American Bee Journal. 



EDITED AND PUBLISHED BY SAMUEL WAGNER, WASHINGTON, D. C. 



Vol. III. 



MAY, ISGS. 



No. 11. 



[Translated from the Bieuenzeltung.] 



Practical Bee-culture. 



I propose submittiug some remarks ou prac- 

 tical bcL'-culture ; though what I have to say 

 (nay uot be new to all, I think it will be service- 

 ftble to some and interesting to many. 



1. Can Melilotus alba, or melilot clover, be 

 recommended as a good honey-plant ? The 

 cultivation of this plant as a forage crop for cat- 

 tle, and for bee pasturage, has been frequently 

 suggested. Attempts have been repeatedly 

 made to introduce it in various sections of the 

 country, and it has thus been tested in diflferent 

 Kinds of soil and diversities of exposure and cli- 

 cnate. Some writers have been lavish in its 

 praise, and others have unspairingly condemn- 

 ed it. I tried it myself about twenty -two years 

 ago, and spoke of it as follows, in the Bicnenzeit- 

 iing for 1845: — "Attracted by the favorable 

 notices I had seen of this plant or melilot clover, 

 I purchased a small quantity of seed, that I 

 might test the alleged good qualities of this 

 wonderful plant. The stalks produced grew to 

 an extraordinary height, and yielded seed so 

 profusely that could I have sold it at the price I 

 paid, I should speedily have become rich indeed. 

 The little white blossoms were continually cov- 

 ered with bees, and night alone compelled them 

 to withdraw. But as for fodder, whether in a 

 green state or drj', the plant was entirely 

 worthless ; and I have since been endeavoring 

 to extirpate it again, though thus far with only 

 partial success, because of its deeply penetrating 

 roots," 



I remain of the same opinion still, namely: — 

 that this species of clover cannot be recommen- 

 ded as a forage plant. If grown for soiling, it 

 must be mown long before it comes into blos- 

 som, and even then nine cows out of ten will 

 reject it, because of its disagreeable odor. If 

 permitted to bloom, the bees will for some time 

 have an ample supply of pasturage, but cattle 

 will afterwards refuse to eat the hard and lig- 

 neous stems. There will be plenty of seed, in- 

 deed, and could it be sold at one dollar per 

 pound, as the seedsmen charge for it, it would 

 be a most profitable crop. But, alas, the de- 

 mand for it is small, and must so continue, un- 1 



less some one is fortunate enough to discover 

 that it possesses some yet unknown value for 

 economic uses. Moreover this plant soon be- 

 comes a perfect pest on a farm, as a weed in 

 the soil which can hardly ever be extirpated. 

 I sowed the seed of it in 1845, in my garden, 

 and though I have been rooting out the stalks 

 ever since, whenever and wherever they make 

 their appearance, and never permit any to ripen 

 its seeds, it is still annually coming up. On 

 road sides, on stony spots, or on poor sandy 

 tracts not fit for tillage, this clover might an- 

 swer, as it might there be allowed to bloom for 

 the benefit of the bees. It will however not 

 grow so tall, nor blossom so profusely there, as 

 on richer land. 



2. A much more valuable bee-plant than this, 

 is the TrifoUum incarnatum, or Incaruat clo- 

 ver, mentioned by me on a former occasion. 

 As tliere stated, I had sown some seed of it on 

 one of my poorest uumanured fields, the soil of 

 which was highly charged with the oxide of 

 iron. It stood the winter well, and grew splen- 

 didly in the spring. The stalks, when in full 

 bloom attained a height of four feet, and pre- 

 sented a perfect sea of blossoms, on which the 

 bees revelled in great glee. Unfortunately I 

 was constrained to remove a large portion 

 of it for soiling my cattle. The earliest mown, 

 however, soon produced a second crop of blos- 

 soms and a considerable amount of aftermath. 



As forage for cattle, I value this species of 

 clover highly. The hay is greedily eaten by 

 cows, hogs, and sheep. . In northern climates 

 the plant is an annual ; but, in southern, it may 

 be regarded and treated as a biennial. 



3. QueenJess Swarms. — It has probably occur- 

 red in the experience of most bee-keepers, when 

 bees have swarmed, that the cpieen was not 

 among them. She eitlier did not accompany 

 them when they issued, or was lost in some 

 way during the act of swarming. It happened 

 last spring that tlie queen of one of my swarms 

 was stung as she came forth — whether by one 

 of her own bees, or by a stranger, I know 

 not. I took the dying queen from the alighting 

 board, inclosed her in a queen cage, fastened 

 that in a hive which I held up among the 

 swarming bees. They promptly entered and 



