1890 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



161 



the glory of our haspwoorl forests is fast disappear- 

 iDs-; and unless immediate steps are taken to pre- 

 serve some that we have, and plant more, basswood 

 honey will soon be at a premium. 



The white satre of California has been long and 

 favorably known as a honey-plant of rare virtue, 

 giving some of the lightest-colored honey in the 

 Avorld; but, like our basswood, its area is getting to 

 be limited. It is fast disappearing before the cattle, 

 sheep, and plow. Alfalfa is coming to the front as 

 a. honey-plant. Some enormous yields are reported 

 from it. As it grows where people are obliged to 

 irrigate, the bees are sure of good weather iu which 

 to gather the harvest. 



In the foregoing I have mentioned only some of 

 the most prominent honey-producing plants and 

 trees. Time and space forbid a more extended list. 



Ithaca, Wis. S. I. Freeborn. 



CAN WE DISPENSE T^TITH HONEY- 

 BOARDS? 



V TOP-BARS ; MELItiOT, ETC. 



I WAS very anxious to get light as to deep top- 

 bars vs. brace-combs, and am getting it from many. 

 For the same I am thankful. I think I have light 

 enough to feel my way carefully, and I am not 

 without hope that I may be one of the fortunate 

 who can prevent brace-combs between top-bars. I 

 am a little surprised at Bro. Heddon expressing 

 such positive knowledge (I refer more particularly 

 to his statements at the Chicago convention) that 

 the slat honey-board can not be dispensed with. 

 Either one of two things may render it advisable to 

 lay aside the honey-board. The first is, that it 

 should lose its efficiency. For a time it was entire- 

 ly successful with me; but if it should continue to 

 deteriorate as it has done, it will be worse than use- 

 less. It is at least .possible that in time it may fail 

 with others. Bro. Heddon's last article reveals the 

 fact that he uses top-bars % inch deep. May that 

 not account for his succeeding better than I, whose 

 top-bars are only | deep? And if the top-bars make 

 a difference, may they not possibly make so much 

 difference that no honey-board shall be needed? 



That is, in the second place, it may be advisable 

 to lay aside the honey-board, if top-bars can be so 

 made and used as to prevent brace combs above 

 them. A single case in which this has been done— 

 and there have been several— overbalances a hun- 

 dred assertions that It can not be done. Even if 

 top-bars can be made to do nearly as well as honey- 

 boards, top-bars alone are best, because of the time 

 and the daubiness every time a brood-chamber is 

 opened, and because the brace-combs between the 

 top-bars and the honey-board probably involve a 

 loss of dollars in honey. 



Now as to the practical question. Shall I throw 

 honey-boards aside? Not yet, nor hastily. It would 

 be no light matter to change all my top-bars; and 

 although others may succeed, before I make any 

 great change I must see whether I can be success- 

 ful with a few hives. I recommend others to go 

 elow. 



V TOP-BARS. 



There was a time when V-shaped top-bars had 

 the advantage, that bees built straighter combs on 

 them; but now that foundation is used in brood- 

 frames, is there any advantage in having the lower 

 edge of the top-bar beveled? It is said, that a top- 

 bar 'a deep, beveled so that it is % thick at the 



edges, will not sag as a Hat | piece will. I have had 

 no serious trouble with flat ^s top-bars sagging; 

 still, the V projection would be stitter. But this V 

 makes more wood; and would it not be better to 

 have this additional wood in flat shape? A flat top- 

 bar, ?s thick, would contain just as much wood as 

 the beveled ?a bar spoken of above; and while it 

 might not be quite as stiff it is not likely that any 

 one would complain of a ?3 bar sagging. The V bar 

 has, for a half-inch of its depth, cells ranging from 

 nothing to full depth; while the flat bar allows 

 brood to be raised in all its cells, giving more room 

 for comb, for it must be remembered that the up- 

 per part of the bevel can not be utilized; for bees 

 will not make such very shallow cells. 



WILL MELILOT MAKE HAY? 



Friend Root, are you not a little hasty in your 

 judgment of melilot, on page 56? You say, " I do 

 not [believe that sweet clover is worth very much 

 for pasture or for hay, in the Northern States. The 

 matter was pretty thoroughly discussed through 

 our columns some years ago. While cattle eat it at 

 a certain stage of growth, to some extent, this 

 stage goes by so soon that it has been generally 

 voted not worth the trouble, as feed for stock." I 

 know the matter was discussed, but has it ever had 

 a fair trial? Has any one ever made a ton of meli- 

 lot hay, and reported? or a hundred pounds? Has 

 any one reported a case where melilot gi'ew in a 

 pasture to which cattle had constant access without 

 touching it? I think it is very uncommon to find 

 sweet clover growing in pastures. I do not know 

 of any such case, although I know of plenty grow- 

 ing elsewhere. Between my home and the Wilson 

 apiary sweet clover grows plentifully, and always 

 stands untouched except for a distance of half a 

 mile. Through that half-mile, Stewart's cows are 

 driven to pasture every morning, and home again 

 at night. The sides of the road are covered with 

 grass, and some sweet clover has grown there for 

 years, but it does not grow as high as red clover, 

 being always, at all times of the summer, eaten down 

 by the cows. True, it blossoms and seeds, but in a 

 very lowly way, while just this side the pasture- 

 gate it grows six or eight feet high. Does that not 

 dispose of your " certain stage of growth," friend 

 Root? And is it not possible that those same cows 

 —and they are well-kept cows— would eat more of 

 it if it were in their pasture? It is common to find 

 grasses that grow well in the South, and succeed 

 poorly in the North; but where they grow also in 

 the North, are they not as valuable as in the South? 

 In Mississippi, Prof. Tracy says, " As a hay-plant it 

 is certainly one of our best." One day I offered my 

 horse, just as he was brought out of a good pasture, 

 some dried stalks of sweet clover that had been cut, 

 I think, just before blossoming, and, to my surprise, 

 he ate down leaves, stalks, and all. I have read 

 that, for a long time, anthracite coal was worthless 

 because no one knew how to burn it. Possibly we 

 may yet learn to make melilot valuable for pasture 

 and hay. C. C. Miller. 



Marengo, 111., Jan. 'il. 



Friend M., some writer for Gleanings, 

 a good many years ago, said sweet clover 

 had been raised by the acre, and citred for 

 hay, but that the plan was finally abandon- 

 ed as unprofitable. As I have forgotten the 

 name of the writer, I can not well turn to 

 the article. I think he stated that it was 

 introduced as a new forage plant, and raised 



