we shall have to consider it settled, that 

 they do run at pretty nearly the rate of a 

 mile a minute ; and the article on another 

 page by a railway man shows that bees do 

 move at the rate of 90 miles an hour, or about 

 that, at times. 



Now in regard to the frame of brood : You 

 and I don't agree, or our experiences seem 

 to have been unlike. All through the 

 swarming season we are buying swarms of 

 bees of the farmers almost daily, and we di- 

 vide them up and put them into hives in 

 quantities all the way from 1 to 10 lbs. 

 Sometimes they have queens, and sometimes 

 they have not. Surely, under such circum- 

 stances you would advise a frame of brood. 

 Well, now, after trying the experiment hun- 

 dreds of times, I can hardly remember of one 

 case where they deserted with a frame of un- 

 sealed brood. When some green hand puts 

 in a comb containing only capped brood, of 

 course they go off ; and where put on empty 

 combs or frames of fdu., every little while a 

 swarm will decamp. If they have no queen 

 they usually scatter into neighboring hives ; 

 but a comb of unsealed brood, in our experi- 

 ence, " pins " them every time. Suppose we 

 advise the ABC scholars to try it both 

 ways, and see how they find it. 



SOmE QUESTIONS. 



SWEET CLOVER, FIGWORT, BASSWOOD, ETC. 



iiHICH do you prefer as a honey-plant, sweet 

 clover (melilot) or carpenter's square (flg- 

 wort)? What is the quality of honey of 

 each of the above plants? 



What is the best plan for getting out seeds of the 

 basswood (linden)? 



When is the best time to sow seeds of the linden? 



Can the linden-tree be propagated successfully 

 from sprouts, or suckers, and will trees propagated 

 in that way produce flowers as profusely as from 

 seeds? 



When is the best time to put out sprouts, or suck- 

 ers, for trees? 



I never learned to chew tobacco, so don't you 

 think I ought to have a smoker as well as the men 



who have been poisoning themselves, and every one 

 they come near, for years? 



I have no information to give, except if the tops 

 of the sweet clover are clipped off, the plants will be 

 stockier, and produce more blossoms, and will not 

 sway about so much, hindering the bees from alight- 

 ing on them when the wind blows; it must aggra- 

 vate them to speed for a blossom, and find they have 

 missed it. 



I was at your place before you bought the old fair- 

 grounds; took you 2 bbls. of beeswax, and paid you 

 60 cts. per lb. for fdn., yet I found you so busy you 

 did not have time to speak to me; and as your busi- 

 ness has so increased, I do not suppose you would 

 j have more time than formerly, if I should again 

 visit Medina, as I should very much like to do. 



Daniel Spear. 



Cardington, Morrow Co., O., July, 1883. 



The quality of the honey from sweet clo- 

 ver is reported good, but I do not know that 

 ! I have tasted any. That from the figwort is 

 fair, although it has been scattered through 

 the hives so I could hardly speak definitely 

 I in regard to it. With us, many more bees 

 I are found on the figwort than on the sweet 

 : clover ; but even this is governed by the 

 season very much. — In regard to gathering 

 i the seeds from basswood, and also about 

 I raising basswoods from cuttings, see p. 398, 

 ! July No., and what has been written in our 

 back numbers. The matter has been very 

 fully discussed, and it will pay you to follow 

 it up by means of our copious indexes. I be- 

 lieve the spring is the time generally chosen 

 for sprouting trees from cuttings. — In regard 

 \ to offering a premium to those who do not 

 use tobacco, I think, friend S., the best ans- 

 ] wer is to ask you to read the parable of the 

 prodigal son. — Thank you for your sugges- 

 tion about clipping the tops of the sweet 

 clover. I believe it is a good way. We have 

 now some of the Jones Bokhara, but it is so 

 tall, and swings about so much in the wind, 

 it w^ould be funny if the bees could get the 

 honey at all, in a windy day. I think I will 

 run the mowing-machine over them, having 

 it set up very high.— Now in regard to spend- 

 ing but little time with visitors : Friend S., 

 my time, and all I have, belongs to the Mas- 

 ter. I want to use it in such a way as to 

 please him. During the busy season, when 

 matters of great moment are constantly be- 

 ing deferred to me, and when many might 

 be greatly wronged did I stop to talk and 

 visit, where does my duty lie ? There are 

 ! times when I can stop and be sociable, with- 

 j out very much inconvenience ; but at other 

 times I should feel guilty if I let my work 

 remain undone longer than to briefly shake 

 hands and then take it up again. I know 

 I you better now than when you called before, 

 ! and may be I could be a little more courte- 

 ous if you should make me another visit. Of 

 I late, Ernest has taken charge of visitors 

 I pretty well ; and as he is now a little over 21, 

 may be you will enjoy a visit with him just 

 I as well as with myself. Come and see us, 

 I any way, when you can. To look after vis- 

 I itors properly, it takes one of our best men, 

 i and one thoroughly conversant with every 

 j part of the establishment. In the summer 

 I time we usually have visitors all the while— 

 I sometimes several parties of them. 



