1879 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



269 



ALSIKE AND HILILOI. 



L E quote the following from The Prai- 

 rie Farmer: 



1. What soil is best adapted to Alsike clover ? 2. 

 Why do you advise always to mix Alsike with other 

 grasses ? 3. Should melilot clover be sown by itself 

 or with grain ? 4. Would it do well in an orchard '? 

 5. What soil is best for melilot ? 6. Will stock of 

 any kind eat it ? 7. Is it an annual, biennial or per- 

 ennial ? 8. When once introduced can it be eradi- 

 cated from the soil when desired ? 



Answer:— 1. Moist clay soil. On such soil it will 

 generally do well when grown alone, but it will do 

 best on any soil in wet seasons. 2. Because it is then 

 a sure and safe crop whether the season be wet or 

 dry. The roots of Alsike grow near the surface, 

 similar to white clover, and hence suffer for the 

 want of moisture during drouth, but when mixed 

 with other grasses the roots are then shaded and 

 protected. The other grasses also help to keep it 

 from lodging. The stems are smaller and less woody 

 than the common red, and are therefore more liable 

 to lodge. 3. Always sow melilot in the spring with 

 some kind of grain, rye, wheat, barley, or oats, so as 

 not to lose the use of the land the first year. Like 

 red clover, it does not bloom till the second year. 

 If sowed in the fall it may be grown by itself, but I 

 should then prefer to sow it with rye or wheat. 4. 

 It will do well in an orchard or elsewhere. 5. The 

 very best is a rich moist soil. Have seen it often 8 

 feet high on such land, but it has such a large and 

 long tap root that it seldom finds fault with any 

 kind of soil wet or dry. 6. When young, and not 

 more than a foot high, it is relished very well by 

 sheep and cattle. They would keep it down in a 

 pasture if given access to it before it gets too rank 

 a growth. I have tried often to get it to grow on 

 the commons, but the cattle running at large have 

 kept it down and destroyed it. Some have cut it 

 when young, dried it, and used it for stock, but I do 

 not recommend it for stock, when grown for bees, 

 for cutting or pasturing would ruin it for honey 

 pu rposes. It is better to let it get a rank growth as 

 it will then produce more flowers, and, of course, 

 more honey. Some bee-keepers who have a large 

 field of this clover prefer to cut half the crop about 

 the middle of June, which, in the latitude of Chicago, 

 would be about three weeks before it blossoms, and 

 thus prolong the time of blooming. The part cut 

 would come into bloom about the time the other 

 would be through with its first crop of blossoms. 7. 

 It is a biennial plant— that is, lives two years and 

 then dies, root and branch. For this reason some 

 prefer to seed the land twice so as to make the crop 

 perpetual. That is, if land be seeded in the spring 

 the same land is seeded again in the fall. That seed- 

 ed in the spring blooms in July the next season, and 

 that in the fall the following seasen. When thus 

 seeded the crop becomes perpetual as the land seeds 

 itself from year to year. 8. As this is a biennial 

 clover, and hence dies root and branch the year 'At 

 blooms, it is of course readily destroyed by simply 

 stopping the production of seed. Be sure to cut 

 when in bloom and before the seed is formed. Some 

 turn hogs into it at this time with unmuzzled snouts, 

 and they soon make a feast of the roots. 



To conclude, I do not desire to sell any seed of 

 this clover. What I have I prefer to give away to 

 those who wish to try a small plat for honey pur- 

 poses. I have plenty of fresh seed, of my own rais- 

 ing, for that purpose, so don't be afraid to send for 



a package. Simply enclose a stamp or two to cover 

 postage and trouble, and the seed will be sent you 

 by first mail. It is now too late to sow Alsike this 

 year, but it makes no difference when melilot is 

 sown. M. M. Baldridge. 



St. Charles, 111. 



$u%qmile> §^/^il?i^wl. 



SAM another ABC scholar, and want to ask a 

 question or two. I am a farmer's son, and have 

 ^ to work on the farm; now, can I do any thing 

 with bees, and work. I want the ABC badly, but 

 will wait awhile and make my bees pay for it. I had 

 three colonics last fall, now have one. I want to 

 transfer, before long, into a hive of my own make. 

 It is made partly on the plan of the Langstroth and 

 partly Simplicity. I am 17, quite a small fellow to 

 ask so many questions. 



Do you want Italians or black bees ? You are not 

 like the old lady that kept store. She said a pint 

 was her pound. Thos. H. Trice. 



New Providence, Tenn., May 8, '79. 



Of course you can keep bees and work too, 

 my young friend, and you will very soon 

 rind out, that to keep bees, you must work. 



A pint of bees will hardly' make, a pound 

 "the world ar ound." 



I have liked bees from my pop-gun-days. I have 

 now 2 colonies of the common black bees for a start. 

 I am ^ boy 1(> years old, an orphan, and have not had 

 a very good chance; therefore, you must overlook 

 mistakes, for this is the third effort. 



Mv bees have swarmed so much that I value them 

 at # :i0.00. W. W. McClaran. 



Marshall, Texa-», April 1, '79. 



Here comes that sixteen year old "bee-man" 

 again, trying to be as jovial as ever. Father wrote 

 you that "the boys'' went after the absconding 

 swarm of bees. Well, I suppose ive did; after I had 

 run one-half mile trying to keep up with them, and 

 when they had settled had walked back home after 

 my hive, then my brother went with me back to the 

 bees again. I had never seen a swarm of bees hived 

 in my life; so you see I was in a "box". The bees 

 were in a brush heap, and I just set my hive over 

 them, and commenced to rake them into it, all the 

 time "peckin' away" on the hive. But, alas! before 

 I got one-fifth of them in, they took wing and flew 

 away. They never stopped this time until they 

 came to neighbor H's. where they settled on a peach 

 tree. I went to Mr. H., and told him I would give 

 him 50 cts., if he would hive them forme. He came 

 and hived them without any trouble. I did not have 

 the money with me, so I promised to pay him when 

 I came after the bees. The next day, Mr. H. came 

 over with the news (!) that the bees had swarmed 

 again. I was not at home, so father told him he 

 could have them. He hived them; but they came 

 out again, and settled at the same place. They 

 staid there until they died and dropped off. They 

 did not make a single piece of comb. I want to 

 know why they left. Their combs were bright and 

 clean; there was unsealed larva? in the combs, and 

 plenty of pollen too. The entrance was very large. 

 But here's the funny part of it; I lost a half day's 

 hard work (running after the bees), 25 cents (Mr. H. 

 gave me back 25 cents), and the bees too were lost. 



We have but two colonies now; one in a Lang- 

 stroth hive, and the other in an "old gum". We 

 have not had a swarm yet. While I think of it— the 

 other day, one came out and settled on a tree. 

 Father and mother got every thing ready (I was 

 away from home), and just as they started to get the 

 bees down, they "sailed back home". Now we 

 would be glad if you would tell us why they did so 

 strangely. 



Fdn. is a "big" thing; we bought 3 tb. from you. 

 We have but one hive to put it in, and you see we 

 don't use much of it. I have seen no "bulging" yet. 

 The frame you sent is jwst "bully". I have not 

 seen her "royal highness" yet. Is there any proba- 

 bility of your sending queens by mail this season? 

 Weli, I expect you are getting tired of me; you see 

 I am almost as talkative as you are. 



Snyder, Ark., May 16, '79. D. S. Bethune. 



