1921 



AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL 



143 



yields varying from S to 14 bushels 

 per acre. The early ripening habit of 

 this crop makes possible the sc d har- 

 vest before weed seeds and other 

 seeds are mature. 



There are several botanical differ- 

 ences between this and the con.mon 

 sweet clover in the color of leaf, shape 

 of leaf, size of plant and size of seed. 

 These were very noticeable when 

 comparisons were made this year of 

 the two clovers on the same farm, 

 and same type of soil in different in- 

 stances, and when the two clovers 

 were on adjoining plots in one field. 



The smaller size of the Grundy 

 County sweet clover seed makes it 

 practicable to sow less seed per acre. 

 Tests made in the county this year in- 

 dicate that 8 pounds of seed is suffi- 

 cient. 



The heavy residue in the form of 

 12 to IS-inch stubble, in addition to a 

 large fleshy root, makes the crop 

 valuable in its humus and nitrogen 

 reinforcements of the soil. 



The characteristics of Grundy 

 County sweet clover make it adapt- 

 able to a wide usage and a crop that 

 is practicable to grow for cash and 

 soil building." 



WAX PRODUCT 



By Harry Lathrop 



I believe Dadants once published 

 the statement that the wa.x produced 

 in their various apiaries in a certain 

 season was sufficient to pay for the 

 labor of extracting the honey. This 

 will serve to call attention to the im- 

 portance of wax as constituting a 

 part of the profits of beekeeping. 



The writer has prepared quite a lot 

 of wax for market by the use of the 

 Hatch-Gemmel press, but I never 

 could succeed in getting real bright, 

 clean wa.x, and concluded there was 

 some defect in my method. There are 

 a great many handicaps in working 

 with a small outfit. I have concluded 

 that I will never use the press again. 



For a small apiary this is my pres- 

 ent plan : Take a strong, clean sugar 

 barrel with the head out, dump into 

 it well-drained cappings, bits of comb, 

 old combs to be discarded, breaking 

 them out of the frames preferably in 

 cold, frosty weather. Have a tamper 

 and keep pounding down the comb 

 and bits of wax as you proceed to fill 

 the barrel. You will be surprised to 

 find how heavy this barrel will be 

 when full to the top. I have just fin- 

 ished one that weighed 160 pounds 

 net. It consists of about a bushel of 

 cappings, the balance old comb of all 

 descriptions, some badly moth eaten. 

 When the barrel is full, head it up 

 securely and ship to some factory to 

 be rendered. Do this in the dead of 

 winter and obviate all danger of 

 spreading disease, as no bees are out 

 foraging in cold weather. For larger 

 apiaries I would have a good sized 

 melting tank. I would heat up my 

 cappings and scrap by a slow, steady 

 heat. When ready I would dip clear 

 wax out of the tank into heated molds 

 such as a flaring tin bucket with 

 about four inches of hot water in the 

 bottom. In this way one would get 



a lot of nice wa.x at once without 

 pressing. The balance contained in 

 the tank after cooling and draining, 

 would be tamped down in the barrel 

 and shipped as before stated This 

 operation would be best performed 

 in warm weather, and no spread of 

 disease should occur from such prac- 

 tice. I consider the movement of 

 manufacturers to do tins work one of 

 the best things that have happened 

 for beekeepers of late. 



Any ordinary beekeeper trying to 

 save all his wax by the use of small 

 and inadequate equipment has a job 

 on his hands, and a dirty one. 

 From now on such efforts will not 

 pay. 



Wisconsin. 



GEMS FROM THE PAST ■ 



Selected by C. W. Aeppler 

 Beekeeping is not an occupation in 

 which one can easily become wealthy. 

 It can be depended on to furnish a 

 comfortable living, and perhaps en- 

 able a man to lay up a few thousand. 

 Fortunately, however, the profes- 

 sional man's happiness bears -little 



relation to the size of his fortune; and 

 the man with the hum of the bees 

 over his head finds happiness deeper 

 and sweeter than ever comes to the 

 naerchant prince with his cares and 

 his thousands. 



— W. Z. Hutchinson. 



Do not think you are rich when you 

 have hived a lot of young swarms. 

 Fewer hives with lots of bees in each 

 one is better. — Hase (1771). 



In order to be a beekeeper, one 

 must use his head. 



—J. L. Christ (1783). 



A bee that has learned to rob will 

 find it 'difficult to return to an honest 

 living. — Langstroth. 



Every insect provides a world of 

 wonder; but in the case of bees, two 

 worlds must have come -together. 



— Bonnet. 



The more help a colony of bees re- 

 quires in the spring, the more evi 

 dence is manifested that the owner is 

 a poor beekeeper. 



— Ziwansky. 



BEEKEEPERS BY THE WAY 



Menditrson talking bees to a group of California beemen. 



A Successful Californian 



For SO years a beekeeper and for 

 40 years a Californian, M. H. Men- 

 dleson, of Ventura, is one of the best- 

 known commercial honey producers 

 in all .A.merica. He has owned as high 

 as 2,(X)0 colonies of bees at one time 

 and has produced more than 100 tons 

 of honey in a single year. For 30 

 years he has practiced migratory bee- 

 keeping, so there are few men who 

 have had such wide experience as 

 he. He was one of the first to dis- 

 cover the fact that to winter the bees 

 with a big reserve supply of honey 

 is the best insurance of a good crop 

 the following year. Mendleson says 

 he can get his bees through with 2o 

 pounds of stores per colony but that 

 he counts on leaving at least double 



that in each hive, and that it often 

 pays to leave even more. 



Mendelson was first attracted to 

 California by the shipment of ten 

 cars of comb honey to the New York 

 market by the late J. S. Harbison. 

 That was in 1878. At that time 

 Mendleson was a young man keep- 

 ing bees in New York. After seeing 

 the Harbison shipment he decided 

 that California was the place for him 

 and we soon find him working for R. 

 Wilkin at Sespe, where he remained 

 for two years before starting out 

 again for himself. 



Because he has had such wide ex- 

 perience in every phase of honey pro- 

 duction and has been so constantly 

 successful, he is a popular speaker at 

 conventions. The picture shows him 

 talking bees at an outdoor meeting. 



