January, 1915. 



American Vae Jonrnal 



amount of foundation to make up the 

 deficiency in the line of extracting 

 combs. I found by repeated observa- 

 tions that the difference between foun- 

 dation and drawn combs in regard to 

 storing surplus is about one-half in 

 favor of the latter. To offset the less 

 yield in surplus, I have the satisfaction 

 that my bees are quite heavy with win- 

 ter stores. A very few were a little 

 below standard weight for safe winter- 

 ing, and these I supplied with heavy 

 combs in exchange of some of their 

 light side combs. 



As an additional description of tlie 

 photograph in regard to the comb 

 honey produced in this yard , I will 

 make a few replies to Miss Wilson's 

 remarks on pages 2ti.!-4 of the Ameri- 

 can Bee Journal. I wish to thank Miss 

 Wilson for her friendly comments and 

 criticism on my method. It is a pleas- 

 ure to converse with a beekeeper, espe- 

 cially a lady beekeeper, who under- 

 stands these things without being 

 obliged to enter into every little detail. 

 I fully agree with Miss Wilson that 

 any of her strong colonies will pro- 

 duce enormous yields, when conditions 

 are favorable, when we have a freak 

 season, as we had last year for in- 

 stance. Years ago I was a strong ad- 

 vocate of strong colonies. I believed, 

 as do most all prominent beekeepers, 

 including Miss Wilson, that one strong 

 colony is more profitable, will produce 

 more surplus honey, than two weak 

 ones. But since I have perfected my 

 new method I have changed my mind. 

 I have the proof of the puddin< right 

 in my honey house (or had it before I 

 made so many market trips), that two 

 of my weak colonies that can be 

 crowded onto two supers by far out- 

 distance any one of her strong colo- 

 nies that have five or six supers over- 

 flowing with bees. 



It happens that I, too, took si.x su-. 

 pers from my best colony, five from a 

 number, and four from a majority of 

 them. All these were full supers, no 

 empty ones as Miss Wilson says some 

 of hers were. They were not finished 

 honey, but as nearly finished as I allow 

 them to be at that time, something like 

 No. 3 of the illustration, that accom- 

 panied the articles above mentioned. 



However, all were finished between 

 the white clover flow and the time we 

 generally have our buckwheat flow. 

 Now, if Miss Wilson will bear in mind 

 that all of my comb-honey-producing 

 colonies are only half swarms, all hav- 

 ing been divided during apple-tree 

 bloom, she will see that it means 12, 

 10, and 8 supers for spring count. Not 

 a bad showing for a two weeks' honey 

 flow. 



Besides this finished honey I have 

 two stacks of extra fine bait sections 

 for ne.xt season, all cleaned out by the 

 bees. When doing my feeding for 

 finishing I sorted out all sections that 

 were not sufficiently advanced to 

 promise finishing by feeding a paying 

 venture. These I extracted for this 

 purpose. 



In listening to a discussion between 

 Mr. Wilder and the writer on the num- 

 ber of supers, I am quite sure Miss 

 Wilson would not be the recipient of 

 the enjoyment she anticipated. We 

 are too much of one mind. We agree 

 to the letter, when Mr. Wilder says: 

 " The great trouble with the average 

 beekeeper is he hasn't supers enough." 

 I was caught in the same boat. When 

 the white clover flow started so pro- 

 fusely I imagined I would not have the 

 necessary outfit to accommodate the 

 crop, and as a precautionary measure 

 I ordered at that late hour an addi- 

 tional supply of supers, sections, and 

 super foundation. The section holders 

 (brood-frames) I manufacture myself 

 from strips ordered from our local 

 planing mill. 



.\s it turned out I did not need the 

 goods. My season's crop of section 

 honey consisted of about 5% supers, 

 equal to 126 sections all finished honey 

 per colony, spring count. The only 

 difference in our management may be 

 Mr. Wilder leaves all his supers on the 

 hives until finished, and I take them off 

 whenever I consider it the most advan- 

 tageous for my method. As the picture 

 plainly shows, some of the comb-honey 

 producing colonies have three supers. 

 The top one is taken off at the first 

 opportunity. As the third super is not 

 given until the upper one is ready to 

 come off, the bee-escape is slipped un- 

 der it at the same time the third is 



given, which, of course, is placed under 

 the others. 



As a closing sentence to the fore- 

 going report, I emphasize a few addi- 

 tional facts. The past season's experi- 

 ence proves anew that my method in- 

 sures practically perfect swarm con- 

 trol. I had one normal swarm from a 

 comb-honey producer, and three super- 

 seders from colonies run for extracted 

 honey. After the last filler was re- 

 moved and the last comb inserted in 

 its place shortly before the opening of 

 the white clover flow, not a brood- 

 chamber was opened or in anyway in- 

 terfered with to the present day except 

 a very few that needed attention. No 

 hunting of queen-cells, no clipping of 

 queens, no shaking of swarms, no com- 

 plicated contraption, etc., was neces- 

 sary to prevent swarming. All my time 

 could be applied to the management of 

 supers and taking care of the crop. 



La Salle, N. Y. 



.APIARY OF G. C. GREINER IN NEW YORK 



Sweet Clover 



BY 7. G. .\10SIER, 

 .■iericiiltural Department, L niversitv of /lliaois. 



SWEET clover has been growing for 

 many years along our roadsides, 

 ditches and in waste places. Men 

 have been slow to recognize its pos- 

 sible agricultural value. By most farm- 

 ers it was looked upon as a very unde- 

 sirable weed, and that it must be kept 

 out of our cultivated fields at all haz- 

 ards. It has not spread into our culti- 

 vated fields to any extent, due probably 

 to the ease with which it is killed by 

 plowing. 



Sweet clover is a legume and is 

 found generally distributed over Illi- 

 nois with the e.xception of the south- 

 ern unglaciated area, and the lower 

 lUinoian glaciation. There are two 

 species, both of which are biennials 

 and cultivated to some extent. 



The white flowered species {Melt'lotus 

 a/ba) is most common and the most 

 desirable on the farm because of the 

 larger productiveness in both organic 

 matter and seed. The yellow-flowered 

 species (^.lA'Iilotus otKcinalis) is not so 

 commonly distributed as the other and 

 is not as desirable for the farm. Other 

 species are known, but require no at- 

 tention here. The two species men- 

 tioned differ in their habit of growth, 

 the yellow being more diffuse or 

 spreading. 



SOILS. 



Sweet clover will grow on almost 

 any kind of soil that is not acid and 

 that is fairly well drained, provided 

 the proper bacteria are present. Acidity 

 is fatal to it. It will not do its best on 

 soils that are even slightly acid. It 

 grows vigorously in abandoned lime- 

 stone quarries, gravel pits, hillsides 

 where there is an abundance of lime- 

 stone present, and on practically every 

 type of soil in the northern two-thirds 

 of Illinois. These soils embrace stony 

 loams, gravelly loams, sands, sandy 

 loams, silt loams, clay loams, clays, 

 peaty loams and peats. It even grows 

 on alkali soils where it is difficult or 

 impossible to grow grain crops. .\ soil 

 never becomes so poor that sweet 

 clover will not grow, provided lime- 

 stone and the proper bacteria are pres- 



