1240 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Oct. 1 



not waut auy flora that would spoil the 

 white clover when it does happen to blossom 

 and yield. E. H. Dewey. 



Great Barrington, Mass., July 5, 1906. 



Mr. E. H. Dctvey: — I suppose that, in that 

 -article you mention, I was deferring to a 

 popular idea that a sweet-clover admixture 

 is not desirable. My own opinion is that 

 sweet-clover honey, white or yellow, can not 

 injure white-clover honey, because it is as 

 tine in appearance and flavor as the white 

 -clover itself. 



ifJThe honey I am getting now is of a trans- 

 lucent gold' color, not unlike Dadant's foun- 

 ■dation when you cut into a comb; and as it 

 runs out on the plate it is hardly darker than 

 the white of an egg. It has a slightly green- 

 ish cast. In flavor I consider it incompar- 

 able; but then I am what might be called " a 

 sweet-clover crank" — certainly an enthusiast. 



Of cour.se, I don't get sweet-clover honey 

 pure and simple: but there is enough of it, 

 especially of the yellow kind, to make itself 

 felt if it were o])jectionable. I have had ex- 

 perience with sweet clover for upwaixl of 12 

 years; and if it ever fails to yield nectar I 

 have not observed it. It is very dry here 

 now, but the nectar is coming in freely. 



Don't take my testimony as to the quality 

 of sweet-clover honey. I can refer you to no 

 less an authority than the late Thos. G. New- 

 man, who wrote in his book, " Bees and Hon- 

 ey," concerning the little white Dutch clover, 

 •'Its honey is excelled only by that from 

 sweet clover." When such a man as New- 

 man sets sweet-clover honey in the verj^ 

 front' rank, one need hax'dly be afi'aid of ad- 

 mixture. My honey always commands top 

 prices here and it comes in competition with 

 the finest alfalfa honey from Colorado and 

 elsewhere. 



Now, if you will send your inquiry, together 

 with my reply, to Gleanings, it may help 

 some others plac^ed as you are. 



Comstock, Neb. ' A. L. Amos. 



[Samples of sweet-clover honey— that is, 

 honey from the one source only, that have 

 been submittetl to me had a sort of greenish 

 ■i-ast, and the flavor was strongly aromatic. 

 But a small amount of this flavor in any 

 good white honey gives it a quality that is 

 •delicious. Sweet clover is the best flavoring 

 honey in the world. Any mild white honey 

 "can be improved Ijy putting a little of it in. 



The bees belougmg to the editor of the 

 American Bee Journal gathered considera- 

 ble sweet clover, and every time I visited 

 Bro. York he had on his table a blend of 

 sweet clover and white clover. It was too 

 good to sell, I judge, and therefore he kept 

 it almost exclusively for his own family use. 



Our correspondent says he does not get 

 sweet clover pure and simple. My impres- 

 sion is that a pure article would be too aro- 

 matic. It is, therefore, fortunate that he 

 has a l)lend of sweet clover and white clo- 

 ver. The honey referred to by the late 

 Thomas G. Newman must have been a mix- 

 ed honey rather than the pure stufl". — Ed.] 



AN AUSTRALI AN BEE LICENSE. 



How It Permits the Exclusive Use of Bee 

 Pastiiraare. 



BY K. BEUHNE. 



Dr. Miller, some years ago, suggested in 

 Gleanings that it might be possible to se- 

 cure to a l)ee-keeper in some way the ex- 

 clusive use of the bee-forage in the radius of 

 the flight of his bees, and it may interest 

 you to learn that, through the efforts of the 

 Apiarists' Association, we have now in force 

 (since March 1) in this State of Victoria a 

 law regulating the bee-keeping industry on jy 

 State-owneil lands. Provision is made two 

 ways in the interests of apiarists — by bee- 

 site licenses and bee-range licenses. A bee- 

 keeper may, on payment of two and a half 

 shillings a' year, obtain the right to occupy 

 one or more acres of ground as a site for an 

 apiary on any forest reserve, any other 

 crown lands, or any State-owned lanil leased 

 to pastoral tenants. This bee-site license 

 gives the apiarist legal occupation; and if 

 there is not likely to be auy competition of 

 other apiarists it is all he needs, if he wish- 

 es to have the exclusive use of the bee-pas- 

 ture he may apply for a bee-range license. 

 This license covers a distance of one mile in 

 every tlirection. and the annual payment is 

 one half-penny for every acre included in 

 this I'adius. and no other bee-site license or 

 bee-range lit-ense is there issued liy the gov- 

 ernment at a less distance than two miles. 

 If any pastoral tenant of the State intends 

 to clear or ring- bark any trees, he is com- 

 pelled to give notice of his intention to any 

 bee-keeper within two miles, so that sucli 

 bee-keeper may appeal or protest against 

 the proposed destruction of honey-producing 

 flora, at a laud-b(jard. 



To prevent monopolies the number of bee- 

 sites or bee-ranges which may he granted 

 to any one person or company is limited to 

 three' Bee-keepers whose apiaries are on 

 privately owned land adjoining State lands 

 may alsw take out bee-range licenses. 



We are at present..drawing upon us a good 

 deal of animosity from cattle and sheep men 

 leasing State lands, liecause we oppose the _ 

 killing of the trees, which, w^hile it improves ■ 

 somewhat the grass upon which the lessees 1 

 depend, destroys our almost only honey-re- 

 source. In the cases which so far have come 

 before the Department of Lantls the deci- 

 sions have been in favor of the bee-keepers. 



These strained relations will disappear 

 with time, and every bee-keeper on State 

 lands can, by the payment of a small sum 

 annually, secure the full return fi'om his 

 range, and keep a possibly neglected and 

 diseased apiary two miles away. 



Tooborac. Victoria, Australia. 



[What is done in Australia could be done 

 here. If the plan works out satisfactorily ' 



aci'oss the water, the National Bee-keepers' 

 Association might do well to formulate a 

 recommendation to our national government. 

 There will soon be one or two more articles 

 on this subject. — Ed.] 



