THE BEE-KREPERS REVIEW, 



267 



than when sown in tho spring, besides 

 occupyintj the laud at a time wlien it is not 

 required for otlier croi)s. In Delaware, 

 Maryland and other states where tliis clover 

 is successfully grown, this is the lime of 

 sowing nearly always recDmnieuded and 

 adopted. The advantage of a clover which 

 will succeed when sown late after certain 

 crops have been harvested, and which will 

 come on so as to be cut for hay or turned 

 under as a fertilizer the following spring in 

 time for other crops that year are obvious, 

 and where Crimson clover will do this it is 

 not suprising that it has become popular. 

 The chief doubt in regard to its success in 

 Michigan has been as to its ability to with 

 stand the winters. Crimson clover is a 

 native of Italy and other parts of southern 

 Europe, while red clover, mammoth clover 

 and Alsike range in theirnative state farther 

 north on that continent. Crimson clover is 

 not new to this country but has only recent- 

 ly begun to attract general attention here. 

 Last year for the first time it was sown in 

 sufficient quantities in Michigan to furnish 

 any satisfactory evidence as to its probable 

 success in this state. The following state- 

 ments have therefore been collected this 

 spring, (1895), consisting almost entirely of 

 the experience of persons who sowed this 

 clover the past season:" 



Here follows reports from about forty 

 persons who have given the clover a trial. 

 Out of this number only two could be call- 

 ed successful, and the bulletin concludes 

 with the following words: — 



" .Judging mainly from the experience of 

 the past season, it seems probably that over 

 most of the lower peninsula of Michigan, 

 Crimson clover will not prove to be a satis- 

 factory crop, though for certain locations, 

 particularly along the western part of the 

 state, it seems worthy of farther trial. 

 Under ordinary circumstances a smaller 

 growth is to be expected here than in 

 warmer climates." 



Starved Brood in a Hive Containing Plenty 

 of Stores. 



Many have wondered how there could be 

 starved brood in a hive having plenty of 

 stores. Mr McEvoy explains it as follows 

 in the American Bee -Jonrual. 



" Years ago, \yhen I found any dead brood 

 in a hive of bees, the first thought that came 

 to my mind was to find out the cause of 

 death and how to prevent it. By a close ex- 

 amination of the condition of things in the 

 brood-chambers, after the sudden shutting 

 off of honey-flows, and watching the effects 

 of feeding bees at such times, or uncapping 

 the sealed honey in the colonies so as to 

 keep the bees well supplied with plenty of 

 unsealed stores to feed the larvte well, just 

 the same as they always do when they are 

 gathering and storing honey very fast— I 

 soon discovered that brood often dies of 

 starvation when the honey-flows are badly 

 checked in the breeding season by frosts, 



very dry weather, or many days of rain. 

 When these checks take place, the bees 

 soon use up the unsealeil. stores, and then 

 they won't uncap the sealed honey fast 

 enough to keep pace with the amount of 

 brood that requires feeding just then ; and 

 then the result will be some starved brood, 

 here and there, right in some of the strong- 

 est, as well as in the very weakest, colonies. 

 Some of the starved brood will be found on 

 its back, and turned up a little in cells 

 ready to cap or seal ; in some of the capped 

 cells a small pin-hole will be found in the 

 capping of an odd cell where there is much 

 of the brood starved. The starved brood in 

 some cells will be white at first, and sunken 

 down in a shapeless mass, and many of the 

 small larvfv won't have a particle of food, 

 and will look like little, shriveled-up worms 

 in their cells. 



VVl ea the colonies have plenty of unseal- 

 ed stores, the brood will always be found 

 plump aud very fat, and the most of the 

 small larvcT? will be almost floating in food. 

 The very dry season that we have had has 

 dried everything up so that the bees cannot 

 get enough honey in many parts of Ontario 

 to feed the brood rightly. " 



Crimson Clover. 

 In reply to the inquiries of a correspondent, 

 the Country Gentleman has the following to 

 say of Crimson clover: — 



" It is not superior to red clover, nor does 

 it displace it. It is an addition to the list of 

 valuable clovers, and tills a place hitherto 

 vacant. It may be sown during .Tuly or 

 August among growing crops of corn, beans, 

 tomatoes, etc., or on land especially prepared 

 for it from which an earlier crop has been 

 removed. Twelve to fifteen pounds of seed 

 should be sown per acre on freshly-worked 

 soil. A light harrowing or rolling after sow- 

 ing is beneficial. It makes winter and early 

 spring pasture, or a tine crop of hay that 

 matures in May, or it may be plowed down 

 at that time for corn or other summer crops. 

 Crimson clover makes its growth very early 

 in the season, and when it ripens its first and 

 only crop of seed, the whole piant dies. It 

 is not perennial like red clover, but the seed 

 must be sown every year. If sown early 

 enough to secure a heavy fall growth and a 

 strong root before winter, it seems to be 

 hardy in many sections of New York. It is 

 well worthy of trial. " 



How Doolittle Unites Bees. 



As a rule the uniting of bees is put off un- 

 til to late. Colonies made by uniting late in 

 the season do not usually winter well. By 

 the right management there will be little 

 quarrelling or trouble from bees going back 

 to their old location. Mr. Doolittle tells in 

 the American Bee Journal how he manages 

 these points and I copy most of his article. 



" In the first place, the queens in a part 

 of the colonies are to be taken away and dis- 



