478 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



obtained in succession 

 are often followed by 

 several years when the 

 yield is less satisfactory. 

 This difference is large- 

 ly determined by soil 

 and climate. In wet clay 

 ground in regions where 

 the winters are severe 

 the roots may be much 

 broken and drawn out 

 upon the surface, or the 

 plants killed outright by 

 repeated " lifting " caus- 

 ed by the alternate thaw- 

 ing and freezing of the 

 soil. The destructive 

 work of the frost, how- 

 ever, is much lessened by 

 the natural mulch afford- 

 ed by the dead vegeta- 

 tion found in waste 

 places and in meadows, 

 which have not been 

 cropped too closely. 

 Snow also offers excel- 

 lent protection, and, 

 when it covers the 

 ground for most of the 

 winter clover suffers lit- 

 tle or no damage. Win- 

 ter-killing from freezing 

 in well-drained sandy soils or in warmer 

 climate is practically unknown. 



In Kentucky, Iowa, and the surrounding 

 territory, where there are light soils, it 

 seems to be well established that there will 

 be a very small honey-flow if the preceding 

 season has been very dry. If there is no 

 rain after July 1 the drouth destroys the 

 old plants of feeble vitality, checks the 

 growth of offshoots, prevents the germina- 

 tion of seedlings, and retards the formation 

 of an extensive root system with the result 

 that there are few blossoms and little nectar 

 the following season. This statement does 

 not call for discussion since all herbaceous 

 plants growing in porous sandy soil suffer 

 if there is a large decrease in the normal 

 rainfall. Altho the injury wrought by the 

 drouth does not become apparent until the 

 next season, it should not be attributed to 

 winter-killing, but to the correct cause — 

 the absence of sufficient moisture in the soil. 

 But if there is a good stand of white clover 

 in early spring, a drouth in May or June, 

 if copious rains follow, will only retard the 

 bloom and delay the harvest, I have seen 

 clover parched by drouth in June, says a 

 beekeeper, and not a blossom in sight. 

 Then came a succession of soaking rains, 

 and, presto! bloom and a crop of honey. 



White-clover blossom — third stage. 



Similar results have been described at Lon- 

 don, Canada, An exceptionally dry fall 

 after August 15 was followed by a dry 

 spring until the last of May when a series 

 of warm rains commenced which continued 

 almost daily until about the twentieth of 

 June. The effect was marvelous. July 

 found the fields and roadsides a beautiful 

 mass of white and alsike clover, and the 

 honey crop was the best that memory can 

 recall. A very cold spring may also cause 

 failure, even if there is a normal rainfall. 

 In 1907 in parts of New York the average 

 temperature of April, May, and June was 

 four degrees below the respective means for 

 these months in other years, and there was 

 no white-clover honey. 



Cold rainy weather during the honey-flow 

 will both lessen the quantity of nectar and 

 prevent the bees from working on the 

 bloom; for the best results there must be a 

 series of warm humid days. Finally, where 

 white clover has been grown indefinitely in 

 the same fields the soil conditions may be- 

 come deleterious. Microscopic protozoa may 

 multiply until they destroy a large part of 

 the beneficial bacteria, or the soil may be- 

 come acid and require a liberal application 

 of lime. Such land is said to be " clover- 

 sick," Nearly all of northeastern Ohio and 



