616 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



September 29. 



GEORGE W. YORK. EDITOR. 



PUBI.ISHT WEEKLY BY 



118 Michigan Street, CHICAGO, ILL. 



[Entered at the Post-Offlce at Chicago as Second-Class Mail Matter.] 



UNITED STATES BEE-KEEPERS' UNION 



Organized to advance the pursuit of Apiculture: to promote the interests of bee 

 keepers ; to protect its members ; to prevent the adulteration of honey ; and 

 to prosecute the dishonest honey-commission men. 



Alexnberslilp Fee-SI-OO per Annum. 



EXECUTIVE COMMiTTEE-Pres., George W. York; Vice-Pres., W. Z. Hutchinson ; 

 Secretary, Dr. A. B. Ma.ion, Station B. Toledo, Ohio. 



BOARD OP DIRECTORS-B. R. Boot: B. Whitcomb; B.T.Abbott; C. P. Dadant: 



W.Z.Hutchinson; Dr. C. C. Miller. 



General Manager and Treasurer— Eugene Secor, Forest City, Iowa. 



VOL. 38. SEPTEMBER 29, 1898. NO. 39. 



NOTE.-The Anienciin Bee Journal adopts the Orthography of the fallowing 

 Kule. recommendert by the joint action of the American Philological Asso- 

 ciation and the Philological Society of England :-Change "d" or "ed" flnal 

 to t when so pronounced, except when the "e" affecta a preceding sound. 



The Oiuataa Convention Report we expect 

 to begin next week— with the flrst number of the Bee Journal 

 for October. We are expecting a good report. The conven- 

 tion papers we think were exceptionally interesting and val- 

 uable. We presume there will be sufficient convention ma- 

 terial to run in our columns almost the whole of the next 

 three months. Every member of the United States Bee-Keep- 

 ers' Union will receive the Bee Journal containing the conven- 

 tion report in full. The Board of Directors of the Union ar- 

 ranged for that before leaving Omaha. There were four of 

 the six Directors present. 



City Bee-Keeping: is the subject of the first article 

 in this week's number. Mr. Schmidt refers mainly to the 

 keeping of bees in or near the city of Cincinnati, Ohio. With- 

 in the city limits of Chicago are found many apiaries, some 

 quite large, but of course the majority are small. They 

 range, perhaps, from one colony up to a few having over 100 

 colonies. 



Some fairly good yields have been secured from colonies 

 kept in cities. Last year one colony in our own small apiary 

 here in Chicago, produced 150 well-filled sections of honey- 

 gathered from sweet clover. Colonies in other apiaries here 

 may have done better, possibly. 



If bees are properly handled, there need be no fear that 

 they will molest near neighbors. Of course the inevitable 

 mischievous boy will find the bees If any are around, and then 

 usually the trouble begins. But it will likely also end right 

 there, if said boy experiences fully the sitting-down qualities 

 of a healthy worker-bee. Such an impression is generally 

 lasting. A boy may forget many things, but ever after being 



successfully pierced by a bee-sting he remembers it with great 



vividness whenever he finds himself again near any bees. 



While it would not be well to encourage city bee-keeping 



to a great extent, still if kept within reasonable bounds much 



good will result therefrom to those who manage their bees In 



a proper manner. 



« ■ » 



"Who is Responsible?— Referring to an item in 

 the department of " Beedom Boiled Down," which mentioned 

 that the Department of Criticism in the Bee-Keepers' Review 

 was almost entirely given up to controversy between the critic 

 and Dr. Miller, Critic Taylor says : 



" I wonder who is responsible for ' Beedom Boiled Down.' 

 The style seems strangely familiar. The writer ought to 

 stand out squarely and meet the result of his statements. 

 Anonymous publications are never lookt upon with much 

 favor." 



Mr. Taylor is too intelligent a man to admit the thought 

 that he is not familiar with current journalism, and it is only 

 through mere thoughtlessness that he could have made such 

 a remark. If he would stop to think, he would know that in 

 his favorite dally newspaper he reads many things without 

 signature, written by the editor, or by some one employed by 

 him, and if he calls such writings "anonymous," then the 

 ablest part of our ablest journals is anonymous. 



The American Bee Journal stands just as responsible for 

 " Beedom Boiled Down " as for any other editorial matter. 



Xlie Department of Criticism, in the Bee- 

 Keepers' Review, the editor says, has been praised by some 

 and condemned by others. One subscriber thinks the critic 

 should be a critic in the fuller sense of the word, giving praise 

 as well as blame. The editor says what he wanted in the de- 

 partment was to have errors and fallacious ideas pointed out, 

 and where possible better plans to be given in place of the 

 ones condemned. He now asks advice of the friends of the 

 Review as to whether the department should be continued as 

 at present or changed. 



Sliall l^e Grow Sweet Clover?— This ques- 

 tion is the heading of a contribution in the Orange Judd 

 Farmer, by Prof. L. H. Pammel, of Iowa, written in response 

 to a sample of sweet clover sent to him. He replied as fol- 

 lows : 



The specimen is of common sweet or Bokhara clover 

 {Melilotus alba). This weedy annual is a native of Europe, 

 and has become widely naturalized in portions of the United 

 States, especially so in the States of Ohio, Michigan, Wiscon- 

 sin, Illinois, Minnesota, Iowa and eastward. It resembles 

 alfalfa, but is easily distinguisht by its taller habit and larger 

 leaves, growing from three to eight feet high. Its flowers 

 are small and white. This plant is a nitrogen-gatherer, pro- 

 duces a long and deep taproot, and hence is very valuable as a 

 soil renovator, especially in the South. It thrives admirably 

 upon the thin calcareous soils of the Southern States, but it is 

 especially valuable on the old wornout prairie soils of the 

 Cotton States. 



It is equally valuable as a soil renovator in the North, 

 but the question arises, Should it be cultivated in lieu of bet- 

 ter forage plants ? A soil In the North on which this weed 

 grows is not only rendered fertile, but is made very porous. 

 The strong odor of this grass renders it objectionable to cattle 

 and stock, but they later become accustomed to it. J. G. 

 Smith says : "But if they are turned into a field of sweet 

 clover in the early spring, before the other clovers come up, 

 they will quickly learn to eat it." To obtain best results in 

 this latitude, the seed should be sown in February or March 

 at the rate of about one-half bushel to the acre. A crop can 

 be cut the first season. 



This plant is very valuable as a honey-producer, and 

 where it is abundant bees collect large quantities of honey. 

 In all probability no other plant in this latitude yields as 

 abundantly as this since the basswood and other native plants 

 are rapidly diminishing. It is able to resist the drouth to a 

 remarkable degree. Another point in its favor as a honey- 

 producer Is that the plant blossoms from June to frost. If 



