644 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



Oct. 8. 



very low temperature, either in the egg or larval form, were 

 those which troubled the combs upon the return of warm 

 weather the next year. Who can tell us something positive 

 about this matter? We know that eggs and larvEe are car- 

 ried over in a colony of bees, or in their combs ; and I have 

 thought that these, after hatching into the mature moth, may 

 have found their way to my combs in some way, though I 

 hardly knew how. Borodino, N. Y. 



Sweet Clover — Its Value from a Commercial 

 Standpoint. 



BY MRS. L. E. R. LAMBRIGGKR. 



Since bee-keepers have started to boom sweet clover as a 

 honey-plant, an effort is being made on the part of constitu- 

 tional kickers and chronic growlers to "down it," on the 

 ground that it is a " noxious weed." Such an assertion is as 

 false as it is ridiculous. If sweet clover is a noxious weed, 

 then so is alfalfa, and in fact all our clovers. 



In these days of financial distress, it is generally conceded 

 that the thing which will bring us the quickest and surest 

 returns for labor and capital invested is the thing of all things 

 for the people to tie to. Silver dollars are no longer found 

 rolling uphill, nor are they cast at our feet by the careless 

 fling of mountain torrents in their mad scurry to the sea. We 



Treasurer W. Z. HiUcMiison. 



must look elsewhere for them, and, in my opinion, sweet 

 clover furnishes the gateway to one of those "elsewheres." 



Its utility for any purpose for which alfalfa is famed, 

 seems to be unquestioned, save in the minds of the uninformed 

 or prejudiced. 



Sweet clover hay is excelled by none both"'as food for 

 horses and for milch cows. When young and tender it con- 

 stitutes the finest of pasture ; if wanted for its seed, it yields 

 many times the number of bushels per acre of any clover with 

 which I am familiar. It possesses valuable medicinal proper- 

 ties : it was ever one of the stand-bys of my grandmother's 

 garden ; she used to prepare an ointment from a decoction of 

 the leaves, which for soothing and healing purposes far sur- 

 passed any of the present new-fangled "patents." 



It is a handsome plant ; it's highly aromatic fragrance is 

 pleasant — and I have read that pillows filled with the dried 

 leaves will woo the god of sleep when all else fails. 



As a honey-plant, I believe it to be unrivalled. It came 



into bloom in our locality last spring on May 25, and the 

 great honey-flow lasted a month — and a flow it was, indeed ; 

 it just seemed as if honey poured into the hives. This was 

 from a two-acre field fenced in from stock. Then we had 

 about as much more in pasture for the purpose of later blooms ; 

 some of that is blooming yet (Aug. 25). We had abundance 

 of other bee-pasture, but the bees had neither eyes nor ears for 

 anything as long as sweet clover lasted. 



We tried a frame of the honey soon after it was sealed, 

 and I did not quite like the flavor — thought my taste would 

 have to be cultivated, but Aug. 9 we tested another frame, 

 gathered in June, and found it excellent, so I am led to be- 

 lieve that sweet clover honey improves with age. (Am I 

 correct?) 



Great claims are made for alfalfa as a honey-plant ; per- 

 sonally I know nothing about it, as there is but one piece of 

 alfalfa in our locality, and that is .ess than a mile from us ; 

 and, by the way, we are the only bee-keepers in this locality. 

 This neighbor, who owns the alfalfa, called the other evening; 

 we asked him if he had observed any of our bees working on 

 his alfalfa blooms. 



"Bees ! why, bless your soul, I never saw a honey-bee in 

 my life — wouldn't know one if I did see it," he replied. 



He was invited to step out and get acquainted; his com- 

 ment was : 



"What funny, stubby little things they are. Well, no ! 

 I've never seen any of them up our way." 



This particular region seems to be the natural home of 

 the honey-bee, and in my next, I will, with our editor's permis- 

 sion, give you some of the reasons why it is so. 



In closing, my advice to every bee-keeper and farmer is, 

 plant sweet clover if you want to be surprised. It never 

 troubles cultivated fields, and never reeds any preparation of 

 soil. Knox County, Nebr. 



Starting an Apiary in California — Doctoring. 



BV DR. B. GALLUP. 



1 have been asked by many correspondents how a person 

 with small means could start an apiary in California. Also, 

 how I came to give up bee-keeping for doctoring. By the edi- 

 tor's permission, I propose to answer both questions. It may 

 make the article rather long, but I will try to make it interest- 

 ing to some. 



I started in last spring with two colonies of bees — a good 

 one, and one with a poor queen, so it did not amount to much 

 until I introduced a new queen. I found one swarm in March, 

 and had two swarms given to me in April- — one of them a good 

 one, and the other weak in numbers, and required consider- 

 able nursing and feeding to keep it alive. 



The first swarm found filled its hive and cast a good-sized 

 swarm in 12 days. In six days I found the swarm queenless. 

 On examining the old colony for a queen-cell, I found every 

 comb built all drone-comb, and drone-brood, and queen-cells 

 built over drone-brood. The new swarm had built all drone- 

 comb, also, and it was two months before I could get a laying 

 queen in either of those colonies, on account of the weather 

 being so cold and windy. I succeeded in rearing one queen, 

 but she was balled and killed in front of her hive on her re- 

 turn from her wedding-trip. 



There was no headway made at all until sometime ii> 

 June. I started in with Gallup hives, but intending to rear 

 bees for sale, I thought best to adopt the standard Langstrotb 

 hive. So I made all Langstroth hives, and have transferred 

 all the six first colonies to them. I have purchased and had 

 donated to me 12 queens; those donated were sent by breed- 

 ers that claimed that I had done enough so they could afford 

 to donate a queen, etc. I have received queens from two 

 breeders in Texas, one from Arkansas, and five from Ken- 



