76 



AMERICAN BEE JOURNAJL. 



CONDUCTED BY 



Greenville. Texas 



Bees and Red Clover. 



On page 789 (Dec. 15, 1892) is a 

 short item with the above title. The 

 writer seems to convey the idea that 

 bees never get honey of any consequence 

 from red clover. My experience is quite 

 different. 



About the year 1875, I lived at the 

 head farm of Hickory Valley, White 

 county, Tenn. This valley was then 

 noted by its extensive red clover fields. 

 One day I noticed that the bees began to 

 store hftney very fast, and on going out 

 to look I found they were working 

 wholly on red clover. Any kind of bees, 

 blacks, hybrids, Italians and bumble 

 bees were all working just as though it 

 was a life-and-death case, and it was not 

 the dwarfed or imperfect blossoms that 

 they were working on, either, but it was 

 the vast clover fields "mumming" all 

 over with bees. The bees worked on it 

 for weeks, and filled their hives, and 

 some of the strongest colonies filled two 

 supers each. 



I do not claim that bees get honey 

 from red clover every year, and under 

 all circumstances, but I do know that 

 they get honey from red clover, and lots 

 of it, too. Nor do I believe that bees 

 visit flowers just because they see them. 

 My experience is that when you see bees 

 working on flowers of any kind, you may 

 know they are getting a little taste of 

 honey at the least. Even any flower 

 that bees get pollen from furnishes more 

 or less honey, as the pollen is a little 

 sweet. 



I think you might waste your life in 

 making cast-iron flowers, and placing 

 them in the field, without the satisfac- 

 tion of seeing a single bee alight on 

 one of them, unless you put some honey 

 on them. Bees are attracted to flowers 

 by scent — it is the sweet fragrance or 

 the smell of honey in the blossoms that 



stops the bee as she passes by. This 

 sweet substance is placed in the flower 

 by nature on purpose to attract the 

 bees, and the bees are made to seek, 

 work upon, and fertilize the blossoms. 

 So you see it would seem like a blank 

 in nature for bees to visit cast-iron 

 flowers. 



Bees go by scent, as you can easily 

 determine by watching them ; for in- 

 stance, notice a colony of bees that has 

 lost its queen ; they will hover around 

 the spot where the queen has been, just 

 as if she were there, and you know they 

 do not see her. 



Bees, no doubt, see the blossoms, and 

 bound from one to another by sight, but 

 it is my candid opinion that they are 

 first attracted by the sweet perfume. I 

 am aware that neither red nor white 

 clover, or in fact none of our best honey- 

 plants furnish honey right along, year 

 after year, that amounts to much ; but 

 my experience is that bees do get some 

 honey when they work on flowers. What 

 do you all think about it? And who 

 will set me right if I am wrong? 

 Friends, let's here from you on this 

 question. J. A. 



Qiueens Mating in the Air. 



There has been a great deal said on 

 the subject of queens mating in the air. 

 Some writers have gone so far as to 

 deny statements made by some who have 

 claimed to have witnessed the mating of 

 a queen, and it is likely this letter will 

 meet with the same fate. However, I 

 can produce conclusive evidence that the 

 following is the true way the mating 

 takes place. 



As to the act of copulation taking 

 place in the air, it is all true enough as 

 far as it goes. I will state, without the 

 least fear of contradiction, that the act 

 begins in the air, and ends on the 

 ground, or some obstacle, where the 

 queen releases herself from the drone 

 by means of her teeth instead of tearing 

 loose, as some say or have imagined. I 

 have not only witnessed a case of this 

 kind, but a negro in this neighborhood 

 who is reliable, claims to have witnessed 

 a similar case. 



It has never seemed to me that the 

 the queen could tear the gexual organ 

 frem the drone as claimed by some 

 writers. Therefore, I have watched with 

 patience to ascertain the true way this 

 little freak of nature was performed, 

 and my experience has been as stated 

 above. Any extensive queen-breeder 



