92 



THE AilERICAX BEE-KEEPER 



March 



that President C. E. Prouty, of Au- 

 burn, suggested that the bees must have 

 worked in districts where soft coal was 

 freely used. At any rate, none of the 

 members could explain the cause of it 

 although some were bee-keepers of 

 nearly fifty years' duration. 



In two cases it was shown that the 

 honey was gathered about the time 

 blackberries were ripe. This thought 

 had many followers, for the honey had 

 every appearance of being "fruit hon- 

 ey." Its taste was not agreeable, for 

 there was some flavor of poor molasses 

 in it. One of the exhibitors who had a 

 large quantity of it refused to eat it 

 himself or allow his family to eat it. 

 Another theory that had many back- 

 ers was that of honey dew from maple 

 and oak trees. 



Both sides acknowledged that the 

 flowers had disappeared, and during 

 the gathering of this black honey the 

 bees were exceptionally busy. 



F. E. Drake, of East Brookfield, 

 showed samples of extracted honey in 

 almost as many colors as those in the 

 rainbow, running from very light gold- 

 en, to almost black, a very curious con- 

 trast. If any readers of the American 

 Bee-Keeper have had a similar experi- 

 ence, we should be pleased to hear from 

 them, direct or through this paper. 



C. R. Russell. 



Worcester, Mass., Feb. 17, 1903. 



Clifton Springs. N. Y.. Feb. 17, 1903. 

 Editor American Bee-Keeper, 



Fort Pierce, Fla. 

 Dear Sir: — 



N. E. France, Platteville. Wis., Gen- 

 eral Manager and Treasurer elect of the 

 National Bee-Keepers' Association, has 

 qualified by furnishing a bond as re- 

 quired by the Constitution of said As- 

 sociation. He is, therefore, duly qali- 

 fied to perform the duties of such of- 

 fice. Very respectfullv. 



W. F. Marks, 

 Chairman Board of Directors. 



IS S\VEFT CLOVER GOOD FOR 

 • PASTURE? 



Some report that ca,ttlc and horses 

 will not touch it, others that they will 

 eat it greedily. Both are no doubt 

 correct; at least those who say ca,ttle 

 will not touch it are so far correct that 

 cattle unacquainted with it must learn 

 to like it. But that argument might 

 apply to corn as a feed for stock, for 



it is said that cattle which grow up 

 without ever having had a taste of In- 

 dian corn must learn to like it. Look 

 at the cultivated taste of a cow for 

 "slops." The family bossy will eat a 

 mixture of dishwater and almost any- 

 thing else, while a cow that has never 

 had anything besides green feed or 

 grain will snifif at it in disdain. 



An editorial in the Bee-Keepers' Re- 

 view has this upon the subject: 



Sweet clover as a pasture has been 

 condemned by some people, but down 

 in Lenawee County, Mich., I -recently 

 saw a striking illustration of the man- 

 ner in which stock will eat it down. 

 Mr. C. A. Huff, of that county, seeded 

 down 12 acres to sweet clover. By the 

 way, he secured an excellent ca,tch by 

 sowing the seed in the spring with 

 oats. One portion of the field was 

 fenced ofif and rented to a neighbor, 

 \vh) put in plent\' of stock, and they 

 kept it chopped down close. Mr. HufI 

 put in only a small amount of stock, 

 nQt enough to keep the clover down, 

 and it grew as high as a man's head 

 nearly all over his part of the field. 



Here comes a note from Dr. Miller 

 bearing in the same direction: 



"At one time one or both of the 

 Dadants said that sweet clover would 

 not- be allowed to grow if cattle were 

 allowed access to i,t when young. I 

 don't know that I ever said so out 

 loud, but I thought that was putting 

 the case a little strong. For the un- 

 kindness of tha,t thought toward such 

 reliable men I have been personally 

 punished. Last year I turned m.y 

 horses into a field which contained a 

 patch of sweet clover some rods in 

 extent. It was luxurious in its second 

 year's growth. I wanted it to re-seed 

 the ground, but those horses kept it 

 eaten down so closely that scarcely a 

 seed was allowed to mature, and what- 

 ever seed may have fallen and started 

 into growth this year, not a thing has 

 been allowed to continue in growth, 

 and the place is now bare of sweet clo- 

 ver. Last year was an exceedingly 

 dry season and the pasture a little 

 short, or the case might not have been 

 so bad. This year has been as wet as 

 last was dry, and the horses have had 

 more pasture than ,they could manage, 

 so another field with a good start of 

 sweet clover has been cropped by the 

 horses in moderation." — American Bee 

 Journal. 



