646 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



Fig. 1. — Combs of coluiiy with Isle of-Wij^lU bee disease 



forests have been pretty well cut over. 

 Where the land is not cultivated, the locusts 

 have taken possession of considerable areas. 

 The land that has been cultivated or pas- 

 tured is mostly covered with sweet clover. 

 And sweet clover has been the farmer's sal- 

 vation here as in many other places. It 

 stops the washing-, or prevents it. It puts 

 the necessary luimus and nitrogen into the 

 leached hillsides, and rejuvenates them. 

 With the clearing' of the forests the natural 

 fertility began to decline, and the hillsides 

 washed until there was almost no vegetation 

 to cover their rocky sides. Then sweet clo- 

 ver came and put new life into them. Blue 

 grass began to take root, and white clover 

 followed; and now those slopes to which 

 sweet clover first came are covered with a 

 beautiful carpet of blue grass through 

 which peep millions of white-clover blos- 

 soms. In addition, sweet clover, that " nox- 

 ious weed " which has been fought Avith 

 scythe and by legislation, has gained a well- 

 deserved victory and now furnishes tons of 

 nectar for Jefferson County beekeepers. 



Although the land is of limestone forma- 

 tion, it is common to find some of the flat 

 hilltops sour. But that is to be expected 

 unless the region be rather arid, for the ten- 

 dency toward sour soil increases with the 

 fncrease in total annual rainfall. Usually 

 only the flat hilltops and ridges and the 

 fertile bottom lands are cultivated. The 

 .sweet clover on the hillsides is usually cut 

 ODPg,. and then allowed to p'ow up and 



bloom. This gives 

 an excellent flow of 

 later honey. 



Very few colonies 

 of bees have to be 

 fed in the fall, for 

 ordinarily the aster 

 flow is sufficient to 

 insure an abundance 

 of winter stores. 



Jefferson County 

 lias a smaller num- 

 ber of cases of foul 

 brood per hundred 

 colonies than any 

 other county in the 

 State that I have in- 

 vestigated. Both Eu- 

 ropean and Ameri- 

 can are here, but are 

 only rarely found. 

 Some years ago foul 

 brood was a common 

 trouble; but after 

 their sad experience 

 the beemen are on 

 the alert, and use 

 vigorous measures wherever a case develops. 

 One item that probably contributes largely 

 to the scarcity of foul brood is the large 

 number of bee-hunters and the resulting 

 small number of bee-trees. In some coun- 

 ties of this State, everywhere one goes the 

 crv is, " Give us a law that will allow us to 



Fig. 2. — Condition of bottom-board under Isle of - 

 Wight disease colony. 



