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(Entered as second-class matter July 30, 1907, at the Poat-Offlce at Chicago, 111., under Act of March 3, 1879.) 

 Published Monthly at 75 cents a Year, by George W. York & Co., 118 West Jackson Boulevard. 



GEORGE W. YORK, Editor 



CHICAGO, ILL,, MAY, 1909 



VoL XLIX— No. 5 



ditorial 

 and CommeTifs 



How About White Clover? 



There seems unusual interest this 

 year in the question as to whether there 

 will be a white-clover crop this year. 

 Some hold that it was so dry last sum- 

 mer or fall that a failure will follow. 

 Others e.xpect a crop in spite of the 

 drouth. The Bee-Keepers' Review 

 quotes Prof. W. J. Beal, of the Michi- 

 gan Agricultural College, as saying: 



White clover will blossom and bear seeds 

 every year if the conditions are favorable. 

 If we have a cool, wet spring, white clover 

 will be abundant; if dry in May and June, 

 the crop will not amount to anythinR. How it 

 will be about the growth of the seed this 

 spring that fell upon the ground last June 

 is uncertain. In places where the plants 

 throve last year, you may expect them again 

 this year, as good, if the season is favorable." 



Editor Hutchinson says : "We may 

 theorize all we please, but when the 

 drouth of the autumn is followed by a 

 honey-dearth the next year, not only 

 one year, but year after year, it practi- 

 cally settles the matter in my mind." 



Well, we do not need to wait very long 

 to know what white clover will do this 

 year. Certainly there was drouth last 

 fall over a large area. Will there be a 

 good growth of clover over that area? 

 And if so, will there be nectar in the 

 blossoms? 



Large Average from Few Colonies 



Every now and then some beginner 

 reports an average yield per colony quite 

 beyond that of many more experienced 

 bee-keepers. Some have attributed this 

 to the intense enthusiasm of the begin- 

 ner. But the enthusiasm of the genuine 

 bee-keeper does not fade out with the 

 passing of the years. Even if it did, the 

 enthusiasm of the beginner would hardly 

 offset the skill and experience of the 

 veteran. The difference is to be rather 



in thi- ihe beginner having only 



a few -, his bees have a better 



chance at pasturage. M. V. Facey says 

 in the Bee-keepers' Review : 



"In 1908, %vhich was rather a good year 

 in this locality, the colonies in my yards 

 considerably exceeded 100 pounds per col- 

 ony, but farmers' bees, with only a few 

 swarms in a place, handled under my direc- 

 tions, netted over 200 pounds, while one man's 

 bees (only two colonies) yielded 540 potinds, 

 although of only ordinary strength in the 

 spring. I have invariably found that, as a 

 rule, to have a few bees in a place will ex- 

 ceed in results, per colony, the yield of a 

 yard of, say 15 or 100 colonies, about 83 

 percent." 



The explanation is easy. Suppose 

 100 colonies in an apiary where white 

 clover is the main source. The surplus 

 will be stored in the space of 2 to 6 

 weeks. At other times no surplus will 

 be stored, although qirite a bit of honey 

 is gathered and used by the bees for 

 their own needs. Now suppose there 

 are only 2 colonies instead of lOO. In 

 that case it may happen that the bees 

 will be able to store a surplus during 8 

 to 10 weeks, and of course that will 

 greatly increase the average per colony. 

 But the yield per colony is not the most 

 important thing. It is more profitable 

 for most to have an average of .so 

 pounds per colony from loo colonies 

 than to have an average of 200 pounds 

 froin 2 colonics. 



Slow Cooling of Beeswax 



At one time the American Bee Journal 

 was criticised severely for advising that 

 beeswax should be cooled slowly in ord- 

 er to have best quality. However severe 

 the censure, there was comfort in the 

 thought that the suffering was in a just 

 cause. There is now additional com- 

 fort in finding that so good an authority 

 as Mr. Thos. W. Cowan in his new book, 



"Wax Craft," endorses the views then 

 given. On page 61 he says: 



"The scum is then taken off, the copper 

 covered over with cloths, and the water and 

 wax are allowed to cool as slowly as possi- 

 ble, for the slower in cooling the more re- 

 fined the wax becomes." 



To be sure, one might saj', "Keep the 

 wa.x hot a long time, so as to allow 

 plenty of time for impurities to settle," 

 for that would leave the wax just as 

 clear as slow cooling, but rapid cooling 

 afterward would not be so well on an- 

 other account. For if the wax cooled 

 rapidly, the outside becomes solid first, 

 and the cake cracks. To avoid this, Mr. 

 Cowan again prescribes "slow cooling," 

 saying, (page 72) : 



"The whole of the wax and water from the 

 press is then poured into a can and kept cov- 

 ered so as to cool very slowly, thus prevent- 

 ing the wax from cracking." 



So it seems that "slow cooling" is the 

 orthodo.x thing. 



A large quantity of wax covered over, 

 in a warm room, will of itself cool slow- 

 ly, without any further preliminary. A 

 small quantity cools more rapidly. Add 

 a quantity of hot water, and that will 

 make it cool more slowly. An excel- 

 lent way is to put the dish of wax 

 fthere may or may not be water in the 

 dish with the wax) into the oven of the 

 cook-stove in the evening, leaving it 

 there till the next morning. The slow 

 cooling of the stove insures the slow 

 cooling of the wax. But there may be a 

 had mess if you forget to take out the 

 wax until the stove becomes very hot 

 the next morning. To avoid this, put the 

 stove-handle in the oven with the wax, 

 and when you take out the handle in the 

 morning you will be likely to think of 

 the wax. 



Pollen for Brood-Rearing 



On page 131, R. C. Aikin expresses 

 uncertainty as to whether feeding will 

 induce bees to rear brood provided no 

 pollen be present. One of the older 

 members of the craft reports that years 

 ago he had a colony in early spring that 

 had no eggs or brood, while others had 

 plenty. Deciding that it was queenless 

 he was about to unite it with a queen- 

 right colony when he happened to notice 

 that no pollen was present. A frame 

 of pollen was given, and brood-rearing 



