598 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



Sept. 1, 1904. 



takes to produce one pound of dry matter. It averages 325 

 pounds, and in case of alfalfa reaches more than 400. This 

 is the water that the plant pumps up from the earth and 

 passes off through the foliage. In this way a maximum 

 crop of alfalfa uses over 400 tons of water per acre. This is 

 the equivalent of a six-inch rainfall. Think, then, what 

 happens when from 6 to 10 crops are grown in a single sea- 

 son ! Verily, alfalfa has been rightly called a real water- 

 toper. This makes it evident that alfalfa may be discarded 

 as too expensive a crop where " water is king," as it is in 

 all the region of Southern California. In locating, then, 

 the bee-keeper who is to rely upon alfalfa for his forage, 

 must see to it that there is an abundance of water. I doubt 

 if alfalfa will continue as a crop in any section where water 

 has to be pumped. In case the water comes too near the 

 surface so that this wonderful crop will grow without irriga- 

 tion, or in case there are great irrigation ditches, or, again, 

 if there are never-failing artesian wells, then we may hope 

 for continuous fields of alfalfa, and may safely locate our 

 bees in that region. 



There is another point that the bee-keeper should un- 

 derstand. Alfalfa will not do well unless the roots reach 

 down many feet. Thus, if there is a calcarious hard-pan — 

 as is very likely to occur in arid regions like Colorado, 

 Nevada, Arizona, and California — within two or three feet 

 of the surface, then it will never answer for growing alfalfa. 

 There must be a deep, pervious soil in any region that is to 

 make a success of alfalfa. 



One other point is worth attention. The alfalfa is often 

 cut before the bloom is out long. In this region the best 

 growers cut the first crop of the season before it blossoms 

 at all ; else the plants get too coarse and the hay is second 

 quality. It must be fine and leafy, especially to give the 

 best results in the dairy. After the first cutting, it is usual 

 to leave it till it is about one-third through the blossoming 

 season. Thus, of course, the honey season is cut short 

 some by this early cutting. There will, however, be much 

 of this bloom at all times in regions of extensive alfalfa 

 culture. Los Angeles Co., Calif. 



Description of the " Centennial " Hive. 



BY J. h. STRONG. 



BY request I will try to write a description of the large 

 hive, as seen in the view of my apiary, on page 449. For 

 a name I call it the "Centennial." It is 13 inches 

 deep by 17;V long inside, and 17 inches wide. The width 

 can be varied to suit the fancy of the apiarist. The comb 

 frames rests in a rabbet similar to the Langstroth frame, 

 but no bee-space above ; this is provided for in the section- 

 case and slatted honey-board. 



The top piece of the frame is 1 7-16 inches wide, with 

 insets or scallops to admit the bees to the sections ; it has 

 a gain or slot cut in each end. The center one rests on 

 wooden pins in the rabbet, to prevent it from sliding, when 

 the division-boards are pressed against the frames. 



The board that separates the sections from the brood- 

 chamber is made of strips 5-16 inch thick, cleated on the 

 inside to preserve the bee-space, and is pressed against the 

 frames as we enlarge or contract the brood-chamber. This 

 division-board is perforated to admit the bees to the sections 

 on either side. 



The rear board is /i inch thick, perforated to admit the 

 bees to the sections. This board is nailed permanently, 

 with an extension of 4,'+ inches to receive sections. 



The hive is provided with three movable sides that can 

 be lifted out, to see the glazed sections as they are being 

 filled. 



The cap is simply a box rabbeted on the lower edge to 



shut over the hive. This hive was designed for a non- 

 swarming hive, and is as near that as any hive I have ever 

 seen. Side-storing is not popular with bee-keepers gen- 

 erally, but I find bees working freely in side sections when 

 the colony is strong and other conditions are favorable ; 

 and when the weather is hot side sections take the prefer- 

 ence. 



This hive is not patented, and any one is at liberty to 

 make and use it. Page Co., Iowa. 



The Prolific Rocky Mountain Bee-Plant. 



BY D. W. WORKING. 



IONCb told the Editor an amazing story of the number 

 of seeds produced by a single Rocky Mountain bee-plant 

 — Cleome integrifolia. He dared me to tell the story for 

 the American Bee Journal. Subsequently I made another 

 count, the result of which was even more amazing than the 

 first. I do not happen to have my notes at hand, and dare 

 not give the figures from memory ; but one of these fine days, 

 after the frost comes, I mean to count again. Then look out 

 for the story. At present I have to deal with another matter 

 — the number of blossoms on a single plant at a particular 

 time. 



Those who are familiar with our cleome know that it is 

 a progressive plant. Just now it is in all its glory of purple 

 bloom, dashed with pink and magenta. But my memorandum 

 book has this entry for June 24th : "Bee-plant beginning to 

 bloom." And it will blossom and yield honey after the first 

 light frosts of September. At the top of the cluster new 

 flowers continue to open to sun and bee after the pods below, 

 which testify to the first flowers, are ready to drop their 

 ripened seeds. 



The flower-clusters of cleome are as much as four inches 

 in length in exceptional cases, with a diameter nearly as great. 

 More often they are about two inches in diameter, with a 

 length about a third greater. At the top of the cluster the 

 individual flowers that are to be appear as round-topped buds ; 

 and there may be from 10 to 25 of them in various stages of 

 development. Around and below these promises of sweetness 

 are arranged the open flowers and the dying blossoms with 

 tiny green pods arising from their hearts. Further down 

 are the larger pods, some of them several inches in length. 



A few days ago I noticed an especially symmetrical bee- 

 plant standing beside the road. There were taller ones near, 

 some of them with larger flower-clusters. This plant had the 

 shape of the old-fashioned straw bee-hive of the pictures, or of 

 the typical oak-tree, and was a mass of bloom from the 

 ground to the top. I thought it a fine type of cleome in the 

 open. 



Since making mental note of this particular plant I have 

 been watching for better ones. I have seen thousands that are 

 taller, hundreds with larger flower-clusters, and a consider- 

 able number that seemed to have as many individual flowers 

 in bloom. A drive of four or five miles this morning showed 

 me acres of the plant that were musical with the hum of the 

 thrifty honeymakers. A quarter of a mile from home I 

 stopped and cut my typical cleome. (Of course I felt just a 

 little like a robber ; but there are more plants left than enough 

 to supply the bees.) 



Then came the measurement and the count. This partic- 

 ular plant was just four feet tall. Its greatest diameter was 

 four feet and nine inches ; and the transverse diameter was 

 four feet. By actual count, there were 183 flower-clusters. I 

 did not try to find the largest of these"; but the largest one of 

 the eight counted had 36 separate flowers open to the inspec- 

 tion of any curious old-maid bee that might have come along 

 before eight o'clock this morning. The smallest of the eight 



