February, 1916. 



Fig. 56— Hon. Eugene Secor and a Yucca 

 Blooming on His Lawn 



that it is even superior to alfalfa. The 

 farm papers have contained many arti- 

 cles extolling its value, giving proper 

 soils, their preparation, methods of 

 tillage, etc., in order to get the best re- 

 sults. Much has been said also of 

 what may be expected from the plant. 



What, however, is the honey value of 

 sweet clover ? Beekeepers have known 

 for a long time that it is of benefit to 

 the bees, that it yields enough honey 

 for its influence to be noted, especially 

 in certain seasons. But now that it is 

 likely to have universal planting, that 

 your bees or ours may regularly forage 

 on many acres of sweet clover in 

 bloom, let us enquire what we may ex- 

 pect. Will it be only a helper or will 

 it yield a surplus ? Will I able to de- 

 pend upon it so that I may double the 

 number of my colonies in each apiary, 

 and may I be safe in starting apiaries 

 any place throughout the country 

 where much of this clover is planted ? 



In order to determine this before- 

 hand, if possible, I submitted the prop- 

 osition to some prominent beekeepers 

 who have had considerable experience 

 with it, many of whom are at present 

 harvesting crops from it, and some of 

 whom rely on it solely for surplus. 



Replies came from the following 

 States: Colorado, S. Dakota, Iowa, 

 Illinois, Kentucky, and Alabama. Four 

 general questions were asked as fol- 

 lows : 



1. Does the soil on which sweet 

 clover is grown influence the honey 

 yield? 



2. Is the yield affected by drouth or 



American ^lec -Journal j 



moisture, and how ? 



3. Is sweet clover a sure honey 

 yieldei or are there failures ? 



4. If you had 100 colonies within 

 reach of 100 acres of blooming sweet 

 clover what would you expect the yield 

 to be in extracted honey? 



The last question of course ishypoth- 

 etical. but will give an idea of what is 

 thought of its value. 



INFLUENCE OF SOIL ON HONEY. 



Without an exception all corres- 

 pondents agree that soil has little effect 

 on honey yield, except that sweet clover, 

 of course, grows best on soil with 

 plenty of lime, and we should reason- 

 ably expect honey-producing qualities 

 to be best where growth was most 

 favorable. 



EFFECT OF DROUTH AND MOISTURE ON 

 YIELD. 



All agree that atmospheric condi- 

 tions play a most important part in 

 honey yield. Very probably the irri- 

 gated regions have the advantage in 

 this respect, as the moisture can be in 

 a large degree regulated to suit. " Dry, 

 hot weather is best," says Wesley Fos- 

 ter, "with plenty of moisture through 

 irrigation." This is confirmed by L. 

 W. Benson, of Alabama, who thinks 

 irrigated lands ideal, but for Alabama 

 mentions as best " dry, hot weather 

 with plenty of moisture at tlie roots of 

 the plants." A. B. Brown, of Alabama, 

 whose sole dependence is sweet clover, 

 wants "a hot and sultry atmosphere 

 with plenty of moisture in the ground." 

 Others mention weather neither too 

 dry nor too wet as better than either 

 extreme. 



IS SWEET CLOVER A SURE HONEY PRO- 

 DUCER ? 



From the above points we deduce 

 that sweet clover honey production 

 varies much with variation in atmos- 

 pheric conditions. I have yet to hear, 

 however, of an absolute failure in 

 Alabama. By this I mean a season 

 where the bees starve with acres of 

 blooming sweet clover within reach. 

 In Illinois, however, the situation is 

 different. We have, ourselves, observed 

 seasons when the yield was nil. A. O. 

 Heinzel, also of Illinois, reports that 

 the plant generally yields; but he has 

 seen absolutely flat failures. At one 

 time his bees were starving with 160 

 acres of blooming sweet clover within 

 e?sy reach. This was at Kenney, 111., 

 and occurred in a very dry year when 

 nearly all vegetation was " burned up." 

 Indications are, therefore, that extreme 

 drouth or extreme moisture make for 

 an extremely light yield. 



100 COLONIES AND 100 ACRES. 



Nearly all correspondents, before an- 

 swering this question, stated emphat- 

 ically that theirs could only be a guess 

 as other factors entered into the crop. 

 Here are some of the answers: 



1. In irrigated districts 200 pounds 

 per colony : in Alabama probably more 

 than half of this. — Alabama, 



2. 100 pounds to the colony, more if 

 bees were stimulated. — Alabama. 



3. 70 to 125 pounds to the colony. — 

 Colorado. 



4. 150 to 200 pounds to the colony. — 

 Kentucky. 



5. 100 pounds to the colony. — South 

 Dakota. 



Fig. 67— Eucalyptus Blossoms 



