October, 1921 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



625 



clover. The mesh of the wire is just small 

 enough to exclude bees but not small in- 

 sects. So far the tests indicate that the 

 plants available to the bees give from 20 to 

 30 per cent more seed. He has promised to 

 give us the result in actual figures when 

 the season closes. 



The Biennial Versus the Annual Sweet 

 Clover. 



While in most cases the new annual clo 

 ver is much superior to the biennial, there 

 are cases when the latter is better than the 

 former. The biennial springs up the first 

 season, and blooms to only a very limited 

 extent, then dies down, but leaves its root, 

 which, however, lives over winter. The 

 following spring it will produce another 

 stalk that will grow very vigorously. For 

 an early spring crop the biennial, on ac- 

 count of its large root from the previous 

 fall and summer, has the advantage, but 



In the test beds are several heads of Hubam that 

 are covered with mosquito netting. This is to pre- 

 vent cross-pollin.ation and develop a seed true to 

 type. The heads are then rubbed together inside 

 the bag between the palms of the hands, thus bring- 

 ing about self-pollination. 



it takes nearly two seasons to get it. The 

 average farmer wants something be can get 

 in one year. It is here that the annual has 

 the biennial beaten a mile. 



The biennial and annual in the same lo- 

 cality can be so planted that one will suc- 

 ceed the other in blooming. The biennial, 

 after the second year, will ordinarily come 

 first; and as it begins to die down, the an- 

 nual with the later bloom will come next, 

 making a continuous flow of honey till 

 heavy frosts come on. 



Our readers will remember that we sent 

 200 colonies to DeGraff, O., and planted 

 them riglit in the midst of 400 acres of 

 Hubam. A few days ago I drove over to 

 see how the bees were doing. Perhaps the 

 most pleased person present was A. I. Eoot 

 himself, who was with me when we looked 

 into the hives. When sent down they were 

 only three and five frame nuclei; but at the 

 time of our visit the queens and the bees 

 had brood in six and seven frames. At the 

 end of two or three weeks, at the present 

 rate, when this brood emerges, the hives 

 will be fairly boiling over with bees. No 

 surplus has been secured thus far, for the 

 very good reason that the honey has gone 

 into brood. The plants will be in bloom 

 till heavy frost. Had we sent our strong 

 colonies down there, doubtless there would 

 have been a large showing in honey. As 

 it is, we call our experiment with bees and 

 Hubam an unqualified success. 



The Hubam, where it can be grown, will 

 furnish fine fall pasturage. Real honey in 

 the hives will be much better than sugar 

 syrup for winter. 



Hubam at Medina. 



We planted biennial and annual in the 

 same fields at Medina on the 17th of last 

 June. The annual is now, Sept. 6, waist 

 high, while the biennial is hardly above 

 one's shoe tops. Some of the annuals are 

 now six feet tall. 



The bees are very busy on the annual, 

 working from early morning till almost 

 dark. The land was plowed and harrow(>d 

 in the usual way; and to give the new clover 

 every possible chance about two tons of 

 lime to the acre was harrowed in. It was 

 put in with an onion seed hand-planter, rows 

 36 inches apart. Some recommend having 

 rows 40 inches apart so that the ordinary 

 farm machinery doesn 't have to be changed. 



Complaint has been made that the seed is 

 so expensive. We put in about one pound 

 of seed to the acre on half of the patch, and 

 on the other half double and treble that 

 amount. One pound to the acre makes the 

 best showing with us. As seed can be 

 bought in quantity at $2.00 a pound, that 

 much money to the acre is not expensive. 



There was some doubt at the time we 

 planted it whether it would mature in time 

 to give a seed crop. Unless we have a very 

 severe early frost we shall get a part of a 

 crop if not a full one. 



Caution. 



It is probably fair to say that Hubam, 

 or, for that matter, any sweet clover, can 

 not be grown profitably everywhere. It can 

 grow where any clover can be grown. There 

 should be some lime in the soil — the more 

 the better, and it should not be too wet. If 

 the soil has not previously grown sweet 

 clover or alfalfa, the seed should be inocu- 

 lated. Your experiment station will tell jrou 

 how to do this. 



