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40th YEAR, 



CHICAGO, ILL, JULY 26, 1900, 



No, 30, 



Growing' Crimson Clover as a Honey-Plant. 



BY F. GREINER, ONTARIO CO., N. Y. 



BEFORE long it will be time to sow crimson clover again, 

 and I would like to say a few words in regard to this clover 

 as a honey-plant, with that 

 end in view of interesting the bee- 

 keeping fraternity in it so as to in- 

 duce them to grow it more exten- 

 sively not only to furnish pasture 

 for their bees, but also to enrich 

 their land. 



My experience is as follows : 

 A year ago (in July) I sowed my 

 plum orchard of two acres or 

 more to crimson clover, sowing 

 about IS quarts per acre — perhaps 

 12 quarts might have answered. 

 It came up nicely, and tho we 

 had an unprecedented drouth, it 

 made fine growth and soon cov- 

 ered the ground. It was a grati- 

 fying sight even during the win- 

 ter, for it retained that beautiful 

 green color we so admire in our 

 meadows and pastures when the 

 grass first starts in the spring. 

 In the most bleak places the clo- 

 ver winter-killed, but outside of 

 that it started nicely in the 

 spring. 



It commenced blooming the 

 last of May. and continued to 

 June 10, during which time it 

 was freely visited by the bees. 



It may be observed that this 

 span of time — from the last of 

 May to June 10 — is just exactly 

 that dull time occurring every 

 year between the fading of the 

 apple-bloom and the beginning 

 of the raspberry and white clover 

 honey-season. The crimson clo- 

 ver is therefore all the more val- 

 uable as a honey-plant. 



I notice it had a most benefi- 

 cial effect on the land, plowing 

 up quite mellow where formerly 

 it had been quite hard. Some grape-growers in this and 

 adjoining vicinities sow crimson clover in their vineyards, 

 let the seed get about ripe, then plow the crop under. 

 They tell me it will thus seed itself. 



I am not able to give exact data as to the amount of 

 honey crimson clover yields, but judging from the number 

 of bees engaged all day long gathering the honey, I should 

 say it would excel the white clover and buckwheat for the 

 time it lasts, and might be considered a close rival of the 

 basswood. In fact, I have but few times seen as many bees 

 at work at a time as I had occasion to observe in my clover 

 field. At times I counted 20 bees to the square foot, of 

 which three out of every four were gathering honey. 



Supposing the bees would evenly distribute at that rate 

 over an acre of crimson clover while in bloom, 861,200 bees 

 would find room and employment on the same at one time. 

 If I now assume that every colony of bees has 20,000 work- 

 ers to spare for outdoor labor at this time of the year, that 

 would perhaps be an estimate 

 fully high enough. By dividing 

 the former number by the latter 

 we find that it would require 43 

 colonies to furnish the workers 

 necessary for one acre of crimson 

 clover; 100 colonies would need 

 about 2'A acres at the same ratio. 

 It would perhaps be unreasona- 

 ble to assume that 100 colonies of 

 bees could be fully employed on 

 2}i acres of ground ; but it would 

 seem as tho 25 acres might be 

 sufficient, providing there is an 

 even stand of clover all over the 

 field. 



Now, perhaps my figures are 

 not very reliable, and prove noth- 

 ing, still the fact cannot be 

 dodged that I found from 10 to 20 

 honey-bees per square foot busy 

 in my clover, not counting the 

 bumble-bees and other insects. 

 Therefore it seems to me by pro- 

 viding a few acres of crimson 

 clover, blooming as it does at a 

 time when other bloom is scarce, 

 we could greatly benefit our bees. 

 It would, of course, be necessary 

 to allow the clover to form seed 

 and not plow it under too soon. 



The seed of this clover finds 

 a ready sale at a fair price, and 

 it would seem that even the farm- 

 ers who are not bee-keepers 

 might be induced to grow it just 

 for the seed, if nothing more. 

 Bee-keepers might even pay a 

 premium to farmers in their 

 vicinities. I believe I could af- 

 ford to pay 75 cents or SI. 00 for 

 every acre sown within one mile 

 of my apiaries. 

 In consideration of the fact that the majority of bee- 

 keepers are also engaged in farming, some of them quite 

 extensively so, would it not be a wise thing for them to de- 

 vote a portion of their farms to crimson clover ? 



