1908 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



1365 



the edition is exhausted will do well to put in 

 their order at once. For particulars see p. 1401. 



WILL THERE BE A FAILURE OF CLOVER NEXT SEA- 

 SON BY REASON OF THE DROUTH.? 



The editor of the Rezue-tv seems to feel that 

 the long drouth of the present fall has so far kill- 

 ed out the clovers that next year will not be very 

 much of a honey year; that those who have fine 

 crops of clover honey had better not sell at a sac- 

 rifice, for he thinks there is certain to be a good 

 demand at good prices for the best quality next 

 year. 



Our brother-editor may be correct in his prog- 

 nostications; but the other day we were talking 

 with a hard-headed old farmer, and one who is a 

 bee-keeper as well, about this very question 

 whether the drouth of this fall had been the means 

 of retarding the growth of clovers or killing 

 them. Said he, " Mr. Root, you need not worry 

 about the drouth. It will not have very much 

 effect on the clovers. You will find," he contin- 

 ued, " if we get a fair amount of snow and a suf- 

 ficient fall of rain next spring, the clovers — white, 

 alsike, and red — will be very much in evidence. 

 This has been a great year for alsike and white 

 clover. There is a great deal of seed in the 

 ground, even if the clovers were killed root and 

 branch. But the clovers will stand more drouth 

 than you think. No, sir; don't you worry about 

 this drouth, Mr. Root. The clovers will take 

 care of themselves." 



We are giving his opinion for what it is worth. 

 We made a little trip over some of the country 

 roundabout, and were surprised to find that, while 

 the grasses and weeds seemed to be dried down, 

 root and branch, the sprigs of white and alsike 

 clover looked green and fresh everywhere, appar- 

 ently verifying the statement of our farmer friend. 



We should be pleased to get expressions from 

 our readers on this matter, as to whether drouth 

 does affect clover. This is a ojery important 

 question, //"the clover are not killed out, as our 

 friend Hutchinson fears, then it might be folly to 

 hold our extracted honey over; but //, on the other 

 hand, the general testimony is to the effect that 

 the dry weather has done serious damage to the 

 plants, then we ought to know the fact, and that, 

 too, right speedily. An exact knowledge of the 

 situation will have a tremendous bearing on the 

 honey market. While one can not afford to car- 

 ry over comb honey, on account of its tendency 

 to candy before it can be sold next season, yet 

 one might well consider whether or not he should 

 sell his choice extracted at any price he can get 

 before the season closes. 



THE FATE OF THE RASPBERRY PASTURES IN THE 

 FIRE-STRICKEN DISTRICTS OF NORTHERN MICH- 

 IGAN; THE HEROIC FIGHT OF THE HUTCHIN- 

 SON BROTHERS. 



In the last Bee-keepers' Re'vie^w appears an arti- 

 cle by the editor, W. Z. Hutchinson, telling 

 some of their terrible experiences in fighting fire 

 in Northern Michigan; of how Elmer, by dint of 

 almost superhuman effort, time and time again 

 was just barely able to save their property. Our 

 readers perhaps know that Mr. Hutchinson and 

 his brother Elmer have a series of outyards in the 

 berry districts of Northern Michigan, where fires 



have been making such fearful havoc in destroy- 

 ing life and property. While they managed to 

 save their bees, their buildings, and their crops 

 of honey secured during the past summer, yet 

 they have lost their pasturage. The ground 

 where the wild raspberry grew so luxuriantly has 

 burned over once, twice, and even three times in 

 some districts. The long drouth which preced- 

 ed, and the sandy soil where the berries flourish, 

 put the ground in such shape that it is doubtful 

 whether the roots were protected to an extent that 

 a new'growth will spring up again in a year or so 

 hence. 



Mr. Hutchinson and his brother are thankful 

 that they saved their bees and their crops of hon- 

 ey; but, as W. Z. remarked, they could have far 

 better afforded to lose all their bees than to have 

 the pasturage burned. The latter they can not 

 replace; but the former they could have replaced 

 by buying more. 



The outlook is certainly discouraging. Mr. 

 Hutchinson and his brother have gone to the ex- 

 pense of locating outyards, and building honey- 

 houses and bee-cellars. It is reasonably certain 

 that this investment in buildings will not be worth 

 much for the next few years; and they will doubt- 

 less be compelled to move their bees at consider- 

 able expense to an entirely new pasture, put up 

 new buildings, and construct new cellars. In 

 the mean time, the capital in old buildings and 

 bee-cellars will be tied up. 



But the Messrs. Hutchinson were more fortu- 

 nate than some others, who lost not only their 

 pasturage but their buildings, their bees, and all. 

 In some cases even their homes have gone up in 

 smoke. Gleanings offers its sincere sympathy 

 to those who have suffered loss by reason of this 

 very destructive agent whose ravages could not 

 be foreseen, but which, fortunately, does not visit 

 this northern country very often. 



THE EFFECT OF THESE FOREST FIRES ON HIVE 

 LUMBER. 



These forest fires that are and have been de- 

 stroying millions of property all over the United 

 States were unknown before the advent of man 

 in that virgin country. The Indian, amenable 

 neither to law nor any thing else, and the game- 

 hunter, and the prodigal lumber-man who leaves 

 brush in his wake, are responsible for this terri- 

 ble destruction of property. It does seem as if 

 something should be done. It will mean, of 

 course, that in the near future the price of lum- 

 ber will go soaring again, especially white-pine 

 or hive lumber, for that is the timber that seems 

 to suffer more than any other by forest fires. 



TARIFF ON BEESWAX AND AN ADVANCE ON THE 

 TARIFF RATE ON HONEY. 



A RESOLUTION was passed at the last National 

 convention at Detroit, recommending an advance 

 on the present tariff rate on honey and a tariff on 

 beeswax. It has been said that foreign honeys 

 are scattering foul brood in the United States, 

 and that there should be a sufficient tariff to pre- 

 vent its importation into this country — not so 

 much to cut off competition with domestic honey 

 as to stop the spread of European and American 

 foul brood just now gaining rapid headway in 

 the United States. It is claimed that this im- 

 ported honey, much of it coming from ignorant 



