November, 1922 



G L K A N I N S IN BEE CULTURE 



723 



FROM NORTH, EAST, WEST AND SOUTH 



tentioii. By adopting metliods that will in- 

 terest the careless beekeeper and getting 

 him to join the association they are ac- 

 complishing a great thing. The Allegheny 

 association deserves especial mention in 

 this respect. They have the county divided 

 into districts, with a member supervisor 

 over each district. Frequent meetings and 

 demonstrations are held by districts under 

 the management of the supervisor. He also 

 endeavors to interest the beekeeper in such 

 matters as disease control, better equipment 

 and better stock. By this means they have 

 secured tlie membership of most of the bee- 

 keepers of the county. When a man is in 

 the association he is more likely to be a bet- 

 ter beeman than if outside. The Allegheny 

 County membership is now about 180. Sev- 

 eral county associations are preparing for 

 the same kind of work. There are now 22 

 county associations in Pennsylvania, all 

 very much alive, and a big state association. 



Prof. N. E. Phillips, who will succeed me 

 as extension apiculturist at State College, is 

 a well-trained man and highly capable of 

 doing greater things for this field. He de- 

 serves the heartiest co-operation of every 

 beekeeper in the state. 



The plan for a beekeeping course and re 

 search in beekeeping, with adequate build- 

 ings at State College, is meeting witli the 

 hearty api)roval of the beekeepers. As soon 

 as election is over every state legislator 

 should be flooded with information about 

 beekeeping and reasons wliy appropriations 

 for this work in Pennsylvania should be 

 made. Geo. H. Eea. 



Eeynoldsville, Pa. 



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In Southern Indiana. — ^'' ^'i^ ^-'^^^ .i^t 



ter, i mention- 

 ed the great promise from sweet clover. I 

 moved 24 colonies down into the heart of the 

 sweet clover district. There was some- 

 thing like 300 acres of as fine-looking sweet 

 clover as one could ever wish to see. To 

 all appearances the weather was ideal for 

 the secretion of nectar. It was warm, the 

 thermometer ranging between 80 and 90 de- 

 grees. An occasional shower kept the 

 ground moist. The bees went to work with 

 a will, storing honey in four or five supers 

 each. All went merrily until, after they 

 had been storing for only about one week, 

 the honey flow stopped as suddenly as it 

 had begun. Instead of the two or three 

 hundred-pound average that was expected, 

 about 75 pounds were received. 



I should like to know if sweet clover acts 

 this way in otlier localities and if any rea- 

 son can be assigned for it. The land is 

 sour in this locality, and white clover sel- 

 dom yields. Sweet clover has been plant- 

 ed in quantities in this locality for only 

 about five years. The honey flow has usu- 

 ally been heavy but very short, much like 



it was this season. In previous years the 

 weather has been hot and dry and the cur- 

 tailment of the flow lias been attributed to 

 the drouth; but, this year, it was shorter 

 than ever although the weather seemed 

 ideal. 



Mr. Brevoort, a large landowner, has a 

 unique and a very excellent manner of util- 

 izing sweet clover to keep up the fertility of 

 the soil. He drills in winter wheat in the 

 regular way in tlie fall. Early in the spring 

 he sows sweet clover over the wheat fields 

 by merely broadcasting the seed on top of 

 the ground. After the wheat is out in 

 June the clover covers the ground. Tlie next 

 year it comes on with a rush and can be 

 plowed under and the ground put into corn. 

 In this way no time is lost, and a sweet clo- 

 ver crop is grown, a crop being harvested 

 every year. Sometimes the clover is allowed 

 to mature a seed crop and the land again put 

 into wheat. Does this pay? Well, if you 

 could see the enormous crops that are raised 

 on the land thus treated, tlie question would 

 be answered. 



In early July the weather turned liot and 

 dry. The blue vine gave a small flow, but 

 the main crop, smartweed, was cut short on 

 account of the dry weather. The drouth con- 

 tinues up to this writing, October 5. It has 

 been so dry that no flow from asters and 

 goldenrod seemed possible; yet, strange to 

 say, we are having a nice stimulative flow 

 from both. In fact this is the first year 1 

 am sure that bees are gathering anything 

 from goldenrod. Although the acreage of 

 this plant is small, enough nectar is coming 

 in so that it shakes from the combs, and the 

 large amount of golden pollen carried in by 

 the bees furn'slics additional proof. There- 

 fore, as regards the influence that the weath- 

 er has on nectar secretion, we are not ex- 

 actly like the Dutchman, "The longer ve 

 liff tlie less ve flnd, by jimminy, out." 



Vincennes, Ind. Jay Smith. 



* * » 



In Kansas and Missouri.— ^^l^ "^ ^^is 



section, on 

 tlie line of eastern Kansas and western Mis- 

 souri, have done very well during the season 

 just closing. There are probably 2500 colo- 

 nies scattering in, tlirough and around the 

 twin cities of Kansas City% Mo., and Kan- 

 sas City, Kan., many of wliich iiave pro- 

 duced more than five supers of extracted 

 honey (250 pounds). Tliere has been an al- 

 most continual honey flow ever since the fruit 

 bloom started, which furnished considerable 

 surplus up to the present time (Oct. 1). 

 Dandelion is one of our mainstays for spring. 

 White clover gave a fine yield tliis year, 

 followed by a good honey flow of sweet clo- 

 ver, which lasted until nearly Sept. 1. Fine 

 rains last month have started vegetation to 

 growing, and some of the lawns at this 



