130 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Feb. 15. 



been cut for us ten years ago. If basswood will 

 replace itself in ten or even twenty years, so 

 that it can be used again for lumber, there is 

 yet hope that it may continue to bless the bee- 

 keeper. 



There is one thing certain — that basswoods 

 do not do nearly as well away from the shade 

 of other trees. In our basswood orchard there 

 are trees that are protected by some large oaks, 

 that made a growth from three to four times as 

 large as those out in the open Held. Those 

 trees that are in the shade of oui- factory are 

 much moj'e thrifty than those along the road- 

 side without the shade of buildings or of other 

 trees. 



THE NEW YORK STATE BEE-KEEPERS' 

 VENTION. 



NOTES, BY EKXEST. 



CON- 



On the morning of the first day it rained fu- 

 riously, and the streets of Albany were literally 

 puddles and streams of water — so much so that 

 it was very difficult for a pedestrian to make 

 his way from one point to another without get- 

 ting wet feet. When I registered at the Globe 

 Hotel I looked to see whether I could tind the 

 names of any bee-keepers I knew which were 

 recorded before mine, but nary a one. I was 

 afraid the large amount of rain the night pre- 

 vious would dampen the spirits of a great many 

 who possibly had thought of coming. In fact, 

 after breakfast I sat down in thp hotel and 

 waited for the bee-keepers to come in. 



While thus employed, my thoughts reverted 

 to the time when, last fall, I had arrived at this 

 very same hotel after a bicycle run of 50 miles. 

 I came in, I remember, muddy, wet, and tired, 

 and my clothing was S(jmewhat torn by the ef- 

 fects of that bulldog encounter, an account of 

 which I have already given. For curiosity I 

 thought I would ascertain whether the clerk 

 remembered me. "Oh, yes I" said h(^; '• you are 

 the chap who came in so dilapidated from that 

 fifty-mile run through the mud from Durham. I 

 coiild not forget that." 



He was very glad to see that I had survived 

 the journey, and inquired whether I expected 

 to take a similar run again. 



"Never," I replied, '"over such roads, nor 

 through such mud, and, much les<, by the 

 house of the box-hive bee-keeper who owned 

 that ferocious bulldog.'" 



After a pleasant chat with tlu^ clerk I asked 

 where to take the electric motor over to Troy. 

 "Just a couple of blocks down the street.'" A 

 ride on the electric car brought me to Troy. I 

 made a short visit with relatives, and then re- 

 turned to Albany and thence to Agricultural 

 Hall. I incjuired of the janitor where the bee- 

 keepers' convention was. He hadn't seen any 

 bee-keepers. He was told that they were to 

 occupy that hall, pointing to an unoccupied 

 room on the second floor. As I looked out on 

 the streets running with wat(>r. I concluded 

 that York State bee-keepei-s had l)ecome dis- 

 couraged — even the president and secretary. 

 Pretty soon, in came a gentleman, and after a 

 little I began to inquire whether /le knew any 

 thing about a 7)ec-convention in that building. 

 No. He had been looking for the same tiling 

 all the afternoon. We •' exchanged ouridi'Uti- 

 ty," as the Rambler puts it, and tell to talking 

 about bees, as to how they would winter, etc. 

 I am such a poor hand to remember names that 

 I can not now even remembi-r who he was. "At 

 any rate, I wonder what is going on in that 

 room down there," I said, pointing downstairs. 

 " I saw a couple of men go in a moment ago.'" 



I inquired of the janitor, who said it was an 

 agricultural meeting. " I don't care very much 

 about agriculture,'' said I, turning to my friend. 

 " but let's go in and see what they are doing.'' 

 Cautiously I (opened the door, and, presto! there 

 sat President Elwood in the chair, the secretary 

 at his table, and a whole convention of hee- 

 heepers. In various parts of the room were 

 familiar faces whom I first met on my bicycle 

 tour. My first thought was, "Why in the 

 world didn't you people have a sign out and let 

 folks know where you were?" I learned after- 

 ward that the place of meeting had been 

 changed to another- room — a room that had 

 previously been occupied by an agricultural 

 meeting; hence the janitor's mistake. 



ARTIFICIAL PASTURAGE. 



I aiTived just in time to hear the discussion 

 in regard to artificial pasturage. Among the 

 plants discussed were the Chapman honey-plant, 

 alfalfa, and sweet clover. The reports in re- 

 gard to the first named were not very favorable. 

 It seemed to be remarkable as a yielder of nec- 

 tar, but its difficult propagation renders it im- 

 practicable for bee-keepers at large. George H. 

 Ashmead had sown the Chapman honey-plant 

 seed broadcast by moonlight. 



" Why did you do it after dark ?" some one 

 asked. 



"Oh! I did not want everybody to know 

 what I was doing. It has not been called a bad 

 weed; but some folks, if they had seen me sow- 

 ing it, would have declared that I was sowing 

 something that would work mischief to the 

 farmers. But there was not one of those seeds 

 that ever came up." 



Ml'. Thomas Pierce, of Gansevort, had tried 

 sowing sweet clover, but none of it came up. 

 Referring to the moonlight sowing, he banter- 

 ingly said he would have some compunctions of 

 conscience. That did not distress our 'friend 

 Mr. Ashmead at all. H(! sowed upon waste 

 places. He knew that the plant was not a bad 

 weed, and Ik^ was not going to give his neigh- 

 bors even a c/i((Nfr to think so. In regard to 

 sweet clover, he had seen dirt thrown from the 

 bottom of a well 30 feet deep, and sweet clover 

 and mustard started from it. 



The discussion then turned to alsike. In 

 some parts of York State the fai'mei's were in- 

 troducing it, at the advice and suggestion of 

 bee- keep fs. In some cases they lik(^ it, and in 

 some they don't. Where they did not take to 

 it. it was ascertained that it grcnv up rank, and 

 then rotted and died. It was recommended by 

 some that it be sown with timothy or red clo- 

 ver. It is then not ai)t to lodge, and it makes 

 a fine growth. Testimony was not wanting, to 

 the effect that it is a splendid honey-plant — su- 

 perior to ordinary whit(^ clover; and. as some- 

 body said. " Bees work on it iinmensi'.'" 



George H. Ashmead said that the farmers 

 were going hack on alsike in his locality. They 

 complain that tliere is no after, or second 

 growth. He thought that, if he could giit them 

 to sow it eaily enough, they would have two 

 crops. Another thin^,^ farmers comi)lain that 

 alsik'e turned their liutter whitf. They had 

 tried it. pasturing their cows two week's on al- 

 sike and two weeks on white clover. The al- 

 sike, every time, they reported, would turn the 

 butter white. When cows were pastured on 

 common red clover the butter resumed its nat- 

 ural color. But t\)<'Vo was one strong point; 

 and that was. that alsike hay will not give 

 horsi'S the lieaves as does rcKl clover. Alsike 

 has no fine fuzz tiiat rattles down through the 

 hay. 



J. C. Stewart sells alsike seed to farmers, and 

 distributed Mr. Newman's alsike ]iamphlets; 

 and he discovered that the pamphlets helped to 



