073 



GLEANINGS IN BEK CULTURE, 



Oct. 



SWEET CLOVER. 



T WISH lo s;i.\- :i word in favor of swoot clovc-r, to 

 a; the many bee-keepers who read Gi.eaxixos. 

 |> >[aiij' years a^o. long- before 1 kept bees, T read 

 '-*■ in the American AoricuUtnixt of sweet clover 

 as an incomparable lioncj -plant. We read in 

 A. I. Roofs catalogue: "The statement has been 

 made, that an acre will support 20 colonies of l)ees, 

 and afford from ;100 to WM lbs. of honey." The 

 statement is not too high, as I will show. 



Tour years ajro I bought ofA.I.Koot 1 lbs. of 

 sweet-clover seed. I sowed the same in April, v,-it)i 

 oats, on one acre of land, and got a very thin stand. 

 I think the oats smothered it out. The ne.vt year 

 it blossomed and seeded, but there was not enough 

 of it for me to determine its merits as a honey-plant. 

 Last year there was a thick mat of green growth, 

 but no bloom. This year nearly the whole patch 

 was covered with a dense growth of clover, which 

 commenced to blossom about the first of July. 

 Uasswood opened about the .">th of July, and bees 

 left every thing else for that. Immediately after 

 basswood they went on to the sweet clo\ er, and 

 for about three weeks there was a continual roui- of 

 liees from " early morn till dewy eve." 



1 had, at the close of basswood, 35 colonies; in- 

 creased during sweet clover to 40. At close of bas.s- 

 wood 1 took off all sealed bo.\es of honey; at close 

 of sweet clover I had over .500 1-lb. bo.xcs of sealed 

 honey, all from sweet clover, as every one in West- 

 ern Iowa knows there is no bloom aftei- basswood 

 until blackheart, that yields honey. During this 

 honey dearth the (pieens almost quit laying. Now, 

 sweet clover fills up this gap; besides the surjilus 

 honey gathered, the hives are kept full of liees and 

 brood, in the best of plight for fall bloom. 



1 should say, that the ;J.5 to 4.5 colonies would use, 

 in raising brood and tilling up brood-frames, not 

 less than 5G0 lbs. during the three or four weeks, 

 making 1000 lbs. of honey from the one acre. The 

 bloom can be prolonged until frost, by clipping off 

 the tops, say is to 3) inches, when first seeds begin 

 to brown. 



To my^ Western friends, I think 1 can not urge 

 \ipon them too strongly the importance of filling up 

 the gap between basswood and blackheart, and 

 sweet clover does it. To have the bloom every year 

 you must have two fields, one following the year 

 after the first, as it blooms only alternate years. 1 

 think one acre sufficient for 2;) colonics. 



Hillsdale, Iowa. E. W. Pitzei!. 



Friend P., I am very mncli obli<?ecl to you 

 lor your report of swec^t clover; but 1000 

 lbs. "from one acre during four weeks seems 

 to me almost iueredible. If you Avill see 

 what I say about the amount (if honey that 

 a single plant will yield, under the head of 

 "Spider I'lant." in the A iU' book, you will 

 see what an enormous (|uantity eacli plant 

 must produce. P^ach blossom of the sweet 

 clover would have to literally drip witii hon- 

 ey, to give 10(10 lbs. to the acre. Now, the 

 spider and Simpson plant do drip with hon- 

 ey, but they don't furiush any such amount; 

 and from careful examination of sweet-clo- 

 ver blossoms in localities where no bees 

 liave access. 1 can not feel satisfied that the 

 amount of honev secreted in the blossoms is 



very large. 1 am forced to the conclusion 

 that your bees must have seemed this quan- 

 tity of honey from some other source. I 

 may, however, be mistaken. I should be 

 very glad indeed to believe it were possible 

 for'sweet clover to do what von claim. 



FALSE STATEMENTS IN EEaAED TO THE HON- 

 EY BUSINESS OF OUR COUNTRY. 



A.S a proti-ction to (lur Ijet-keepiiijr piipulation, wo |)roprtse in 

 tliis department to publisli the names of newspapers tliat pei • 

 sist in puljlishinK false statements in refcarrt to the purity of 

 honey whieh we as l)ee-keepers pnt on the maiket. 



M AX U FACTUREI) II OX E V . 



p] are pleased to give place to the fol 

 lowing excellent leading etlitorial by 

 the Britifh Jkc-Journal of Sept. 1 : 



"The first work that came to our hands 

 when we entered upon our vocation as a 

 bee-keeper was that of Laugstroth on the Hive diid 

 till H<ni>ii-B,r: and though these ' salid days ' have 

 long iiassed awa.\', we lia\e never forgotten the 

 wi/ndrous ti'.sciiKslion of his cliarming style and 

 till' practical information we deri\cd from the pe- 

 rusal ( I his work; and deep and sincere lias been 

 the L:ratitLiiic we have ever since felt toward this 

 ■old man cUniuenf for all the pleasure and tlie in- 

 striiciion we received fiom his teachin.ps. There 

 was. Ii<i\ve\<'r, one iiassage in liis liook which we 

 would fain have wishr-d liad I. ecu omiited, ami tliat 



w'h'ich the best .judj;es \nCvl- ir.':nouiice<l one of tin" 

 uK.st luscious articles tliev have e\er tasted.' 

 '.Making honey!' What an inomgrijity ol language: 

 Honei,- is the sj nilxil of all that is natural, [lure. and 

 genuine; honey has been the tliiMiie of ))<;ets fi-om 

 the time of 'blind Miconides' to the jiresent da> : 

 honey is the jov of age and ^()Uth; honey is the 

 sweet, rich, bright 'efHuence o{ the essence' (f 

 flowers, the most delightful and delighting of all 

 the jiroductions of nature: and we can never se<' 

 vlic words -ai-tilicial' or 'manufactured' conjoined 

 with it without uttering an internal protist. 



"We arc, howexcr, too apt to think thai adul- 

 teration is confined to American honey: but the 

 denunciatioiis ot lione> mingled with glucose, 

 etc., have been uttered as earnestly an<l as lic- 

 Quently by American as tiy Ib-itish bee - ko<i>ers. 

 In Cowan's Giiiiirhdal. are to be found e.xtracis 

 from American journals, stating the extent to 

 which adulteralicn is practii'Od in that country, and 

 vigorously denomicing the ])raetice. It is not oni.s' 

 in Xcw ^'orlc (u- Chicago thai this so called honey is 

 manulactuicd. In S\\ itzciland this ' manufacture ' 

 is carried on to a large extent; the anaUsis of Mr. 

 oito lleluier informs us that tiie ' iMuest .^wiss 

 Honey,' and the ' Finest Swiss Table Honey,' are 'to 

 a certainty adulterated;' and yet this honey is lo 

 be found on the tables of all Swiss hotels, and is said 

 to be much relished and patronized liy Knglish 

 travelers. 



"But, wiiy need we look abroad'/ In our own 

 country the manufacture of hone.>' is carried on 

 largely. Our attention has recently been directed 

 to a wholesale price current of a city firm in which 



' 's .Manufactured Honey' is advertised: and bj 



it we are informed that ' the success of this article 

 seems assui-ed, and that the orders have come in so 

 raiiidly that the manufacturers ha\e b<'en unatde 

 to cope with tlie deman.l,' We lia\e not handled or 

 seen or tasted t his ■ ailicle.' and therefore are uii- 

 coJiscions of its \irtues.' it may lie a most luscious 

 l)roduce, and suitable to the IJritish jialate; l)Ut, 

 why call it 'honey"/ Is not our language rich 

 enough in itself to give it some other name, or 

 woukl it not have been ))Ossible lo derive from the 

 Latin or the (ii-eek some other appellation than 

 that of our much-loved and time honored term 

 •honey"/ Honev is associated with our earliest (we 

 had almost written ' our holiest') ideas nf all that is 

 sweet, pui-e, and peifect. The royal I'salmist can 

 find no Udtier comparison of his lo\e to the 'words' 

 of Cod ihan to hon(>.\-,— ' hone.\- and (do we not al- 

 most hear the smacking of the rojal lips?) tlu' 

 honey-comb.' ' How sweet ai'e I hy woi'ds unto ni.\ 

 taste! .\ea, sweeter tluui honey lo'my mouth.' The 

 Wise .\ian shows his apiireciation of the virtues of 

 iioney bj- the wholesome advice he gives: '.My Son, 



