1884 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



235 



such matters. The bees in one of the ca{?es were all 

 alive, while those in the other were nearly all dead; 

 hut the queens in both were alive, and apparently 

 none the worse for their cool jaunt in Uncle Sam's 

 mail-bags. The weather was mild and rainy when I 

 received them. 



THE BLUE lUDGE AS A BEE COUNTRY. 



While bee-keepers are hunting locations from Cal- 

 ifornia to Florida, it is a marvel that they do not 

 come to the Blue Kidge of North Carolina. There 

 are hundreds of " covee " among these mountains, 

 where most profitable bee-ranches could be estab- 

 lished. The best locations are indicated by the num- 

 ber of "gums" owned by settlers. For invalids, the 

 higher plateaus of these S. W. Blue-Kidge Moun- 

 tains, I assert without qualification or fear of suc- 

 cessful contradiction, are the most healthful loca- 

 tion in the United States, the summers being as cool 

 and refreshing as the lake regions of Minnesota, and 

 winters are mild as middle Virginia, with never a 

 sign of mosquito or trace of malaria. There is no 

 chill in the winter dampness, or sivcUer in the sum- 

 mer heat— wa/znt/i I should say. Another remark- 

 able feature, these regions are never visited by vio- 

 lent storms or cyclones, such as surge through the 

 lower country, and it is a rare sight to find a tree up- 

 rooted by the wind, in the mountains. 



The honey-plants are numerous, and native to ev- 

 ery season of leaf and flower. Tulip-trees, sour- 

 wood, maples, locust, and black gum abound in all 

 the coves, and stud the mouutaia-sides, while huckle- 

 berry and buckberry are everywhere. All of the 

 coves have more or less basswood, while in many 

 this timber abounds. White clover is a nativeof the 

 country, and asserts its presence in every meadow, 

 pasture, and dooryard. Wherever the land is cleared 

 of timber, goldenrods, asters, and other fall flowers, 

 natives of the Middle and Northern States, spring 

 up. On this plateau, the mercury touched zero sev- 

 eral times this winter; but almost every week the 

 bees could fly out. Two miles from here in a cove 

 the bees were carrying in pollen on the 7th of Feb- 

 ruary. In this country, as everywhere else, some 

 seasons afford a light, and others a heavy honey- 

 flow; but an absolute failure is not known. There is 

 alway a fair harvest in June and July, generally 

 abundant, and August is the month when the sour- 

 wood comes into bloom, which is considered the 

 great honey-tree of this country. The honey is light, 

 and very mild in flavor. The honey I put on the 

 market here last season was pronounced by tourists 

 from the Northern States, the very best-flavored 

 they bad over tried. A large per cent of the honey 

 near old settlements will be from white clover, 

 which generally blooms two to three months here. 



Highlands, N. C, March, 18[4. E. E. Ewing. 



PEA-VINE CliOVER AS A HONEV-PL.ANT 

 AND FERTILIZEK. 



IVING in a section of the country where the 

 only surplus comb honey taken is gathered 

 from white and alsike clover, articles like 

 that of Neighbor H. in January Gleanings, on pea- 

 vine clover, showing how the honey-harvest may be 

 prolonged by a profitable farm crop, are of great in- 

 terest to me. 



Having frequently read of good yields of honey 

 from mammoth red clover, but knowing many in- 

 stances where none whatever was obtained, the 



question naturally arises, whether its flowers are 

 filled with nectar within reach of the honey-bees, 

 only under the most favorable conditions, or wheth- 

 er the large red clov^^rs, variously called mammoth, 

 English, sapling, cow-grass, and pea-vine, belong to 

 one or more varieties. The probability occurs, that 

 pea-vine clover may be a variety distinct and valua- 

 ble as a honey-plant. 



In a paper on "Leguminous Forage Plants," 

 Prof W. J. Beal, after describing common red clover 

 {TrifoUum pratense), and large red clover (TrifoUum 

 pratense perenne), Bays: "Pea-vine clover.— Tn'/oii- 

 um medium (?) I have received from several sources 

 a clover much like the red clover. It is raised In 

 some parts of Western Michigan and in other West- 

 ern States. It is known as pea-vine clover. The 

 stalk is stout and zigzag, and the flowers later than 

 those of red clover. Farmers usually pasture it for 

 a while in the spring, and then let it grow for one 

 crop of hay or seed. It seems to be TrifoUum medi- 

 um, though I am not fully satisfied in regard to the 

 species. One of my patches has lasted for three 

 years. It is said to be perennial." 



Elsewhere he also says: " I have often studied red 

 clover in this .country, and can truly say, that in 

 flower and stalk and leaf, this plant varies almost as 

 much as does Indian corn. Some heads are very 

 large, others small. Surely hero is a grand chance 

 for some one who has the skill and patience to select 

 and perfect some improved varieties of i-ed clover 

 which shall be an honor to his name." 



Who can give us more light on the subject? 

 Whether or not we have a distinct variety that can 

 be depended upon as a honey-plant, pea-vine clover 

 occupies an imp-irtant place in farm economy, as a 

 fertilizer especially adapted to thin clay soil. For 

 that purpose, and for rotation with wheat, it is much 

 superior to common red clover, but requires to be 

 managed quite differently. The following is an ex- 

 cellent plan: 



Seed down the wheat-fields early in the spring, 

 sowing not less than 10 lbs. per acre. After harvest, 

 do not pasture the young clover, unless it should 

 grow very rank, and comeoutinblossom. The next 

 spring mow it off as Neighbor H. suggests. Then 

 when it is about two feet high, or before it falls 

 down or comes out in blossom, hitch a team to each 

 end of a long heavy pole, as for knocking down corn- 

 stalks, and drag it down flat, going around the field 

 the same way your reaper will follow. The heads 

 will rise and grow upright, and when you come to 

 cut and save the seed you have only a few inches of 

 long stalk to handle. The advantage of rolling or 

 dragging it down is, that you have it all alike and 

 without twists and tangles into which it usually 

 lodges. It should be cut with a self-rake reaper, 

 and small gavels thrown off into winrows. It should 

 lie in the field until it has received two or three 

 rains, as it will hull better, and give more seed, after 

 being well watered, provided it is dry when hulled. 

 The yield is usually 3 or 4 bushels per acre, but 

 varies from Uz to 9, according to the season. This 

 crop comes off in good time, and leaves a large 

 growth to be plowed under, and the ground in the 

 finest possible condition for seeding to wheat. The 

 following spring, clover may be sown again, and this 

 rotation continued indefinitely, giving a paying 

 crop each year with a small amount of labor, and im- 

 proving the soil at the same time. 



Scientific authorities in agriculture have lately 

 discovered that the clover-plant should attain its 



