TH® mm^uMiQmn mmm journsiu. 



435 



produce honey to the time of the 

 clover bloom. From the middle of 

 March to the first of June there is at 

 least one mouth during which bees 

 have little or no forage, and much of 

 the time wheu forage is abumlaut, 

 from the middle of Marcli to the Brst 

 of Juue, the weather is so unfavorable 

 that liecs can do but little. 



I think that under favorable condi- 

 tions, apple-blossoms yield more honey 

 than the blossoms of any other plant ; 

 but those conditions seldom occur — 

 only once during the last 15 years 

 have we been favored in Huron county 

 with weather during the time apple- 

 trees were in bloom, that seemed to 

 be the best possible for the secreting 

 and gathering of hone}-. That year 

 my strong colonies gained not less 

 than 25 pounds each in six da3-s, and 

 one gained 10 pounds in one day, and 

 40 pounds in six days. 



About ten j-ears ago. after I had 

 taken oft" my surplus hone)-, about the 

 middle of July, and arranged the hives 

 to secure what little honey might be 

 gathered after that time, I gave no 

 attention to my bees for about two 

 weeks, but on examining a few hives 

 at that time, I was very much surprised 

 to find them completely filled, as 1 

 knew of no source from which much 

 honey could be gathered at that sea- 

 son of the year, and I extracted nearly 

 a thousand pounds of honey of the 

 very best quality. There has never 

 been a repetition of such work at that 

 time of the year, at my home apiary. 



The next year I moved some 40 colo- 

 nies four miles south of my home 

 apiary, and every year since that time 

 the colonies I moved have done much 

 better than those at home, during the 

 latter p.ai't of July and the month of 

 August. The)' always come in well on 

 the -'home stretch." 



On examining the pasture around 

 that -apiary, I found that the honey 

 gathered during the latter part of July 

 and the mouth of August, was secreted 

 by the mammoth or pea-vine clover, of 

 which there was a great abundance in 

 that vicinity. That clover always 

 yields honey — it never fails. During 

 the months of July and August of the 

 year 1888, I had several colonies that 

 gathered from 140 to 150 pounds each, 

 of honey of the very finest quality 

 from that source. Mr. Ernest Root 

 and Mr. Boardman saw some of the 

 hone)', and will confirm what I have 

 said as to its quality. 



rEA-\1NE CLOVER AS A HON'El'-PLANT. 



I have more confidence in mammoth 

 clover than any other plant that grows, 

 and I believe that it is going to prove 

 itself a very important factor in solv- 

 ing this problem of bee-forage. It 

 hlooms at the time of the year which 

 is most favorable in every i-espect. 



The weather is generally line, th(^ bees 

 have finished swarming, the old colo- 

 nies have their new queens, and are 

 well stocked with bees, and they all 

 get right down to hard work, and 

 seem to think of nothing except to 

 store ,as much honey as possible. 



This clover is planted with us as a 

 fertilizer, anil for the production of 

 seed. The stalk is very long and 

 coarse, and is not much used for hay. 

 When a crop of seed is be obtained 

 from it, it is gener.ally pastured until 

 about June 20, and then left to grow 

 up and go to seed ; so you see that it 

 is ready for the bees about the time 

 basswood ceases to yield. Localities 

 that ai'e favored with this and the 

 other clovers and basswood, will have 

 a continuous bloom of honey-producing 

 plants from the first of June to nearly 

 the last of August. 



Our surplus crop of honey in Huron 

 county is usually obtained from fruit- 

 blossorns, such clovers as are raised 

 by farmers generally, basswood and 

 buckwheat. The other plants men- 

 tioned, and golden-rod, while they 

 give us no surplus honey, help to keep 

 up brood-rearing, and to keep our bees 

 out of mischief. 



In conclusion, I would advise that, 

 for every basswood or whitewood tree 

 cut in your vicinity, be sure that 

 another is planted by the roadside or 

 in some other place convenient to 

 your apiary, to take the place of the 

 one removed. Induce farmers, as far 

 as possible, to raise the mammoth 

 clover, and to pasture it until June 20. 

 Give the farmers all the buckwheat 

 they will sow, on condition that they 

 return you the seed given them ; or, 

 which is better, if possible, move your 

 bees as soon as the clover ceases to 

 yield honey, where the)' will have ac- 

 cess to one or two hundred acres of 

 buckwheat. Teach your bees, when 

 they are gathering honey from sweet 

 clover, to carry a few seeds with them 

 on their return home, and drop them 

 by the roadside or along the banks of 

 some river or creek, or in some other 

 convenient place. Sweet clover is a 

 nice, clean, sweet plant, does not give 

 any one the hay-fever, as the rag-weed 

 does, and is much more ornamental, 

 and ought in some way to be made to 

 take the place of all the rag-weed in 

 the country. If you cannot teach your 

 bees to scatter the seed, get it done in 

 some other way. 



I learned, a few years ago, that there 

 was considerable sweet clover by the 

 roadside about two miles from my 

 place (Norwalk), and that gradually, 

 but very slowly, it was coming nearer. 

 All at once it took a sudden start, and 

 in one year it covei'ed the intervening 

 space, and even went beyond where 

 my apiary was located. 



Give alfalfa a thorough trial. If it 

 will grow in Wiscon.sin, it will gi'ow in 

 Ohio. Do not get discouraged ; if you 

 fail this year, let it be no fault of yours, 

 and hope for better results next year. 

 "Hope on, hope ever." We will cer- 

 tainly " get tliere " in some way. 



If you failed last year, and the year 

 before, hope that you will not fail this 

 year, and if you do, keep on hoping, 

 remembering that our business is en- 

 nobling and elevating — it makes us 

 better men and better women — it leads 

 our thoughts "from nature up to 

 nature's God ;" that we get much en- 

 joyment in the study and pursuit of it. 

 and that we were placed in this world, 

 not for the purpose of making money 

 only, but to enjoy ourselves, and in 

 every way possible to help others to 

 enjoy themselves, and to make the 

 world better for our having lived in it. 



My father was a great lover of bees. 

 I love to work with bees, and expect 

 to do so as long as I live, whether I 

 make money by it or not. 



Norwalk, Ohio. 



CONVENTION DIRECTORY. 



1 890. Tlvic and place of meeting. 



July 17.— Carolina, at Charlotte, N. C. 



N. P. Lyles, Sec, Derita X. C. 



Sept. 10.— Ionia County, at Ionia, Micli. 



H. Smith, Sec, Ionia, Mieb. 



Oct. 29-31.— International American, at Keokuk, la. 

 C. P. Dadant, Sec, Hamilton, Ills. 



Oct.— Missouri Stale, at Mexico, Mo. 



J. W. Rouse, Sec, Santa Fe, Mo. 



f^° In order to have this table complete. 

 Secretaries are requested to forward full 

 particulars of the time and the jjlace of 

 each future meeting. — The Editor. 



International Bee-Association. 



President— Hon. R. L. Taylor.. Lapeer, Mich. 

 SECRET.iRV— C. P. Dadant Hamilton, Ills. 



National Bee-Keepers' TTnion, 



President— James Heddon ..Dowagiac, Mich. 

 Sec'y. and JI anager— T. G. Newman, Chicago. 



s£kSS!^ 



Untarorable Season for Bees. 



The season so far has been very unfavor- 

 able for the bees ; they did not gather any 

 honey from the fruit-blossoms, owing to 

 the cold weather, but from the maple and 

 box-elder they did well for a few days. 

 ,Some of the strongest colonies built new 

 comb and stored some honey, but for the 

 last month it has been a hard time for 

 those that had but little old honey in the 

 hive ; many of them had to be fed, and 

 those bee-keepers that have not watched 

 the bees closely, have lost many colonies. 

 There have been a few swarms, but they 

 were those that when set out had a small 

 lot of bees and a hive full of honey. For 

 the last few days many of the colonies 

 have been killing off the drones, but the 



