634 



July 26, 1906 



American Itee Journal 



Catnip has an advantage over sweet clover — it blooms every sea- 

 son, and does not die and have to come again from seed as the clover 

 does. The clover must make one season's growth, and then it will 

 bloom the next; in other words, it is biennial, and you only get a 

 bloom every second year. 



I think the very best way to get a good stand of sweet clover is to 

 scrape the seed together wi th about half an inch of the surface soil from 

 an old field of sweet clover, and scatter it all together in that way. 

 The new seeded plot gets the bacteria into the soil at the same time it 

 gets the seed. 



It is my aim to get in a few more acres of the sweet clover each 

 year until I have in 100 acres, and it will be solely for the honey. But 

 it is also of great benefit to the soil, and not the least trouble to get 

 rid of when you want to use the land for something else. If the peo- 

 ple down in Dixie, when they turn out an old worn-out field to rest 

 and recuperate, would seed it with sweet clover, it would be fertile 

 again very much sooner then to let it grow weeds and brush. 



There are no signs of foul brood as yet, and I verily believe that it 

 was caused wholly by the salt and sulphur. I know it is hard for a 

 •doctor to believe that disease can be cured without a doctor's medi- 

 cine, but I think it has been done, and I think it will keep all colonies 

 clean and healthy, to keep the bottom-boards covered with salt and 

 sulphur. W. H. Mills. 



A course of sulphur and salt can do no harm ; but if 

 readers of this Journal find foul brood appearing in their 

 apiaries for the first time, they are not strongly advised to 

 place entire dependence upon sulphur and salt. 



fe^ltt iscellaneou s 

 .flows - Items 



Louis H. Scholl — in charge of the " Southern Beedom" 

 •department of the American Bee Journal — was married 

 June 21, according to the following paragraph : 



At the home of the bride's parents, Mr. and Mrs. William Froe- 

 Qieh, last night at S :30 o'clock, Rev. G. Morhinweg performed the 

 ceremony uniting in marriage Miss Emmy Froelich and Louis H. 

 Scholl. The wedding was a pretty little home affair and was witnessed 

 only by relatives of the contracting parties. The bride is one of New 

 Braunfels' most popular young ladies, while the groom is one of the 

 best known young business men in this sectien. 



Heartiest congratulations to Mr. and Mrs. Scholl. May 

 their years of wedded bliss be many, and their happiness 

 increase as time goes on. 



A Visit to Dr. Miller's, at Marengo, 111., was again 

 tnade this year on July 4th by " Ye Editor " and wife. It 

 was a most beautiful day, which gave better opportunity 

 than last year for taking pictures. On the first page we 

 present 4 of them. 



Dr. Miller is now running two apiaries, one at home 

 and the other an out-apiary 3 miles away. There are 160 

 -colonies in the two yards. Although there was an abun- 

 dance of white clover in bloom, the bees had gathered noth- 

 ing more than a mere living for themselves. The basswood 

 trees were just coming into full bloom when we were there, 

 and the bees were humming on the blossoms, which made 

 each tree sound like swarming-time. The Doctor said that 

 the basswood bloom this year was the fullest he had ever 

 known. The row of trees numbering about a dozen, shown 

 in the picture on the first page, is along the north side of 

 the driveway (leading from the main road to the house in 

 which the Doctor and his family live), being about 20 rods in 

 length. The basswood trees were something like 30 years 

 •old, and the largest about IS inches in diameter a foot or 

 two from the ground. The basswood is not a rapid grower, 

 but it is a very fine tree for beauty, for shade, and often for 

 .honey. 



The milkweed was also in full bloom when we were 

 there, and the bees were working quite thickly on it. There 

 is a peculiarity about the pollen of the milkweed that is 

 very disastrous in its effect on the bees. It seems to be so 

 sticky that when the bees touch it with their feet it holds 

 them, or, in case they are able to pull away, a little of the 

 forown pollen sticks to their feet. We found many blossoms 

 where the bees were unable to get away, and had died there. 

 In fact, one or two of the blossoms shown in the picture 

 had several dead bees attached to them. Of course, they 



were too small to appear in the engraving. Almost every 

 summer, about this time, some bee-keeper sends us a sample 

 of bees with the small pollen-masses of the milkweed at- 

 tached to their feet, and desires to know what it is. We re- 

 ceived such a sample a day or two after returning from 

 visiting Dr. Miller. We do not recall now just where it came 

 from, but it was the real thing, as we have mentioned. In 

 a locality where there is much milkweed bloom undoubtedly 

 many bees are lost during its blossoming period. 



The sweet clover was in the height of its blooming on 

 July 4th, as is plainly shown by the pictures. There is quite 

 a lot of it growing along the roadsides in Marengo. The 

 sweet clover with Dr. Miller standing in it was only 3 or 4 

 rods from his house, and some of it wis 7 feet tall. 



Dr. Miller still continues to be the leading writer on 

 bees and bee-keeping, although in his 76th year. His health 

 is better now than it has been for several years. Miss 

 Emma Wilson is still his assistant in the apiary, although 

 during this poor season there hasn't been so very much to 

 do either for the chief or his assistant, unfortunately. 



We arrived in Marengo on the evening of July 3d, and 

 returned to Chicago the next evening. A day with Dr. 

 Miller and family is surely a treat. At least two Chicago 

 people appreciate the privilege of spending such a day. 



Mr. Orel L. Hershiser's Little Boy, 1 year and 10 

 months old, set his clothes on fire in exactly the same man- 

 ner as did his little sister last winter. That is, he struck a 

 match which he got from what was supposed to be a place 

 out of his reach. After the accident of the little girl his 

 parents dispensed with ordinary matches and adopted the 

 safety ones which require the box to strike them on. Every 

 precaution was even then taken to keep them out of the 

 reach of the children, but the little boy pulled them off a 

 high stand which had a pin-cushion with a fringe hanging 

 therefrom that he could reach. He had seen his elders 

 light matches on the box, and so of course he wanted to 

 imitate them. Fortunately his papa was in the next room, 

 and, on hearing the little fellow crying, ran to him and soon 

 extinguished the flames, but not in time to prevent a bad 

 burning of the hands, neck, ears and face. Fortunately, 

 however, there will be no scars, as the burns were not very 

 deep. 



It is strange that both of Mr. Hershiser's children 

 should suffer from a similar accident. But all will rejoice 

 with their parents that the little ones were not lost through 

 the burning. 



Hon. Eugene Seeor, of Forest City, Iowa, has kindly 

 sent us a souvenir postal card, reproduced herewith, which 



was sent to him by Frank Benton, from Baluchistan. 



When sending the card, July 9, Mr. Secor wrote as fol- 

 lows concerning the prospects for honey in his locality : 



Bees have not been doing very well here this year up to the pres- 

 ent time. White clover seems plentiful, and basswood is just open- 

 ing. The bees were mostly in a starving condition at the beginning of 

 white clover bloom, and unless they were fed up they were not in the 

 proper condition to take advantage of it. 



See Langstroth Book Offer on another page of this 

 copy of the American Bee Journal. 



