140 



AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



are built to the sides of the hives. This 

 knife should be sharp on the end. 



A good, strong pocket-knife is also 

 very handy to use in cutting the wax 

 between the frames, and prying them 

 apart when working with a colony. 

 There should also be a small pair of 

 scissors, kept as sharp as possible, for 

 clipping queens' wings, and to be used 

 for no other purpose. 



One needs some kind of a handy tool 

 for the purpose of cleaning hives. Every 

 bee-keeper should have on hand one or 

 more queen-cages of the kind he wishes 

 to use. It would be well also to have 

 two or more good bee-caps (or veils) on 

 hand, so that a visitor can use one if 

 need be. I do not see any use of gloves, 

 but a good pair of leggins would not 

 come amiss. 



There are many more tools and con- 

 veniences that would come handy in a 

 well-appointed bee-yard, that I have not 

 spoken of, and the only way we can do 

 is to obtain those first that we are 

 obliged to have, and then procure ihe 

 balance from time to time, as we need 

 them. — Read at the Smith/western Wiscon- 

 sin Convention. 



Boscobel, Wis. 



Honey Crop from WMte Clover. 



A. N. DRAPER. 



I wish to call attention to the article 

 on page 124, Jan. 22, on "Honey Crop 

 from White Clover." Has not the posi- 

 tion there taken in regard to the white 

 clover crop been sustained, in every 

 sense of the word, by the actual results 

 of this season ? 



I tried starting a new apiary in the 

 vicinity of a lot of bottom land that was 

 in pasture where there was consid- 

 erable white clover. It yielded more 

 white clover honey than the other 

 apiaries not so situated. 



We had considerable honey-dew, which 

 enabled me to increase my bees, to rear 

 lots of young queens, and to have about 

 500 pounds of foundation drawn out. 

 I am now using every effort to get my 

 hives full of young bees, ready for the 

 Spanish-needle flow, from which I 

 expect a good crop, and shall begin to 

 move the bees early in August. 



The prospects for a heavy flow of 

 white clover honey next season never 

 were better at this time of the year, for 

 this locality. I have been so busy this sea- 

 son that lam not posted on other localities. 



A large part of the white clover seed 

 from last year did not germinate and 



grow last Fall, but the early rains 

 caused it to come up everywhere this 

 Spring, and so far it has been season- 

 able, with frequent rains, and no 

 scorching weather to burn it up. 



The clover has now become well 

 rooted, even on the side hills and clay 

 land, so that it can stand quite a drouth 

 without injury. The pastures have 

 been good, and will hardly get into the 

 condition they were last Fall — eaten 

 down to the very roots by half-starved 

 stock. Another thing ; almost all the 

 white clover is new growth, either from 

 the seed this Spring, or last Fall, and 

 will be m its greatest vigor next Spring. 

 The severe drouth of last Summer and 

 Fall killed off all the old plants. Now 

 is the time to put forth every effort to 

 get ready for next Summer's white clover 

 crop. 



If you have not DooMttle's work on 

 queen-reariitg, get it and re-queen all 

 of your colonies immediately with the 

 best stock procurable. Get your queens 

 to work at once, and rear all the brood 

 possible, Mr. Doolittle and Dr. Tinker to 

 the contrary notwithstanding. Now is 

 the time to prepare for next May and 

 June. 



I can conceive of no conditions, at this 

 date, that would make the prospects 

 for next season any better than they 

 really are now. Still, I do not want to 

 be understood as saying that the danger 

 is entirely passed, and that a crop for 

 next season is an assured fact. 



We may have too much drouth yet 

 this Fall, or we may have severe cold 

 weather, with high winds, in February 

 and March, after the clover has started. 

 But the cold and winds will not hurt it 

 then unless it is too dry along with the 

 cold. 



In regard to thunder storms, I think 

 Mr. Bull is mistaken. I believe it to be 

 the excessive wet weather, instead of 

 thunder, that causes a cessation of the 

 flow of honey. But I do not see that it 

 makes much difference, as, if we have a 

 very wet time in the honey-producing 

 season, it is almost invariably accom- 

 panied with severe thunder storms. 



I expect the heaviest yield of white 

 clover honey next season that I have 

 ever had, and propose to be ready for it. 

 If anything occurs to mar or injure the 

 outlook, I will i;^port it promptly. I 

 believe my theory is founded on experi- 

 ence, and that the truth — the actual 

 facts in the case — can be established so 

 that even Dr. Miller will not say, "I 

 don't know." 



That this thing can be established 

 beyond a doubt is almost a settled fact; 



