1884 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTUKE. 



555 



Bee Bew^NY, 



OR, HONEY -PLANTS TO BE NAMED. 



BUFFALO CLOVER — TRIFOLIOM STOLONIFERUM. 



SEND you a specimen of clover for naming. It 

 is of a wild variety, growing: in woods and old 

 t fields; has never been cultivated here; comes 

 in bloom last of April; grows on rich or poor 

 land; produces a great deal of bloom and seed; 

 each bunch sends out a lot of runners; takes root at 

 every joint; vines grow from one to foiy feet; bees 

 gather considerable honey from it. I have gather- 

 ed enough seed to sow an acre for bee pasture. 



This has been a good honey season, but has now 

 closed. I am a beginner in the bee business; win- 

 tered lii out of 36; some very weak, all in Lang- 

 stroth hives. I have got from 6 to 200 lbs. comb 

 honey per colony. James M. Denham. 



Valley, Lewis Co., Ky., July 18, 1884. 



Concerning this plant, Prof. Devol says: 



Specimen from James M. Denham is the running- 

 buffalo clover (TrifoUum stolonifcrum, Muhl.), a 

 plant I have often heard spoken of as very good for 

 bee pasture. It is found in fields and woods in 

 Ohio, and west and southwest; it seems to prefer 

 i-athcr shaded situations and a moderately rich soil. 

 It sends out several branches from the roots, which 

 root at the joints and send up branches 3 to 6 inches, 

 with one or two loose heads of blossoms about one 

 inch across; the flowers ai-e larger than those of the 

 common white clover, creamy white, with pink or 

 rose pencilings. The flowers are persistent, turn- 

 ing brown, and all becoming i-eflexed in fruit. It 

 can scarcely be as valuable for honey as the com- 

 mon white or Dutch clover (T. rcpoig, L.), as it does 

 not bloom quite so freely, and only from the last of 

 April through June. I have never heard of its be- 

 ing cultivated. W. S. Devol, Botanist. 

 William K. Lazenby, Director. 



Columbus, O., July 34, 1884. 



If I am correct, this clover has never been 

 described before. The specimen sent looks 

 like rank coarse clover. Unless the plant is 

 valuable for forage and hay, I should hardly 

 think it would pay to raise it. Notwith- 

 standing, friend 1)., we are glad to hear of 

 your experiment. 



BUCKTHORN. 



The yellow wood I sent you in full bloom is a 

 shrubby bush, and grows in dense thickets. When 

 the brush stands alone it is very shrubby; and in 

 one or two years after it begins to bear, there is a 

 cluster of young bushes all round. They come 

 from fhe seed. It grows about twenty feet high, 

 and never exceeds five or six inches in diameter. 

 The bark resembles in color that of young wild 

 cherry. It is very thin and tender; the leaf looks 

 like the wild chei-ry. It is broader, and has a less 

 number of ribs. The berry, also, when ripe, resem- 

 bles the cherry. The bloom is a little shallow and 

 yellow, and more of them than I ever saw on any 

 other plant. It commences to bloom about the time 

 the poplar ceases, which is about the first of June 

 in this climate, and continues until basswood com- 

 mences, which is about three weeks later than pop- 

 lar. It has no main root running straight into the 

 ground; the side roots are shallow. I have known 

 bushes ten feet high pulled up by the roots. The 

 yellow wood gi'ows in a strong lime soil, side by side 



with the poplar and basswood. I have never known 

 it to fail to produce some honey, and some seasons 

 a great deal. The honey is bright, something be- 

 tween poplar and basswood; but the taste is not so 

 good as either. Two or three years ago I sent you a 

 barrel of honey which I thought was basswood 

 honey, but you said not. I now think it was yellow 

 wood. I have a lot of this honey on hand; and if 

 you desire to see what is, I will send yovi a sample. 

 Elora, Tenn., July 1.5, 1884. J. A. Smith. 



Prof. Devol says further: 



The specimen of plant from J. A. Smith is a spe- 

 cies of buckthorn, the Southern, or Carolina buck- 

 thorn {Rhamuiis Caro!i»iC)isi>s, Walt.). It is a South- 

 ern shrub, or small tree, your correspondent living 

 near its northern limit. To the description given by 

 your correspondent, I would add : It is found large- 

 ly along the rivers, and blooms in May further 

 south. The leaves are 3 to 5 inches long, H to li as 

 wide, shining, veins prominent. The flowers are 

 yellowish white, borne in short axilary umbels, 3 to 9 

 in each umbel. The petals are very small, 5 with 

 the stamens opposite. The berries are purple when 

 ripe. Its near relative, the common, or purging 

 buckthorn (R. catharticux, L.), is used as a hedge 

 plant, and from the berries and bark are procured 

 pui-gatives and dyes; but I know of no use to which 

 this species can be put, unless it be as honey-plant; 

 and, judging from your correspondent's letter, it is 

 quite valuable as such. W. S. Devol, Botanist. 



Columbus, Ohio, July 21, 1884. 



The honey alluded to was about as light 

 colored as basswood or clover, and the flavor 

 pretty nearly resembles clover, although as 

 a general thing I think it could hardly be 

 considered equal to clover, in flavor or color. 



THE SWARMING MANIA. 



IS IT THE STRAIN OF BEES, OR THE SEASON? 



'Wfj FTEK reading your comments, friend Root, 

 -fl^ on Mr. V. P. Dupuy's article, on page 445, 



j^ July Gleanings, I was almost inclined to 

 ''■^ think that jou are given to "jumping at con- 

 clusions;" for apiarists of long experience 

 believe that excessive swarming comes only with 

 certain conditions, and when these conditions are 

 present we find excessive swarming is the i-esult; 

 when not present, there is no more than the usual 

 amount of swarming. The conditions requisite to 

 excessive swarming are a warm favorable spring 

 with a warm wet summer, thus giving just enough 

 honey to keep brood-rearing at its best, and still not 

 give enough so the bees store any great quantity, 

 so as to diminish the brood. The conditions Avhich 

 tend to keep swarming in check are a copious yield 

 of honey early in the season, or a season so adverse 

 that the bees are compelled to retrench brood-rear- 

 ing, in order to keep alive. With the first, comes 

 moderate swarming; with the last, very few if any 

 swarms. With such a very poor season as the last, 

 I find the Italian and Cyprian bees will get more 

 honey, and swarm more, than th6 hybrids or blacks, 

 while in an extra good season they swarm less. 

 When the season is favorable to excessive swarm- 

 ing, the difterent races of bees are affected about 

 alike; but all my experience goes to prove that no 

 particular strain or variety of bees is given to a pre- 

 disposition to swarm, more than any others, when 

 viewing the matter fts a whole, and covering a peri- 



