Dec. 20, 1900. 



AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL 



807 



been said in Europe, conceriiinfj America, and its adulter- 

 ated goods, we are certainly not any worse off, in this 

 respect, than the countries of Europe, with all their laws 

 and strict police. There was no end of complaints about 

 adulterated honey being sold on the markets in competition 

 with the pure article, but wliat seemed most strange to me, 

 was the assertion that in many instances adulterated honey 

 is sold under its true name, and seems to please the con- 

 sumer better than the pure article. 



At one o'clock we sat down to a meal that would bring 

 a smile of content to the face of the most fastidious epicure. 

 Swiss cooks are as good as French cooks, and like them 

 they deserve to be rankt among the masters of the art. Not 

 only was the palate pleased, the eye was feasted also by the 

 sight of an enormous pike, roasted whole, a profusion of 

 flowers, a boquet in front of each plate, and in the center of 

 the table an almond cake in the shape of a movable-frame 

 hive. In addition to this specimen of our pursuit, the honey 

 crop was represented by fine samples brought from Bul- 

 garia, two days before, by one of Mr. Bertrand's pupils, 

 Mr. Pantcheft". These samples, both comb and extracted 

 honey, were probably gathered from alfalfa or esparcet. 



But all good things come to an end, and after many a 

 toast, our bee-friends left us one after another, and wisht 

 us a safe and pleasant journey in our long return voyage 

 toward the setting sun. Hearty invitations were extended 

 to us to visit them, by several of the guests, in case we 

 came again at a later day. I hope I may have occasion to 

 accept. 



The following afternoon we, in our turn, took leave of 

 our host and boarded the thru train for Paris. Thus ended 

 one of the pleasantest visits of our voyage. 



On this train, we had another illustration of the polite- 

 ness and attention of Swiss railroad men. Our Swiss rail- 

 road passes which were about to expire, took us as far as 

 the frontier, and from there we expected to take a ticket for 

 Paris. When the conductor came to us, I enquired about 

 this matter, at the same time handing our passes to him. 

 " Oh," said he " this coach goes on to Paris, and when we 

 get to Vallorbe, I will get your tickets for you, so you will 

 not need to get down." And so he did ; but we did have to 

 get down, just the same, a little farther, because of our 

 trunk, which iiad to be examined at the custom house, in 

 passing the frontier. Whatever may be said in favor of 

 tariffs, custom houses are a curse to the traveler, and just 

 as much so in our own land as between the countries of 

 Europe. 



Growing Alsike Clover— First Prize Article. 



BY WJLI,IAM ROBINSON. 



I HAVE been familiar with this plant several years, and 

 will give you my experience with it, both as a farmer 

 and a bee-keeper. It is the hardiest of all the clovers, 

 thrives on almost any soil, but gives better results in soils 

 containing some clay than in sandy soil. It makes a luxu- 

 riant growth in land too wet to grow red clover at all. The 

 roots do not heave out of the ground in spring, as other 

 clovers often do ; therefore it has never been known to 

 winter-kill in our locality, while last year fully 90 percent 

 of the red clover here was killed. Some fields near me were 

 sown two years ago with red and alsike mixt, half of each; but 

 now very few plants of the red clover are to be found in 

 those fields, while the alsike still flourishes as tho it were a 

 native of the soil. 



For sowing with timothy it can not be equaled by any 

 other variety. This combination makes as heavy a hay 

 crop as any, but the advantage of the alsike is, it is as 

 easily cured as the timothy, and retains its beautiful bright 

 green color in the hay, which is sometimes difficult to get in 

 the red varieties. It remains green and succulent a long 

 time after seed has fully matured, so it does not require har- 

 vesting "just at the right time," as is the case with other 

 varieties. 



As to its feeding value, I think it superior to any other 

 kind, and my neighbors all agree with me on this point. 

 The stalks, not being coarse and woody, are eaten abso- 

 lutely clean by all kinds of stock — no waste. 



Some farmers claim it does not make as good an after- 

 growth as the red during dry seasons ; but I can see no great 

 difference in this respect. The dairy farmers in some parts of 

 this State prefer to mix the seed in equal portions, claiming 

 the best results in this way. 



The seed may be sown on spring grain. This gives 

 best results in our part of the state with all varieties of 

 clover. Good_ catches are also usually had by sowing on 



Alsike Clover. 



winter rye or wheat in early 

 spring before the frost is all 

 out. We also sometimes sow 

 on old timothy meadows with 

 ^;ood results in early spring. 



Mi,\t with timothy, four 

 pounds per acre of the alsike 

 is sufiicient ; alsike alone, 6 to 

 8 pounds per acre, or about 

 half the amount usually sown 

 of other kinds. I have four 

 acres, sown two years ago, 6 

 pounds to the acre, and the 

 clover now stands a little 

 thicker on the ground than I 

 like it. 



Tho.se who will sow red 

 clover should always mix some 

 alsike with it. The alsike, be- 

 ing more hardy, occupies the 

 spaces where the red fails to 

 grow. When we sow with tim- 

 othy we sow 2 quarts of alsike 

 and 6 quarts of timothy per 

 acre. 



This season, up to June 27, 

 we had the worst drouth ever 

 known in this part of the 

 State. Under these unfavor- 

 able conditions the alsike made the best and largest hay 

 crop of all our grains. This, it seems to me, would indicate 

 that it would do well in warmer climates than ours. 



Alsike clover is the best honey-plant we have in North- 

 ern Wisconsin. I have never known it to fail to yield nec- 

 tar abundantly since it was first grown here, about ten 

 years ago. During our severe drouth here last June, it was 

 the only plant our bees workt on, white clover being an en- 

 tire failure with us. My 42 colonies stored 30 pounds each 

 from the first crop. Since July 1, we have had abundant 

 rains and warm weather, and the bees have been working 

 on the after crop the past ten days, and are still storing 

 honey from the alsike. My plan has been to encourage my 

 neighbors to sow alsike by making a present to each mem- 

 ber of the family a nice section of alsike honey, telling 

 them that it was a small portion of the honey my bees gath- 

 ered from their clover. All bee-keepers should so encour- 

 age their neighbors by giving them a taste of honey or by 

 donating at least seed to give it a trial. — Gleanings in Bee- 

 Culture. Barron Co., Wis. 



Wintering Bees Where Snow Drifts Deep, Etc. 



BY G. M. DOOLITTLE. 



QUESTION.— We have 25 colonies of bees in chaff hives 

 which stand where the snow drifts deep. Would it do 

 to put them in a room during winter, or could we fix a 

 shelter over them where they are, moving them together 

 under this shelter, or could we set up a shelter in front of 

 each hive and let the snow drift over hive, shelter and all ? 



AxswEK. — If the room spoken of in the first question is 

 an underground room or cellar, then I should say move the 

 bees into this cellar at the beginning of winter, providing a 

 temperature of from 41 to 48 degrees can be maintained ; 

 for I have the best of success in wintering bees in my bee- 

 cellar, and in this the temperature stands at from 43 to 46 

 degrees. A part of my bees are in chaff hives and a part in 

 single-walled hives, and I find that the bees in the chaff 

 hives winter fully as well in the cellar as do the others. 

 The only disadvantage chaff hives have for cellar-wintering 

 lies in their extra weight and the room they take up in the 

 cellar (according to my opinion), but these disadvantages 

 are more than overcome by the advantage they possess dur- 

 ing cool and cold weather coming in the fall before they are 

 put into the cellar, and in the spring after they are put on 

 their stands. 



A spring wheelbarrow overcomes the difficulty of car- 

 rying chaff hives, while the packing of one hive on top of 

 the other to the ceiling of the cellar overcomes the lack of 

 room, in a measure. If the room spoken of is to be a room 

 above ground, with no special provision made for control- 

 ling the temperature, then I should say, try almost any 

 other way of wintering them, than in a room with an un- 

 governable temperature ; for where the temperature in any 

 room goes below the freezing-point, and remains thus for 

 days or weeks, and during a warm spell rises to SO degrees 



