202 



GliKANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



April, 1920 



IF THE EDITOR had been told a decade 

 ago that sweet clover, the much-despised 

 and hated so-called 

 The Onward "weed" of the 



March of Sweet early days, would 

 Clover in the today run neck and 



Great West. neck with alfalfa, 



both in' acreage 

 and honey ^jroduction in some parts of the 

 great West, he would have said that that it 

 was impossible. Yet that is precisely what 

 some reliable beekeepers of wide knowledge 

 and exiaerience have told us. Nay, more; 

 we have seen within the last 30 days, with 

 our own eyes, that the statement for some 

 localities is quite within the range of pos- 

 sibility. The day has gone by when the 

 beekeeper was the only apologist for this 

 plant. Today the experiment stations, the 

 extension men, and even the ranchers and 

 farmers, are all alike extolling its praises, 

 and well they may; for sweet clover has re- 

 deemed and shown the possibilities of lands 

 that hitherto have been worthless — lands 

 that are bringing in price almost as much 

 as alfalfa land. In spite of this showing, 

 there is a professor who said that sweet 

 clover was nothing but a noxious weed. 

 That is about as much as some professors 

 know. If they will go west their eyes will 

 be opened. 



It is not true that in all localities sweet 

 clover ranks with alfalfa in honey produc- 

 tion. In some places, on account of its 

 limited area, it does little more than to 

 build up colpnies so that when alfalfa is at 

 its best the bees are strong enough to get 

 the honey; but even then it is more than 

 welcome; and without it, in many instances, 

 the production of alfalfa would be at a low 

 ebb. 



But where the plant is not valued for 

 bees, the rancher knows it will start on 

 land where alfalfa could not catch. After 

 a good growth of the sweet clover, alfalfa 

 may take root, where its growth before 

 would have been difficult if not impossible. 

 More and more the farmers (thanks to the 

 extension men) are learning that, as a soil- 

 improver, it has no equal, and they are put- 

 ting it in. Moreover, it is self-seeding along 

 the streams, irrigating-ditches, and road- 

 sides, where it is tracked in from other lo- 

 calities. 



The way it has been spreading all over 

 the Arkansas Valley and the Rocky Moun- 

 tain districts, is beyond all belief. It is 

 amazing. Along with it has grown new bee 

 territory that is not overstocked, and it will 

 be a long time before it ever can be. Said 

 a beekeeper of 1,500 colonies, who has kept 

 bees all over the West and in California, 

 ' ' Some of the best bee territory in the whole 

 of the United States is in South Dakota, 

 where sweet clover has gotten under such 

 headway." Then he added, with a twinkle, 

 "If I had 10,000 colonies I would scatter 

 them on some of these sweet-clover and al- 

 falfa ranges in the Arkansas Valley run- 

 ning thru Kansas and Nebraska." We would 



give the name of this man, but fear that he 

 would be flooded with questions. He ought 

 to know what he is talking about, for he 

 has kept bees in all of the good locations in 

 the Rockies and in California, and yet pro- 

 poses to go on the "dry farming" territory 

 where sweet clover thrives in the middle 

 West — not because it is better bee territory 

 than the irrigated regions, but because it is 

 oj^en with few or no bees. 



"Dry farming" territory— what do we 

 mean by that term? The phrase is applied 

 to territory in South Dakota, Nebraska, and 

 Kansas where the rainfall is very limited, 

 the rains coming in March or April, quite 

 heavily sometimes, and then no more rain 

 for a year. The soil is deep and rich, and 

 holds moisture for a long time. While dry- 

 farming land does not yield as rank a 

 growth of alfalfa and sweet clover as does 

 the irrigated country, it saves all the ex- 

 pense of irrigating-ditches, ' 'water-rights, ' ' 

 and the enormous first cost and upkeep of 

 M'ater-pipe that often extends for miles and 

 miles from rivers or the melting snows of 

 the mountains. The heavy rains of one 

 month in southern Kansas, for example, ]iut 

 the land in shape to grow alfalfa on the 

 lowlands, and sweet clover on the uplands 

 for the other eleven months. Four or five 

 cuttings of alfalfa are secured, we are told. 

 Sweet clover is not cut for hay in most lo- 

 calities, but is pastured for cattle. 



Acre for acre, alfalfa, when in full bloom, 

 will yield far more honey than sweet clover; 

 but, unfortunately, the former is cut just 

 as it gets nicely into bloom, while the latter, 

 in the majority of cases, is not cut but pas- 

 tured, and the bees work on it continuously. 

 It is for this reason that in many localities 

 sweet clover yields as much honey as alfalfa. 

 In very many parts of the West there is just 

 enough of sweet clover mixed with the al- 

 falfa to give it that beautiful cinnamon or 

 vanilla flavor so prized by many. Still 

 again, it is valuable only for brood-rearing. 



The time may come when sweet clover 

 will be the predominant honey of the West. 

 It is generally believed that the plant has 

 made only a start. When it gets thoroly 

 established, then we may see an era of bee- 

 keeping the like of which was never known 

 before. The great States of Wyoming and 

 Montana, as well as parts of Nevada, are 

 just opening up to bees. Sweet clover is 

 fast getting a foothold; tho, if irrigated, it 

 is being replaced by the more valuable plant 

 alfalfa. If the latter can not grow, sweet 

 clover clings on. 



Elsewhere we have spoken of the problem 

 of overstocking, which we find so rampant 

 in parts of the West. If some of these 

 overstockors could only know that there is 

 plent}^ of bee range open, and would take a 

 little pains to find where these ranges are, 

 carloads of honey could be saved and a 

 world of ill feeling avoided. If you can 't 

 find these ranges, write to the editor when 

 he gets home; but please tell to Avhat i)art 

 of the West you wish to go. 



