1904 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CUL'lURE. 



1155 



DOES CLOVER WINTER-KILL? 



How to Know When we shall Have a Cr^p of 

 Clover Honey; a Valuable Article. 



BY VIRGIL WEAVER. 



Mr. Root:— I wish to write a few lines on 

 a variety of subjects. The first is white 

 clover. This is the main honey-plant east of 

 the Rockies. Strange to say, there is very 

 Lttle known about it. I do not mean by the 

 sinall bee-keeper, but by the "big uns " as 

 well as the little fellow of half a dozen 

 years' experience. 



In a I'ecent issue, you, Mr. Editor, were 

 commenting on the prospects of a honey-flow 

 in Wisconsin, and said that they were not 

 very promising— in the southern part of the 

 State white clover had winter-killed. That 

 is something white clover does not do. I 

 will tell you why. Any year preceded by a 

 normal amount of rain will give a flow of 

 white-clover honey. It matters not how 

 hard or how long it freezes, how often it 

 thaws or how much snow falls to protect 

 the clover. When May comes with her 

 showers and sunshine, the clover will come 

 smiling to greet the anxious bee-keeper. 



I formerly lived in Kentucky, and was 

 afraid to cross swords with you Northern 

 fellows, for I knew our winters were not as 

 severe as yours, so I kept still; but now that 

 I am in a zero State, and I find the same re- 

 sults here as in Kentucky, I am going to 

 "butt in." I will take the past winter for 

 an example, which was one of the coldest on 

 record in Iowa — zero for weeks at a time, 

 and not a bit of snow to protect it. What 

 is the result? An 80-lb. honey-flow, all 

 from white clover. 



Now, there are two sides to this '' ' hoe- 

 cake. " I will take Kentucky for an exam- 

 ple. We shall find a difi'erent result. The 

 thermometer never reached zero there the 

 past winter, but the white clover winter- 

 killed there, so some of the bee-keepers say, 

 and they have had no honey-flow there this 

 season. You also said it was too wet during 

 June for honey south of the Ohio River. 

 Now, I can tell you why the clover win- 

 ter-killed in Kentucky also. Why? It was 

 too wet in June. Neither the wet June nor 

 winter-killing had any thing to do with the 

 failure. What then? Right here lies the 

 secret. The rainfall, as observed by the 

 Lexington, Ky., station from May 1 to Nov. 

 1, 1903, was nearly 11 inches short. No new 

 clover started at all; no new roots on the 

 old 1902 crop to prevent its dying out in the 



winter of its own accord, freeze or no freeze. 

 That's what it will do every time. 



There is one exception in regard to the 

 old clover, and that is this: If the rainfall 

 in August, September, and October is ex- 

 cessive, this old clover will start new roots 

 that can withstand any winter. But with- 

 out these rains the old clover that has ma- 

 tured its crop of seed will die out. Then if 

 there are no new plants that were started 

 in the early spring, the white-clover flow is 

 a failure, not because of winter-kiHing, but 

 because of di'outh. 



You will observe a little contradiction in 

 some of the above; that is, that clover win- 

 ter-kills, and that it does not winter-kill. I 

 will explain, and also tell the bee-keeping pub- 

 lic when to expect a white-clover honey-flow. 

 In the first place, a white-clover seed is very 

 hai'd to germinate. Conditions must be very 

 favorable for the little fellows to begin their 

 battle with life. If in the spring, it must be 

 very warm with plenty of moisture. There 

 must be no crust on top of the ground. The 

 thermometer must touch the 70's — from 80 

 to 90 is all the better. With these favora- 

 ble conditions for a week or ten days you 

 will find very small white clover-plants in ev- 

 ery little vacant spot in the pastures. If 

 the rains continue until July 1 you can rest 

 assured that the next year will give some 

 white-clover honey; for by the time these 

 plants are two or three months old they are 

 able to withstand any kind of weather. If 

 the rains continue through the fall months, 

 all the better. The most of us know that 

 these young plants bloom but very little the 

 first year — not enough to make a honey- 

 flow. TJiere is an exception: If conditions 

 ai'e favorable for plant-growth until July, 

 and July is hot and dry, setting these young 

 plants ijack, or producing a dormant state 

 for a few weeks, then good rains come in 

 August, making a strong plant-growth 

 again, these young plants will bloom in Sep- 

 tember to a very great extent, making the 

 pastures almost white; but without this July 

 drouth to produce a dormant state, there 

 will be very few blossoms. 



This brings me down to where I differ with 

 you, Mr. Editor. I say it matters not how 

 cold it gets nor how often it freezes and 

 thaws through the winter. These young 

 plants will be there the next June. Do not 

 jump in here, you big fellows, and saw me 

 up, because you can not do it. 



I will now tell you why the impression 

 prevails that white clover winter-kills. We 

 will now take these plants through the sec- 

 ond year. If conditions are favorable in the 

 spring for plant-growth, there will be a pro- 

 fusion of blossoms in June, and a good hon- 

 ey-flow. If the rains continue after the 

 honey-flow, these same plants, as I said be- 

 fore, will take new roots that will withstand 

 any winter. If you have no fall rains to 

 speak of, these old plants will die in the win- 

 ter, cold or no cold. All dry falls are not 

 followed by honey failures, though, because 

 it may be favorable for plant-growth in the 

 spring and early summer, and make a fine 



