AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



753 



while the swarm is issuing, being afraid 

 to come out when there are queens al- 

 ready hatched. I think if a colony 

 should swarm as above, all queens would 

 go, leaving the old hive queenless. — 

 Mrs. Jennie Atchley. 



Not generally, if no queen-cells are 

 overlooked. One queen will usually be 

 killed, but still they may swarm again 

 should the bees retain both queens. — C. 



H. DiBBERN. 



1 and 2. I do not know. I never spend 

 any time cutting out queen-cells, but 

 hive all swarms on the old stand, and 

 never have any second swarms. — Emer- 

 son T. Abbott. 



1. There would be no certainty of 

 their swarming after the cells were re- 

 moved. 2. If they swarmed at all they 

 would likely do so within a day or two. 

 — S. I. Freeborn. 



1. They will not swarm unless they 

 do so the same day cells are cut out. If 

 they delay until the next day, they gen- 

 erally learn the condition of affairs, and 

 stay at home. — J. H. Larrabee. 



As a rule, no further swarms will is- 

 sue. I would keep an eye upon such a 

 colony, however ; there may be no queen 

 at all. In such event, permit them to 

 rear one queen-cell, or introduce a *' bet- 

 ter " queen. — W. M. Barnum. 



1. Cutting out the cells will not pre- 

 vent the issuing of a swarm if two or 

 more queens have hatched ; but the fact 

 that two or more have hatched is not a 

 certain indication that another swarm 

 will issue. 2. In one or two days, if at 

 all. — M. Mahin. 



1. If there are more queens than one 

 remaining, the probabilities are they 

 will cast another swarm. It depends 

 upon the honey-flow, whether or not 

 they swarm later in the season. 2. I 

 would expect them any day, though I 

 have not made such a trial. — Jas. A. 

 Stone. 



1 and 2. Yes, when the swarming 

 fever is on, there is likely to be a swarm 

 if more than one young queen is present 

 in the hive. The young queen generally 

 goes out on the second day after she is 

 hatched from the cell, if the weather 

 does not prevent or delay the swarm. — 

 G. W. Demaree. 



No ; I have often cut out cells in just 

 this state of things, and no swarm ever 

 issued after all the unhatched queen- 

 cells were removed. The queens some- 

 times fight it out, but most frequently 

 the bees select the queen they want, and 

 begin to abuse the others by biting and 

 pulling at them until they are run out of 

 the hive. — G. L. Tinker. 



Sweet Clover as Bee-Pastiirap. 



Written Jor the American Bee Journal 



BY JOHN M' ARTHUR. 



In perusing the columns of the Amer- 

 ican Bee Journal, my attention has 

 been drawn to several articles on sweet 

 clover as a honey-bearing plant — some 

 denouncing it as being no good, others 

 declaring the honey produced from that 

 source as being dark, etc., while one or 

 two have spoken in its favor. The 

 writer now craves the liberty of saying 

 a few words about his experience and 

 observation on this wonderful honey- 

 bearing plant. 



It is just 13 years this spring that I 

 purchased one peck of the seed of white 

 Bokhara, or sweet clover, and seeded 

 down three acres for bee-pasturage. 

 Being a biennial, it was the second sea- 

 son before I saw the bees work upon it. 

 To see the way the bees swarmed upon 

 it was convincing proof that it was a 

 honey-plant of no mean order. There 

 were 200 colonies within a few rods of 

 it. I cannot say there was any increase 

 observable from it, however it was cut, 

 and threshed by the flail, hulled by the 

 clover machine, and produced 20 bush- 

 els of fine seed. Reserving a few 

 bushels, the balance was sold and went 

 to Germany, there being no demand at 

 that time for it in the home market. 



I have kept on sowing it every season 

 along with other plants, such as fuller's 

 teasel, motherwort, catnip, hoarhound, 

 and yellow sweet clover. This variety 

 is less obnoxious than the white — it is 

 more dwarf in growth, and blossoms 

 earlier, coming in bloom at the same 

 time as our common white clover, while 

 the white variety blooms after our com- 

 mon clover, and just fills the tanks with 

 hoiiey when basswood is a failure, and 

 yields abundantly every year ; the rea- 

 son for that being the excessive tap- 

 roots that penetrate the subsoils, and 

 thereby obtain moisture. I believe it to 



