4.54 



GLEANINGS IK BEE CULTUEE. 



AiiG. 



serted on the corolla. Stem 13 to 18 Inches high, 

 watery, branching; leaves roundish in outline, with 

 the lobes pointing outward like a 3tar. It blooms in 

 May and June, the flowers blue. It is a rather rough 

 plant, and is of no economic importance. It is easi- 

 ly broken down by stock tramping among it, and 

 readily killed by mowing. 



HOUND'S-TONGUE. 



The second plant is Cynoglossum officinalis or com- 

 mon "Hound's -tongue." It Is a hairy perennial 

 plant growing in waste grounds, 1 to 3 ft. tall, leafy 

 to the tops, with lance-oblong leaves, sessile or 

 clasping at the top, petiolate near the base; calyx 

 5-parted, silky pubescent; corolla funnel-form, dull 

 red, orifice closed by 5 scales; achenia 4, covered 

 with hooked prickles, catching on to the clothing, 

 and fur of animals, when mature, thus being widely 

 distributed. Leaves 6 to 10 inches long, 1 to 3 broad, 

 pubescent. The whole plant is of a dull green color, 

 with a disagreeable smell. It is a native of Europe, 

 but is now widely disseminated in this country, found 

 principally in pastures, by roadsides, and in waste 

 places; blooms in May and June. It is a vile weed, 

 and should be destroyed by cutting off at the surface 

 of the ground in spring and early summer. 



W. S. Devol, 

 Botanist Ohio Ag. Ex. Station. 



frie;ni> HARRisoiv's experience:. 



SUGGESTIONS IN REGARD TO CO^TIRING THE FRAMES 

 IN WINTER, ETC. 



Sffp WENT into winter quarters last fall with twenty 

 iji swarms of bees on summer stands, Italian, all 

 — ' but two in chaflf hives; these latter were in the 

 Simplicity hives. Those in chaff hives I gave no 

 further protection than what the hives afforded. 

 Those in the Simplicity hives I protected by setting 

 a shock of corn fodder over them, the fodder 

 being securely bound with two bands near the top. 

 They all came out strong and in good shape this 

 spring. On the 37th of March last I sold them all at 

 public sale. I use bagging for covering over the 

 brood-chamber. I buy Stark A grain-sacks. These 

 sacks cost from 30 to 35 cts. apiece. One sack will 

 make four covers, if properly cut; this would make 

 the price of each cover from 5 to 6 cents, which is 

 as cheap as any other cover now in use that I know 

 of. I like them much better than any I have ever 

 tried. I have never been troubled by the bees cut- 

 ting holes through them. The bees will go to work 

 and soon cover them over between the frames with 

 propolis. And 1 have observed for a long time that 

 bees are not apt to gnaw through any thing that 

 they have once covered over with propolis. Before 

 putting on these covers for winter I first lay a thin 

 cake of candy (about M of an inch thick, made 

 according to directions given in A B C) on top 

 of brood-frames, and then put on the cloth or bag- 

 ging, tucking it well down at the edges, so as to 

 leave no chance for any bees to crawl above; then 

 I put on chaff cushion, and after having put them in 

 this shape with plenty of stores, I consider them 

 pretty safe for any emergency. Vou may perhaps 

 wonder why I give them all candy in the fall when 

 they have plenty of stores. I do this to prevent dys- 

 entery; for I am a strong believer in coffee A sugar 

 as a remedy for dysentery ; and I also believe in the 

 maxim, that an ounce of prevention is better than 

 a pound of cure; and that most, if not all remedies. 

 If used at the proper time, will also prove a preven- 



tive, is a well-established fact. Since adopting the 

 above plan, I have no trouble with the bees spot- 

 ting their hives. I believe that bees will do their 

 own doctoring. If the means are only placed in their 

 reach. 



I experimented last winter with one of my colo- 

 nies by removing the bagging, and using in its stead 

 a frame made out of laths 1^ inches wide, with a 

 strip across the middle of the frame; to keep the 

 wire cloth from sagging, I tack it on top of this 

 frame, and then place it over the cluster. This 

 frame should be made so it will go easily inside of 

 the upper story of the chaff hive. I like this device 

 better than any other that 1 have seen yet, for the 

 following reasons: 



It makes feeding in the upper story very conven- 

 ient. All you have to do Is to lay your cake of candy 

 on the comb-frames; drop in your frame covered 

 with the wire cloth; put on your chaff cushion, and 

 the work is done. Or, if you want to feed syrup, 

 just raise up your cushion, take out your wire frame, 

 and set a tin pie-plate on the brood-frames; put on 

 your wire frame, and pour the syrup right through 

 the wire cloth; and when the plate needs refilling, 

 all that is needed is to lift out the cushion, pour in 

 the feed, put back the cushion, close up the hive, 

 and the job is done. This operation can be perform- 

 ed in so short a time that but little warmth will es- 

 cape, which is a very important thing in cold 

 weather. 



This device has the same advantages that are 

 claimed for the Hill device; viz., it forms a warm- 

 air chamber over the cluster during cold weather, 

 giving the bees a chance to have free access to all 

 their stores without having ugly holes punched 

 through the combs to accomplish the same end. 



Another advantage is, you can always see just 

 what condition your bees are In by simply raising 

 the cushion, and without the possibility of a single 

 bee coming out aqd getting lost. This arrange- 

 ment may perhaps be very old to you, and may have 

 been in use long ago; but if it has, I am not aware 

 of the fact; and if it has ever been in use before, 

 and has been discarded for good reasons, I should 

 like to have them from some practical bee-keeper, 

 for I am always ready and willing to learn. You 

 may perhaps find fault with this arrangement on ac- 

 count of too much upward ventilation; but if this 

 should be the case, I must beg leave to differ with 

 you on that point. I think that more mischief is 

 done in wintering by not giving upward ventilation 

 enough, than by giving too much; but, of course, 

 both extremes should be avoided as much as pos- 

 sible. I can show you some old box hives right here 

 in this neighborhood, with cracks in them from top 

 to bottom, over V2 an inch wide, and the top of the 

 hive so cracked and warped that the bees can go in 

 and out where they please. These cracks were once 

 chinked up with mud or putty; but this has dropped 

 out long ago, and yet their owners tell me that the 

 bees had wintered well for years in these same hives. 



I am a strong believer in furnishing bees with 

 water, and especially during the bi-ood - rearing 

 season; but I do not believe in obtaining the supply 

 by the perspiration, or sweating process. 



Bee-keeping on the improved plan has been very 

 much neglected in this locality. There are a good 

 many bees kept here, but most all in box hives and 

 hollow logs, or bee-gums, as they call them here. 

 The bees are about all blacks. I have not seen any 

 pure Italians since I came here. But it looks to me 



