334 



October, igog. 



I American Hee Joarnal 



be sent to the respective parties mentioned 

 in these resolutions, and to the Lebanon 

 press for publication. 



Respectfully submitted, 



\Vm. a. Selser. 

 H. C. Klinger. 

 John H. Miller. 

 Committee. 



Tlie convention adjourned, the Asso- 

 ciation to meet next year with tlie Phil- 

 adelphia Bee-Keepers' Association in 

 their usnal meeting place — the Phila- 

 delphia Commercial Museums. 



A. F. S.\TTERTH\V.\IT, SfC. 



Heavy White Clover Honey- 

 Flows-How Often? 



BY C. P. DADANT. 



The above question is propounded to 

 me for reply at the National Conven- 

 tion by an Illinois apiarist \i\\o reports 

 a v«ry good flow from white clover this 

 season, and desires to know how often 

 he may count on such crops. 



The fact that our enquirer has had 

 an extra-good flow from white clover, 

 while in most places the flow has 

 been from honey-dew this season, is 

 sufficient evidence that the large flows 

 of honey are accidental, and that no 

 one can rely on them at stated intervals. 



My recollections go back as far as 

 1868,' which, if I remember right, fur- 

 nished our first big crop of clover 

 honey. At one time I kept a diary of 

 the bee-products harvested by us, but 

 with time I neglected it, and have been 

 unable to find it. However, I can per- 

 haps name most of the years of large 

 crops in this (Hancock) county. They 

 are about as follows: 1868, 1869, 1877, 

 1878, 1882, 1883, 1884, 1889 ; then a long 

 space with indifferent crops; then 

 again 1903 — our banner year — and then 

 1908. 



It is hardly necessary to say that the 

 flow of honey depends upon so many 

 conditions that it may be good in one 

 place and bad within a very few miles. 

 For instance, one rain secured at a 

 critical time may insure a strong flow, 

 while the flow will be unimportant a 

 few miles away where the ground has 

 remained dry. In the same way, the 

 wintering of a large field of clover may 

 depend upon the fall rains, or on the 

 snow, sheltering plants that have been 

 weakened by drouth. 



Some apiarists have attempted to ex- 

 plain the cause of irregularities in the 

 yield of honey, not only in white clover 

 but in other blossoms. Up to this time 

 no very plausible explanation has yet 

 been made. We often see the pastures 

 white with clover bloom, while very 

 little honey comes into the hives. Mois- 

 ture, heat, electricity, distance of pas- 

 turage from the bees, age of the honey- 

 plants, previous crops, etc. — those and 

 many other propositions have been ad- 

 vanced in explanation of the failure or 

 success of the honey-flow without 

 proof. I have myself had the presump- 

 tion of prophesying a big crop, when 

 everything looked favorable, with the 



result of having the mortification of 

 failure instead. I have come to the 

 conclusion of saying. When all is 

 peaceable prepare for war; but when- 

 ever things look discouraging take 

 heart, for success will soon come if 

 vou persist. 



" The vears of 1869, 1878, 1883, 1884, 

 1889, 1903 were years of tremendous 

 crops, something like 200 pounds per 

 colonv average having been gathered 

 during the last named. We have had 

 numerous seasons of fair crops and 4 

 or 6 of entire failure. In 1879 the bees 

 stored nothing either from clover or 

 fall blossoms. They worked on fruit- 

 juices, and those colonies which were 

 allowed to retain this bad honey died 

 during the following winter. 



The French have an old popular 

 adage which says: If you wish to see 

 your wealth go up and down, put it in 

 sheep or in bees. This was originated 

 at a time when the inside of the hive 

 was a sealed letter to all, even to the 

 .laturalists who long regarded the 

 queen as a "king," and thought that 

 the drones laid the eggs. At the pres- 

 ent dav, with our intimate knowledge 

 of all that happens in the hive, the 

 keeping of bees is no longer a game of 

 chance, and I dare say it is the same 

 with sheep. But since we cannot con- 

 trol the weather, since we are even vin- 

 able to tell just what weather is most 

 favorable to a honey crop, it is out of 

 the question to make-any assertions of 

 future successes or failures. But of all 

 the wise men who have tried to forecast 

 possible large crops, I have the most 

 faith in the one who said that the best 

 white clover crop comes when the 

 clover is in its second year, following 

 seasons of entire dearth. I have no- 

 ticed this several times, but, of course, 

 there had to be a suflicient amount of 

 moisture to keep the plants growing. 



It is not only in Illinois that the 

 irregularity of crops and the inability 

 of saying what causes good or bad re- 

 sults is apparent. The irrigated dis- 

 tricts of the arid West, which produce 

 alfalfa in abundance through the arti- 

 ficial soaking of the ground regularly, 

 are in no better position than we are, 

 and their crops are about as irregular 

 as ours. In California it is customary 

 to say that if they have enough spring 

 and winter rains, the crop of honey is 

 assured; but a year or so ago I re- 

 ceived a letter from one of the leading 

 apiarists there, saying that all his ideas 



of what constituted satisfactory condi- 

 tions for a crop had been overthrown 

 by the failure he had just experienced, 

 as they had had abundance or rain at 

 the proper time, but very little honey 

 as an ultimate result. 



Should we consider these irregulari- 

 ties in yield and our inability to remedy 

 the conditions as tending to discourage 

 the pursuit? Not in the least. There 

 is no business, no financial enterprise, 

 no mechanical or industrial pursuit, 

 that is not dependent for its greater or 

 less success upon circumstances en- 

 tirely beyond the control of man. The 

 financial panic of 1907 has been ex- 

 plained away by thousands, but how 

 many had foreseen it.^ The price of 

 wheat, corn, horses, goes up and down 

 like the billows of the ocean, generally 

 in an unexpected manner; so do the 

 crops. 



In the eighties I had apiaries num- 

 bering some 500 colonies in all. With 

 the press of business we lowered this 

 amount to about half during the nine- 

 ties. We are again pushing our api- 

 aries upwards, so those who read these 

 lines may know that I am taking some 

 of the medicine which I recommend. I 

 have found bee-culture profitable, even 

 though we have not always done the 

 things which we knew were needful. 

 The man who takes good care of his 

 bees, who does not get too enthusiastic 

 when a big crop comes, and never 

 loses courage in disastrous years, is 

 sure to secure banner crops once in a 

 while, whether of white clover or of 

 such plants as the locality produces. 



Hamilton, 111. 



Rheumatism and Bee-Stings 



BY DR. C. C. MILLER. 



Dr. A.F.Bonney, on page 300,discusses 

 the effect, or the non-effect, of bee- 

 stings on rheumatism, and the general 

 trend of his remarks leaves the impres- 

 sion that it is only among the laity that 

 there is any sort of notion that stings 

 can benefit those who suffer from rheu- 

 matism, the profession knowing better. 



It is only fair to say that across the 

 water there have been given detailed 

 accounts in medical as well as in bee 

 journals, of cures through bee-stings 

 administered by regular members of 

 the medical profession. 



I am not saying this to insist that 

 Dr. Bonney is all wrong. I don't know. 

 I am only saying that the profession is 

 not a unit in agreeing with him. 



Dr. Bonney has been stung much and 

 has rheumatism. I have been stung a 

 good deal and have no rheumatism. 

 Before I worked with bees I suffered 

 severely from rheumatism, but for 

 many years I have not had a twinge of 

 it. '^et, like Dr. Bonney, I can't be 

 sure that stings have had anything to 

 do in the case. To be sure, my testi- 

 mony ought to count for a little more 

 than his. As he says, he is older, and 

 ought to suffer more from rheumatism, 

 stings or no stings. On the other 

 hand, at the time when I should be 

 hobbling around on crutches with 

 rheumatism I am scot free, and like 

 many another quack I can say, "If it 

 isn't stings, what is it?" But, then, I 

 don't know. 



It may be well to say that the doctors 



