276 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



May 1 



ARTICHOKE FLOWER AND TWO OPENING BUDS. 



a cupful of syrup orce a week is not a great one 

 — is it, now? 



Svrarthmore, Pa., Feb. 23. 



buds, the open flower was just 

 "swarming" with bees, but they 

 must have been scared oi? on seeing 

 the camera. 



As to the merits of this flower as a 

 honey- yielder, I icnow but little; 

 still, I am confident if there were big 

 patches of it near an apiary it would 

 be something worth while for the 

 bees and the apiarist. It seldom 

 self-seeds itself, though I saw a pas- 

 ture some years ago in Contra Costa 

 County, just above the northern line 

 of Berkeley, where there were acres 

 of artichokes growing wild, for they 

 seemed to thrive like thistles. The 

 plants had been growing in a garden 

 that was abandoned in the sixties, 

 and by self-seeding the adjoining 

 fields were covered with them. It 

 is probable that they furnish rich 

 forage for somebody's bees. It 

 seemed evident they were good for 

 nothing else, unless cattle would 

 browse on the large juicy leaves. 



The common Jerusalem artichoke 

 (Helianthus tub fro jus) is also a good 

 honey-plant. The flowers resemble 

 those of the sunflower, to which 

 family it is a member. It is a good 

 tuber to plant for those who wish 

 to raise plenty of hog-feed without 

 much labor or expense. Put the 

 cut tubers in any sort of soil and let 

 them grow; the hogs will do the 

 harvesting. Still, it is a tuber that 

 some persons greatly relish — as much 

 so as they do potatoes. 



Oakland, Cal. 

 t«»i 



WHITE CLOVER. 



ARTICHOKES FOR BEES. 



What One of Uncle Sam's Men Says about 

 it; Does it Remain Vigorous Indefi- 

 nitely from the Same Root? 



BY W. A. PRYAL. 



BY DR. C. C. MILLER. 



The illustration here shown is of a flower that 

 is a rather rare sight in the United States, except 

 in portions of the South and in California. This 

 is not al ogeiher because it can not be raised in 

 cold places, but mostly for the fact that Ameri- 

 cans ha\e not come to like the plant for food or 

 ornament. It is the globe ariichoke (Cyiiara 

 scolymiis), of v\hiih some twenty varieties are 

 grown in European gardens. In this country, 

 seldom is more than a single sort seen. 



As long as I can remember, I have seen this 

 plant here; in fact, it has become quite common 

 as a garden-plant, even in places where it is not 

 kept for edible use. The largest growers are the 

 Italians, and, I believe, the French, who are par- 

 tial to it. It is a perennial, of very easy culture, 

 thriving best in good deep garden soil. As a 

 plant was growing in one of the vegetable-beds 

 near my apiary, and the flowers were being eager- 

 ly rifled by bees in cjuest of nec'ar, I was so much 

 pleased with the picture it presented that I photo- 

 graphed it. At the time I started to shift for a 

 position to get a good view of the flower and 



Unusual interest has been shown lately regard- 

 ing white clover, and the different ideas concern- 

 ing it show that more light would not be unwel- 

 come. So I appealed for lijjht to the United 

 States Department of Agriculture, and received 

 the follov^ing interesting reply: 



The questions which you ask in regard to white clover, 1 am 

 afraid we can not answer in as much detail as you might wish, 

 and in some instances not quite definitely. 



At our experimental stations we have found that white clover 

 seeded in the spring will bloom the same season. The extent 

 to which it blooms, however, depends largely on the climate, 

 and I could not say definitely whether you would get a heavy 

 crop of bloom in your locality or not. At Pullman, Washington, 

 last season the white clover seeded in tne spring produced a heavy 

 crop of bloom by July 15lh, and the heads later were pretty well 

 filled with sefd. It is the general opinion, however, that the 

 first season's bloom does not appear in as great abundance as it 

 does the following season. 



You ask whether white clover that has not been allowed to 

 mature seed remains vigorous from year to year. The best ex- 

 ample I can give you in this is a case of white clover growing in 

 a lawn. It certainly remains vigorous for an indefinite period. 

 It is doubtful, however, whether it can be clipped or grazed suf- 

 ficiently close to prevent some seed forming. White clover is 

 considered a very hardy perennial plant, and without doubt will 

 remain vigorous indefinitely from the same toot. 



