AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



601 



estimated, for he who has grass has 

 meat; and he who has clover, has milk 

 and honey. Clover makes an excellent 

 pasture, and good hay, and one of the 

 best fertilizers known, when plowed 

 under in its green state. Mr. T. B. 

 Terry, the great potato man of Ohio, en- 

 riches his fields by plowing under clover, 

 and in this way obtains no seeds of nox- 

 ious weeds. There are forty different 

 kinds of clovers in this country, many 

 of them to be found on the Pacific coast. 



bed clovek {Trifolium Pratense) . 



This is the most valuable for soiling 

 purposes of all the clovers, and is not 

 dependent upon honey-bees for its ferti- 

 lization, but upon bumble-bees (Bombus), 

 as its tube-like corollas are too long and 

 narrow for the bees to reach the nectar, 

 where it is grown upon rich lands. If 

 from any reason, either by drouth or 

 poor soil, the heads are small, and the 

 tube-like corollas short, the bees are 

 able to reach the nectar, and the progeny 

 of some queens have also a longer pro- 

 boscis. 



I would like to put in a plea for the 

 poor, abused bumble-bees. The Austra- 

 lians discovered that no seed matured 

 upon red clover, and imported bumble- 

 bees, when they could grow seed in 

 abundance. Notwithstanding their good 

 service to farmers, they make war upon 

 them continually, destroying their nests. 

 Would it not be better to cover their en- 

 trances to their nests with screens, con- 

 fining them in while workmen and 

 horses are near, than destroying them ? 

 The first crop of red clover bears but 

 little seed, for this reason, that there 

 are so few bumble-bees early in the 

 season, as only the queen survives the 

 winter. 



alsike clover (Trifolium Hybrida) and 

 white clovek (Trifolium Repens). 



Alsike clover is a first cousin to both 

 white and red clover, and resembles 

 them both. It yields more nectar than 

 white clover, and is preferred by the 

 bees. The first crop yields seed, and 

 has the ability of taking care of itself, 

 by re-seeding. 



By cutting Alsike clover, just as it 

 comes into bloom, it will then bloom in 

 August, which will fill the interregnum 

 between white clover and fall flowers. 



The praises of white clover have been 

 so aptly sung, that I do not feel able to 

 add anything thereto. For these clovers, 

 we are indebted to the honey-bees, for 

 they would be rare plants with only an 



occasional specimen, if the bees did not 

 fertilize the bloom. 



sweet clover (Melilotus Alba, Melilotus 

 Officinalis) . 



I do not think that the good qualities 

 of these plants are known and appre- 

 ciated as their merits demand. It is a 

 biennial, growing in poor, rough, grav- 

 elly lands, adding to their fertility, and 

 preventing washing. It adds a sweet 

 perfume to hay when mowed away with 

 it, and animals learn to relish it. It 

 shows itself so early in the spring before 

 other clovers, and is greedily devoured 

 by fowls, and furnishes bee-pasture from 

 June until frost. 



HONEY AND WAX. 



" My son, eat thou honey, because it 

 is good," was uttered many centuries 

 ago, by one of the wisest of men, and is 

 just as good food now, as in the past. 

 Chemists cannot manufacture it ; Nature 

 has her own laboratories in the corollas 

 of flowers, and how it is distilled is one 

 of her own secrets. 



Honey is not only good for food, but 

 is used by the Materia mediea for the 

 alleviation of ills which the flesh is heir 

 to, as well as the sting of the bee, which 

 is a powerful antidote for the alleviation 

 of distress. 



Chemists cannot manufacture wax — it 

 is the secretion of the honey-bee, and is 

 used in many ways in the arts and 

 sciences. 



After a careful revision of the func- 

 tions of the honey-bee, the most useful 

 to the world at large, is the fertilization 

 of plants, and the bees should be the 

 necessary adjunct of every country 

 home. Mrs. L. Harrison. 



J. H. Larrabee — I notice that Mrs. 

 Harrison's essay says that cattle learn 

 to like sweet clover, and I think she is 

 correct about tbe matter. I think they 

 do not like it until they learn to like it. 

 At the college we made some silage from 

 sweet clover, and a horse that had been 

 accustomed to silage ate it quite readily, 

 while some cattle not accustomed to 

 silage would not touch it. 



S. N. Black said that sweet clover 

 would live several years if not allowed 

 to go to seed. He had not been success- 

 ful in getting it to grow. 



J. A. Green advised the setting out of 

 small plants. If they throve it would 

 show that the conditions were adapted 

 to its growth. 



