December, 1913. 



American ISec Jonrnal | 



vfery best care and management we 

 knew how to give. 



Will we ever do as well again ? Very 

 unlikely; but who knows? 



Half-Acre Opportunities 



I believe in "half-acre opportunities 

 for women," and will give my experi- 

 ence with bees. 



Twenty-four colonies, fall count, 

 have produced 2800 sections of comb 

 honey, an average of 116 sections per 

 colony; the highest is 288 sections 

 from one colony. This colony filled 

 one super in three days. This is all 



white alfalfa comb honey, as supers 

 were not put on until June 14. The 

 flow lasted until about the middle of 

 September. 



I use the 8-frame Langstroth hives, 

 changing the old hive to a new place, 

 and putting the swarm on the old 

 stand. Twelve colonies in 1912 aver- 

 aged 100 sections. This is all sold, and 

 I am unable to supply the demand. 



(Mrs.) L. V. Melvin. 



Caputa, S. Dak. 



Thanks for your report. If you can 

 have an average like that every year, 

 or even half as much, it would rather 

 look as if you had full acre opportu- 

 nities. 



Dr. Miller's Ai'iarv at the Close of the Harvest. 



BiR Western ^ Bee-Keeping 



Conducted by Wesley P'oster. Boulder. Colo. 



The Rising Sweet Clover Tide 



The value of sweet clover as a for- 

 age crop is rapidly being recognized. 

 The Sept. 20 issue of The Country Gen- 

 tleman contains a well-written article 

 which says that sweet clover is des- 

 tined to become a rival of alfalfa in 

 many soils, and in some soils is supe- 

 rior to alfalfa. 



The writer says : " Sweet clover has 

 proved of real service in worn-out up- 

 land farms, for it is a soil renovator as 

 well as a flesh former, a milk maker 

 and a money maker. It will thrive 

 where even weeds will not grow. It 

 prospers on the best soil, and will pro- 

 duce abundantly on barren wastes. It 

 is the greatest drouth resister of all 

 forage plants ; its roots penetrate the 

 hardest ground, even taking hold in 

 crevasses in rocks. 



Sweet clover is destined to be one of 

 the greatest crops on the dry lands of 

 eastern Colorado and western Nebraska 

 and Kansas. It has long been a ques- 

 tion whether these dry lands would 

 ever be fit for anything but cattle 

 ranges; but farming methods and spe- 

 cial forage crops, sweet clover includ- 



ed, are being adapted to the special 

 conditions. Prof. P. G. Holden, who 

 is with the e.xtension service of the 

 Rock Island system, has just completed 

 a trip through eastern Colorado. He 

 advocated the growing of sweet clover 

 on the dry land. He also made strong 

 pleas for silos, and more of them. 



At a recent luncheon given by the 

 Denver Real Estate Exchange, among 

 the speakers were Mr. R. A. Pence, 

 who said in part: "The growing of 

 sweet clover for cattle feeding pur- 

 poses has become a flourishing indus- 

 try in the dry land communities in re- 

 cent years. On the Kubanker ranch, 

 40 miles east of Denver, and 7 miles 

 from Strasburg, there is a splendid ex- 

 ample of sweet-clover feeding to cattle." 



Prospects for Next Year 



A more propitious fall could not 

 have been designed to help the bee 

 men. We have had a long warm sea- 

 son with very late frost. Alfalfa and 

 sweet clover have made a fine fall 

 growth, and both should winter in the 

 best condition, as we have had ample 



rains. The soil is moist, and sweet 

 clover is still green close to the 

 ground. 



The seeding of sweet clover was very 

 heavy, and the spread of it in waste 

 places has been going rapidly on. Next 

 year should see a large growth of this 

 plant. 



The frequent rains have doubtless 

 been very destructive to grasshopper 

 eggs, so we hope and expect to be 

 bothered with this pest very little next 

 season. 



While the honey crop in Colorado 

 has been larger than in a number of 

 years past, the severe drouth in the 

 States east of us has created a market 

 for Colorado honey, as well as other 

 produce. Nebraska, Kansas and Okla- 

 homa are taking large quantities of 

 honey this year. 



Poor Wintering of Colonies Affected With 

 American Foul Brood 



It has been a common experience 

 among those who have tried to winter 

 foul-brood colonies, that they do not 

 winter well, especially if there is much 

 diseased brood in the hive. I have 

 seen very strong colonies, with a few 

 foul cells, go into winter quarters and 

 perish before Christmas. Other colo- 

 nies would enter the winter well, but 

 would die ofi^ rapidly before the com- 

 ing of settled cold weather. There are 

 two reasons that very largely afTect the 

 result: 



First, is the lack of a large propor- 

 tion of young bees, the late broods 

 mostly dying from the infection. 



Second, and I think the most impor- 

 tant reason, is that a foul-brood col- 

 ony does not cluster upon its combs 

 and form a compact brood-nest. The 

 bees are found more scattered through 

 the hive. They are disinclined to 

 launch up in a compact ball. Perhaps 

 it is the odor of the decaying brood 

 that is offensive to the bees. 



It is a wise rule to winter no foul- 

 brood colonies unless only a half- 

 dozen diseased cells are found. 



County Agriculturist Wanted 



For a number of years the chief agri- 

 cultural and horticultural countie, of 

 Colorado have had horticultural in- 

 spectors and also apiary inspectors. 

 The County Agriculturist movement is 

 now sweeping over the country. This 

 is a strong proof that the people, as a 

 whole, are realizing that agriculture is 

 the basis of national prosperity. Why 

 create another county officer on county 

 pay ? Why not combine the office of 

 county apiary, horticultural inspector 

 and agriculturist in one individual? 

 The county agriculturist must be a 

 versatile individual, but he can lend a 

 great deal of aid to all classes of pro- 

 ducers if he is the right man. 



So bee men among our younger 

 readers who are ambitious for some 

 such position, prepare yourselves at 

 some Agricultural College. A County 

 Agriculturist must be a good organizer 

 and have the confidence of the farmers. 

 It is not required of him that he be an 

 expert along special lines unless agri- 

 cultural enterprise is greatly specialized 

 in the county where he is to work. But 



