1897. 



THE AMERICAN BEE KEEPER. 



43 



considered a good average crop per 

 acre ? 



3. How much honey per colony per 

 day would be expected in an apiary of 

 97 good and strong colonies, when one- 

 half of the colonies are located in a 

 field of 4 acres of sweet clover in full 

 bloom, from July 20 to Sept. 20, and 

 the other half of the apiary 2\ miles 

 from sweet clover in great abundance 

 for the bees ? 



Delaware Co., Ohio. 



[The foregoing questions were sub- 

 mitted to two sweet clover specialists 

 — Mr. Mc Arthur, of Canada, and Mr. 

 Stolley, of Nebraska — who reply as 

 follows :] 



MR. m'aRTHUR's answer. 



1. Bees will work profitably on sweet 

 clover, or any honey producing plants, 

 if existing conditions are present for 

 the secretion of nectar, at 2\ miles. 

 They will gather more in proportion 

 if only one mile or less distant. 



2. That depends on how it is grown, 

 whether for hay first and seed after- 

 ward. Sweet clover hay is valuable 

 as winter food for stock — the same 

 value as other clover hay, allowibg 

 the second crop to mature seed, aver- 

 aging from 5 to 7 bushels per acre, of 

 clean, hulled seed, if properly handled. 



3. If a good season for the secretion 

 of nectar, and an abundance of sweet 

 clover within a radius of 1^ miles, 

 with strong colonies and plenty of sur^ 

 plus combs for extracting, one pound 

 per day, or about 100 pounds per col- 

 ony has been secured from that source 

 in this vicinity. Taking an average 

 of years, 60 pounds per colony would 

 be a good average from sweet clover, 



John Mc Arthur. 



MR. STOLLEy's answer. 



1. I think several miles ; but it 



should be within, or about, one mile. 



2. We have never harvested seed 

 on a large scale. The yield is heavy, 

 if you can manage to get the seed. 



3. About 50 colonies of bees on 4 

 acres of sweet clover is more than 

 should be allowed, to get the largest 

 yield, since they need about 100 lbs. 

 of honey a day to live on during the 

 working season. In my judgment 20 

 colonies would carry more surplus 

 honey from 4 acres than would 50 col- 

 onies . This has been the case in our 

 apiary. At the time when 60 to 70 

 colonies were kept we had to feed in 

 the fall for winter stores, and hardly 

 any surplus ; but since the number of 

 colonies is in proportion to the melilot 

 bloom, the surplus has been year after 

 year from 400 to 500 pounds to the 

 acre, through the season. 



Richard Stolley. 



HUNTING WILD HONEY. 



In the wilds of Taylor county, Wis- 

 consin, Billy Horton owns a home- 

 stead and George Beebe is his partner 

 and companion in hunting and trap- 

 ping. Recently a Chicago Record 

 correspondent joined them in a bee 

 hunt, and thus tells of his experience. 



The "outfit" consisted of a stand 

 upon which the honey and scent were 

 placed. This stand was a stick or 

 pole four or five feet in height, sharp, 

 ened at the lower end to stick in the 

 ground, and with a square board of 

 four inches nailed at the top. This 

 stand was first placed in the center of 

 the garden. A bee soon hovered 

 about, lit on the honey, filled his can- 

 teen and, circling upward above the 

 encircling trees, darted off straight to 

 his home. Practice has made Billy's 

 eye keen, alert and accurate, and he 



