Gleanings in Bee Culture 



An apiary of 11 colonies near Cincinnati that produced ^2 barrels of honey last year. 



BEEKEEPING AROUND CINCINNATI 



BY REV. B. R. WAGNER 



Cincinnati is no mean city, even if is di- 

 vided by rivers and ao imaginary State line. 

 We are not very far from the center of 

 population of the United States nor from 

 the center of the bee business. Here Mr. 

 C. F. Muth originated his famous roof apiary. 

 He loved bees so much that he kept them 

 next to his sleeping-room. Hamilton, O., is 

 just twenty miles away, where Rev. !>. L. 

 Langstroth lived, reasoned, experimented, 

 and wrote; and sixty miles away his sacred 

 ashes rest in Woodland Cemetery, Dayton. 



In regard to bee forage, I believe we are 

 most favorably situated. The many little 

 valleys running into the Ohio River; the 

 marshes, the steep hillsides, many covered 

 with nectar-yielding trees, and at the same 

 time yellow clover, sweet clover, white 

 clover, smartweed, wild cucumber, etc., 

 making our territory almost a paradise for 

 the real lover of bees. 



Cincinnati, O. 



SWEET CLOVER ON WASTE LAND 



BY HENRY REDDERT 



Since the ajipearance of the article on the 

 distribution of sweet-clover seed to the mem- 

 bers of our association, Dec. 1, p. 726, Ihave 

 received several inquiries from ranch-owners 



in the West regarding the advisability of 

 cultivating the land before sowing, and 

 asking whether it grows on hard black land 

 or sandy or hillside country. For the ben- 

 efit of others interested, as I can not answer 

 all personally, I submit the following: 



Sweet clover will grow in almost any lo- 

 cality where there is plenty of sunshine and 

 an occasional rain. Indeed, most of the 

 sweet clover thriving around Cincinnati 

 grows on the slopes of hills and on railroad 

 banks, along creeks, on the dusty roadsides, 

 and in every nook where no one ever thinks 

 of ])lanting any thing. Even among rocks, 

 or the ledges of stone-quarries, sweet clover 

 makes its appearance. 



It needs no further cultivation before or 

 after the seed is sown, providing the sowing 

 is done after a shower of rain to give it the 

 impetus to germinate. It should be sown 

 in the fall of the year— in August or Sep- 

 tember. When the seed-pods become dry 

 and open up, nature will do its work. The 

 September winds spread it broadcast; and 

 after once taking root it sows itself at a sur- 

 prising rate on rocky hillsides. It will make 

 its appearance the next year graded down 

 to such an extent as to expose the yellow 

 loam that would not nourish any other crop 

 without fertilizer; and in spots where under- 

 brush or trees have been cleared away it 

 will be found blooming the next season. 



Sweet clover is a hardy plant; and after 

 once taking root it can stand a long drouth. 

 During the hot summer days when in full 



