T'M® MMEMICMM MMM J^WmMmi^. 



41 



This bird did not seem to eat the 

 gi-apes, hut simplj' tore the skins open. 

 I then shot the birds, and as some 

 grapes were fully I'ipe, I gathered the 

 remaining sound grapes and left those 

 that were opened, on the vines. The 

 bees of course sucked these dry. But 

 the strange part is, the same birds (the 

 live ones of the same kind), came and 

 ate the seeds of the dry grapes that re- 

 mained on the vines. 



I venture to say, that whoever will 

 spend the same time in investigation, 

 that he does in blaming, will be satis- 

 fied that the bees are innocent of open- 

 ing fruit. 



Milan, 6 O. 



BEE-CELLAR. 



How to Build a Oood Cellar for 

 Bec« or Kitclieu U§e. 



Written for the Western Plowman 

 BY C. H. DIBBERN. 



however, become dei^p, I think it ad- 

 visable to shovel the snow from the 

 front and open the entrance. 



Milan, o Ills- 



ALSIKE CLOVER. 



Not only is a cellar a good thing for 

 the bee-keeper and farmer, but with 

 many an aljsolute necessity. Now by 

 a cellar I do not mean a hole in the 

 ground under the house, filled with 

 decaying vegetables. I maintain that 

 the cellar should be the " best room in 

 the house," as well as the most useful. 

 To build a cellar right requires a good 

 deal of care and expense. The bottom 

 should be cemented with a hard 

 cement that will not sweep ofl' and 

 crumble away. The walls should be 

 back-lathed, and plastered with cement. 

 If it is plastered directly on the wall it 

 is apt to " sweat " in the spring and 

 become moldy. The ceiling should 

 also be plastered with cement at least 

 an inch thick. Windows should be 

 made on opposite sides so as to allow 

 a free circulation of air. If bees are 

 to be wintered thei'e, it should be 

 divided by a partition into two parts, 

 so as to keep them entirely apart from 

 the vegetables. There .should be at 

 least two general clearing outs of the 

 cellar, in the spring and fall, when the 

 walls.floor and all should be thoroughly 

 whitewashed. The boxes, barrels, etc., 

 that have been in the cellar, should be 

 exposed for a few days to the sun and 

 air at such times. Now if ordinary care 

 is used in the meantime to keep every- 

 thing clean and sweet, and ventilated 

 as much as possible, my word for it, 

 such a cellar is a blessing. 



Siioiv Around the HtTes. 



In wintering out-of-doors 



:t 



necessary to sweep the snow from the 

 top and front of the hive ?" No. It 

 is often an advantage to leave it on, 

 and even in front of the entrance to 

 keep the bees from Hying and getting 

 lost in a liglit snow. Should the snow. 



How to Induce IVeigliboriiig 

 Farmers to Plant it. 



Written for the Amtrican Bee Journal 

 BY M. JI. BALDRIDGE. 



Joshua Bull, one of the delegates to 

 the last Inter-National meeting of bee- 

 keepers in Chicago, informs me that 

 he succeeded very nicely last spring 

 in securing the distribution of about 15 

 bushels of Alsike clover seed, among 

 his neighbors ; by simply leaving 

 with a local dealer a small package of 



tion to it. But I will now suggest 

 another plan which I know will also- 

 be a success, and will, as must be ob- 

 vious, have its advantages : 



Besides supplying all local dealers- 

 in glass-seeds with the Leaflets, just 

 drop one in the Post-office, in a sealed 

 envelope, to each and every farmer 

 living within a radius of three miles of 

 your apiary, and do this the present 

 winter, and before the general time 

 for sowing grass-seeds, and in the 

 quietest vumncr possible! This plan 

 will give the farmers, who really 

 should be the parties most interested, 

 ample opportimity to study the sub- 

 ject, through inquiries and othei'wise ; 

 and then, when they have occasion to- 

 visit the grass-seed dealers, they will 

 be better prepared to decide what they 

 should and ought to do. 



If we can induce the farmers to 

 grow Alsike, mixed with other grasses. 

 we will then solve the problem of good 

 bee-pasturage, and an abundance of 

 it ; and, besides, we wUl be doing to 

 the farmers, as well as ourselves, an 

 immense amount of good. For my 

 part I would rather have one acre of 

 Alsike clover, mixed with timothy and 

 red clover, and within bee-flight of 

 my apiary, than the best ten acre.i of 

 the common white I ever saw ; and .so 

 will others when they give the mixing- 

 plan I advise a fair and extensive trial. 

 Alsike will, when mixed as stated, 

 never disappoint the farmer, nor the 

 apiarist, in case its partnership neigh- 

 bors make a satisfactory growth ; for it 

 is a fact, though not generally known^ 

 that .Alsike will do well wherever and 

 whenever the common red can b& 

 gi-own with success. Try it, ye doubt- 

 ing Thomases, and then report. 



St. Charles, 5 His. 



BEES IN COLORADO. 



AUike Clover Boot and Croxim, Red Clomr Root 

 average size, a year old. and Crown, 



average size, a year old. 



Alsike Clover Leallets,obtained through 

 the office of the American Bee Jour- 

 nal, with instructions to place them 

 in the hands of parties who " came to 

 him after grass-seed. He thought it 

 better to do thus than to distribute the 

 Leaflets himself, lest his being inter- 

 ested in honey-production might create 

 the impression that he was personally 

 interested in the sale of the seed, or 

 otherwise ; that is, speaking " one 

 word for his neighbor and two for 

 himself !" 



As non-producers of honey are often 

 both jealous and suspicious of the bee- 

 keeping fraternity, the plan pursued 

 by Mr. Bull may be just the one for 

 others to adoiit, and so I thought it 

 best, thus early, to call special atten- 



Experience in Bee-Keeping in 

 Colorado— Alfalfa, etc. 



Written for the American Bee Journal 

 BY DANIEL WESTOVEK. 



I have read Mary A. Goodale's com- 

 muniQAtion on page 792 of the Bee 

 Journal for 1887, and in reply to her 

 questions I will give my experience of 

 three years. 



I started with 3 colonies, and have 

 sold $100 worth of bees, and over 

 1,000 pounds of comb honey the past 

 fall. I sold some bees the past season 

 at |8 per colony. . I have wintered my 

 bees on the summer stands for three 

 winters without any loss ; and I now 

 have packed in chafl" 45 colonies in 

 good condition. They had a splendid 

 flight to-day. Here they have two or 

 three cleansing flights during the win- 



