168 



AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL, 



March 15, 1900 



PUBLISHT WEEKLY BY 



QEORQE W. YORK & COMPANY, 



118 Michigan Street, Gtiicago, III. 



[Entered at the Post-Office at Chicago as Second-Class Mail-Matter.] 

 EDITOR: 



Dr. C. c. miller, 



" Questions and Answers.'' 



DEPARTMENT EDITORS: 



E. E. HASTY, 

 * " The Afterthought." 



LEADING CONTRIBUTORS: 



G. M. DooLiTTLE, C. P. Dadant, Prof. a. J. Cook, 



F. A. Snell, R. C. Aikin, "Old Grimes." 



important NOTICES: 



The Subscription Price of this journal is $1.00 a year, in the United States, 

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 a year extra for postage. Sample copy free. 



The Wrapper-Label Date of this paper indicates the end of the month to 

 which your subscription is paid. For instance, "DecOO" on your 

 label shows that it is paid to the end of December, 1900. 

 ubscriptlon Receipts. — We do not send a receipt for money sent us to pay 

 subscription, but change the date on your wrapper-label, which show's 

 you that the money has been received and duly credited. 



Advertising Rates will be given upon application. 



VOL. 40. 



MARCH 15. 1900. 



NO. n. 



Note— The American Bee Journal adopts the Orthography of the follow- 

 ing Rule, recommended by the joint action of the American Philolog- 

 ical Association and the Philological Society of England: —Change 

 **d" or "ed" final to "t" when so pronounced, except when the "e" af- 

 fects a preceding sound. Also some other changes are used. 



Improvement in Bees is discust in the Bee-Keepers' 

 Review by L. A. Aspinwall, in a way that shows familiarity 

 with the subject. For six years he has been laboring- for 

 improvement, and hardly realized what improvement he 

 had made until an absconding swarm of Italians came to 

 him and gave him a chance for comparison. He supersedes 

 the queens of all vindictive colonies ; of those that build 

 much brace-comb ; also queens that are unprolific. Selec- 

 tions are made from the best honey-gathering- colonies ; 

 and size, not only of workers, but also of drones and queens 

 is by no means neglected. In working for size, the drones, 

 rather than the workers, are considered ; and from one 

 queen which produces extra-large drones he has taken 

 daughters to re-queen nearly a fourth of his apiary. This 

 gives a better chance for the fertilization of young queens. 



S-weet Clover for Forage and Honey Prof. Thos. 



Shaw, otte of the leading writers and experts on agricul- 

 tural topics, both in Canada and the United States, has re- 

 cently written a new book on " Forage Crops Other than 

 Grass," in which he has this to say about sweet clover : 



Sweet clover (Melilotus alba) is so named, doubtless, 

 from the fragrance of the odor which characterizes it. It 

 is also frequently called Bokhara clover. The two species, 

 Melilohis alba and yellow sweet clover (Melilotus officinalis) 



are closely allied, but the blossom of the former is light- 

 colored, while that of the latter is yellow. 



Sweet clover is a strong, vigorous-growing biennial. 

 It is brancht and upright in its habit of growth. It is one 

 of the most hardy plants of the clover family. When once 

 firmly rooted it has great power to withstand drouth and 

 heat, and it can also endure low temperature. Being a 

 ravenous feeder it is able to maintain itself in soils too poor 

 to sustain other species of the clover family. The writer 

 has succeeded in growing sweet clover on a vacant lot in St. 

 Paul, from which several feet of the surface soil has been 

 removed, insomuch that only sand and gravel remained. 

 Moverover, it is a legume, and one which has much power 

 to renovate soils. A plant, therefore, which is possest of 

 such powers should not be lookt upon as worthless. That 

 it is so is the popular idea. It has even been lookt upon as 

 a weed, and some countries and States have included sweet 

 clover in the list of proscribed noxious weeds. 



But sweet clover has been grown to some extent to pro- 

 vide hay for live stock in the cured form, and also to pro- 

 vide pasture. And it has been grown to furnish food for 

 bees when it is in bloom. It has been grown for all these 

 uses in the South, more particularly in the States of the 

 lower Mississippi basin. For providing hay it is not very 

 suitable, for the reasons, first, that it is woody and coarse 

 in character ; second, that it is difficult to cure ; and, third, 

 that it is not much relisht by live stock. They do not care 

 to eat it when they can get a sufficiency of other food, as 

 corn, sorghum, or other clovers. As a food for bees it is 

 excellent ; and if a part of the plot or field is cut before 

 coming into bloom, the season of bloom will be much pro- 

 longed. It is also sown along the sloping embankments 

 and the sides of railway cuttings. The object sought is to 

 prevent these from washing, and it has proved highly ser- 

 viceable for the purpose. 



Sweet clover has not been much grown for pasture, but 

 for such a use it may yet prove to be of value. When sheep 

 have access to a variety of grasses they will probably pass 

 sweet clover by, even when it is young and tender. But if 

 confined to such a pasture when it first begins to grow, 

 they would soon begin to crop it down. To force animals 

 thus to eat food under constraint is not good for them ; but 

 thus it is that in some instances sheep have to be confined 

 on rape, and forced to eat it thru sheer hunger. In a short 

 time the}' become very fond of the rape. So likewise they 

 may be taught to eat sweet clover. Of course, where other 

 and better kinds of clover will grow, it would not be wise to 

 trouble with sweet clover. But in the semi-arid belt east of 

 the Rocky Mountains, and in the poor sandy soils of the 

 South, it may yet be found that an important mission 

 awaits this plant ; first, in growing a crop that will reno- 

 vate the soil when plowed under, and increase its power to 

 hold moisture ; second, in furnishing food for bees; and, 

 third, in providing pasture. Hay should be sought from 

 it the first year rather than the second. 



Sweet clover can be sown only in the spring or summer 

 in very cold latitudes ; but in those that are mild it can be 

 sown in the autumn or spring, preferably the former. 

 Usually not less than IS pounds of the seed is sown to the 

 acre. In the South it is frequently sown on the surface of 

 stubble land after the crop has been harvested ; and when 

 thus sown it is simply covered by the harrow. If sweet 

 clover is kept from blossoming the land will soon be freed 

 from it when it is so desired. 



We are glad to be able to present the foregoing con- 

 cerning the varied values of sweet clover from so high an 

 authority as Prof. Shaw. It will pay to show it to those 

 who are foolishly against sweet clover. 



Fool Stories About Bees and Honey.— Some time ago 

 one of our subscribers sent us the following clipping from 

 the Minneapolis Journal, desiring our opinion concerning it : 



CORRUPTING THE BEES— TAUGHT TO SWINDLE. 



ONCE HAVING MADE GLUCOSE HONEY, THEY ARE TOO LAZY 

 TO HUNT FLOWERS. 



According to information which has reacht State Dairy 

 and Food Commissioner Bowler, the dear little busy bees, 

 belonging to some of the bee-sharps of the country, have ' 

 been made the unwitting means of perpetrating a horrible 

 fraud upon honey-lovers. Of late j'ears it appears that 

 economical bee-keepers have discovered a way to keep the 

 bees from taking their annual winter vacation. The bees 

 are provided with warm rooms iiij.which maple syrup and 



