1S97 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



ing has romained porfectlyrdry every winter, 

 showing plainly thai, for protection, a non- 

 conducting material is more eiTectual than an 

 air-space. 



The ventilator shown is a wooden tube six 

 inches square, with a four-foot elbow in the 

 roof, and a slide to close it, if desired, on the 

 lower end. While this provides an outlet, no 

 provision is made for an inlet, and I hardly 

 think this is necessary. The same current of 

 air which escapes through the ventilator must 

 be replaced by an equal current of outdoor air 

 from somewhere; and that this circulation is 

 going on all the time can be plainly seen by the 

 constant escape of vapor when the weather is 

 cold enough to condense the warmer air from 

 the cellar and make it visible. Our so-called 

 air-tight structures are by no means hermeti- 

 cally sealed. Doors do not shut air-tight; the 

 matchings are a little defective here and there; 

 the lumber itself may have small openings, 

 cracks, or pinholes: the ditch may be the means 

 of supplying a certain current, etc.; so that, 

 take it all in all, a sullicient amount of air may 

 find its way into the cellar to cause quite a cir- 

 culation. 



The illustration. Fig. 1, has also a storm- 

 house attached to the cellar, which was built a 

 few years ago. I did not deem it necessary for 

 the comfort or better wintering of the bees, al- 

 though it may be an additional protection; but 

 I built it for my own benefit. I found that it 

 required a considerable amount of work, every 

 time I went into the cellar, to clear away the 

 snow, frequently two or three feet deep, to let 

 the door swing open. The stormhouse pre- 

 vents all this trouble. The door swings in, and 

 can be opened at any time, snow or no snow. 

 In entering, of course care must be taken not to 

 let any snow tumble in, as this would interfere 

 with shutting the door. 



Naples, N. Y. 



[Although this article is a little out of season, 

 recent experiences will be fresh upon the mind, 

 and so I have thought best to give it now rath- 

 er than in the fall.— Ed.] 



SWEET-CLOVER SYMPOSIUM. 



Will Horses and Cattle and Other Stock Eat 



Sweet Clover if They Have a Chance to 



Get at it T 



NAMING SWEET CLOVER. 



Bro. /Joot;— Permit me to suggest that you 

 do not be in a hurry to change your views as to 

 the classification of sweet clover given by Prof. 

 Gray. There is just as good ground, and I 

 think better, for accepting his classification as 

 that given by Mr. Esenhower. You will not 

 need to examine any more "classical" work 

 than the Edinburgh edition, of 1878, of Cham- 

 bers' Encyclopedia, to find the classification as 

 given by him; for it appears there in almost 



the same language in which it is given in 

 Gleanings. This is an English classification, 

 and I am at a loss to know why it is so made. 

 The yellow melilot (M. ojji emails) is so called 

 from its early use in medicine; but as it is the 

 species which runs wild in Europe, and is com- 

 mon everywhere, there is more reason for call- 

 ing it M. vulgaris, or common, as this is what 

 the Latin, vulgaris, means. M. alba, as given 

 by Gray, is after the old and long-accepted 

 classification of Lamarck, and simply means, 

 as every one knows who has any knowledge of 

 the Latin, white melilot; and as it is not com- 

 mon, except in a few localities in Europe, this 

 seems the most fitting name for this species, in 

 that country at least. There might be some 

 ground for changing the name to vulgaris in 

 the United States; but as the species has the 

 special characteristic of a white flower, as well 

 as being common. It would seem a needless 

 change. The name leueantha, which is also 

 given in the English classification, is a Greek 

 word which means the same as the Latin alba, 

 white; so that this is practically the same 

 classification which Prof. Gray adopted. The 

 tendency to name the species according to the 

 color of the flower is further seen in M. coirulea, 

 as this simply means blue melilot. If it had 

 not been for the supposed medicinal qualities 

 of the yellow sweet clover, it would no doubt 

 have been called M. gilva, taking the specific 

 name from its color, the same as in the other 

 two species. I am very much inclined to agree 

 with Mr. Jones' idea. that"bokhara clover" 

 is the same as M. alba, and that the name, 

 "bokhara," has been wrongly applied to it. 

 As I suggested in another article, I think the 

 name bokhara more correctly belongs to a 

 species of alfalfa. 



M. arborea simply means " tree melilot," and 

 I can well understand why the tree-like form 

 and rank-growing M. alba should come to be 

 called "tree clover," when compared with the 

 low-branching and finer-strawed yellow sweet 

 clover. 



I think perhaps the other species mentioned 

 by Chambers, which was found mostly on the 

 islands of the Mediterranean Sea, and along 

 the coast, is simply a variety of one of the 

 species named above. 



If my position is correct, you are not likely to 

 be able to get seeds of any more species than 

 you now have. My presumption is that we 

 shall be entirely safe to trust to the classifica- 

 tion given in the new edition of Gray's Garden 

 and Field Botany, as revised by Prof. Baily. 

 1, for one, am willing to take my chances in 

 agreeing with these two eminent American 

 botanists as against the writer of the article in 

 Chambers' Encyclopedia, or any other so-called 

 "classical " work. E.merson T. Abbott. 



St. Joseph, Mo., Apr. 17. 



[In regard to the tree sweet clover, some- 



