Jan. 5, 1899. 



AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL 



iug- sweet clover and alfalfa. I observed that there was a 

 difference ■ of opinion among you, but the reporter for the 

 paper did not g"ive any definite information as to what the 

 sense of the association was. I have been working- along 

 this line somewhat, but there are men here who would nat- 

 virally be better informed than I am as to the relative value 

 of the two plants. The experiments that we have gone 

 through with during the past year have shown that the 

 value of alfalfa depends upon conditions — that in different 

 circumstances there is a difference of results. Irrig^ated 

 alfalfa does not give us the honey results that we getfrom 

 alfalfa which has had a moderate degree of moisture from 

 natural sources ; and where it is on dry ground, entireh- free 

 from all humid influences, we get little or no nectar." I do 

 not know whether that answers the question or not ; but 

 those are the three points that we have been working upon. 



Dr. Mason — Are you sure you haven't made a mistake 

 about that matter of irrigation and moisture in the air. and 

 its effect upon the honey-yield ? 



Prof. Hunter — I am giving you the results of the experi- 

 ments that have been conducted thus far. 



Dr. Mason — Science sometimes makes great mistakes. 



Prof. Hunter — I am always willing to grant that. One 

 season's experiments would not allow me to give what might 

 be called conclusive results. The theory that we have ndw 

 is that irrigation simply aft'ects the root of the plant, and its 

 growth, while humiditv of the atmosphere would more affect 

 the blossoms. There is a certain percent of moisture taken 

 from the atmosphere by the plant that would not be taken 

 by the roots ; that is, there are certain chemical changes 

 that take place in tlie plant and in the flower, that we are 

 not able to perfectly understand, but the theory is that the 

 different conditions are produced by the different effects 

 from ii-rigation and from rainfall. Irrig-ation does not give 

 the humidity of the atmosphere that rainfall does. 



Mr. Danzenbaker — Which is better ? 



Prof. Hunter — Rainfall gives better results. 



Mr. Whitcomb — You were speaking in regard to alfalfa 

 as compared with white clover. 



Prof. Hunter — "VVe have not much white clover where 

 the alfalfa grows, so for the comparative results we shall 

 have to depend largely upon the experience of the men who 

 have dealt with both. The bee-keepers of western Kansas 

 say it is equal — some go further and say it is better— but 

 the conservative ones say it is equal to white clover in its 

 honey. It would be very interesting to me to hear a little 

 discussion among the members present upon that point. 



Dr. Mason— I have often thought of what Mr. Root once 

 had to say in Gleanings. Prof. Cook had made an analysis 

 of Alsike clover, and found that it did not contain nearly 

 the nutriment that other grasses do, and Mr. Root's idea 

 was that he would give a great deal more for the opinion of 

 of the horses and cows on its food value than for the opin- 

 ion of science. It may, or it may not, be true that wliat the 

 Professor has said will work out all right in practice. If I 

 understand him rightly, his theory is that alfalfa does not 

 yield honey in a country where it is simply irrigated, and 

 where there is no moisture in the atmosphere. 



Prof. Hunter— I am trying to give you comparative re- 

 sults, or a statement of the circumstances where it would 

 give you the best results. 



Mr. Rauchfuss— I lived in the old country, in Germany, 

 in a very moist section, where it rains nearlv three times a 

 week, and I never knew that alfalfa was a hoiiev-plant while 

 I was there— I never .saw a bee on it, nor regarded it in the 

 light of a honey-plant. When I came to Colorado I was sur- 

 prised to see what quantities of honey the bees will some- 

 times gather from alfalfa, and I have tried to find out under 

 what conditions the bees will do the best on alfalfa. For 

 this purpose I have had two hives on scales. I have noted 

 down the temperature, the maximum and minimum tempera- 

 ture each day, and also the general conditions of the 

 weather, and I have found that in most cases a day that is 

 fairly calm, with little wind, and comfortably warm,' from SO 

 to 100 deg.— Would be the best for the bees to gather honey 

 from alfalfa. And in regard to alfalfa that isirrigated and 

 alfalfa that is not irrigated, the latter the bees will visit, but 

 they do not seem to get much from it. This year we have 

 had about 20 acres of alfalfa within 500 yards' of our bees. 

 It was not irrigated on account of having too much other 

 work, and the bees went right over that patch and visited 

 some that was irrigated three miles off. We have had our 

 bees go as far as four miles away into alfalfa fields that are 

 m good bloom. Occasionally, of course, they will visit 

 alfalfa that is not irrigated, but they do not do very much 

 good on it. In regard to the maxim'um vield— 16 pounds a 

 day— that is, for a single day in the best of the season, has 



been the most that we have ever had from one colony. Last 

 year we had two colonies on scales, and one gained 101 

 pounds in 10 days. That was a fairly good yield. It was a 

 good colony. The other colony that we ha'd on the scales 

 was not in nearly so good condition, but it discounted the 

 other after all. for it stored 220 pounds of extracted honey 

 in the season, while the one that made the 10 days' record 

 produced only ISO pounds for the season. This last colony 

 we have had on the scales for seven years, and during thos'e 

 seven years it has never had at any time in the season more 

 than five frames of brood. It was" in a 10-frame hive, and 

 averaged about 200 pounds of honey a, year. It was origi- 

 nally an Italian colony, but has been hybridized. 



Dr. Miller— I would not give a blue button for the in- 

 vestigations of the scientist if they are not borne out by 

 practical experience. But let us be very careful about un- 

 derestimating the work of the scientist. ' We may find that 

 there will be appearances of contradiction when 'there is no 

 contradiction in fact. I very much doubt whether there is 

 any real conflict here. The Professor tells us that the rain- 

 cloud is worth more than the irrigating ditch, while on the 

 other hand Mr. Rauchfuss tells us that the alfalfa that was 

 irrigated was worth very much more than that which was 

 not irrigated. There is not necessarily any contradiction 

 here. The point is, the alfalfa in the one case was irri- 

 gated : did that in the other case have plenty of rainfall ? 



Mr. Rauchfuss — No, sir. 



Prof. Hunter — Where there lias been too much rainfall, 

 you have another condition in which j-ou get no yield. This 

 year my work has been in 15 countie"s, but I would not like 

 to have you understand that there is anything conclusive in 

 the result of the experiments, because I do not consider that 

 one season's work can be conclusive. We are beginning to 

 work in earnest, and I am endeavoring to make every man 

 who owns a colony of bees in the State of Kansas a co-opera- 

 tor in the work, whose testimony will be worth as much as 

 mine. 



Mr. Stilson — This g-oes along in the same lines upon 

 which we have been experimenting in this State a little. 

 To-morrow, when you are on the Expo.sition grounds, we 

 will show 3'ou some results along these same lines of which 

 the Profes,sor speaks. You can g-et some profit by discus.s- 

 ing the question out there. 



Dr. Miller— Why is it that in Germany the alfalfa 3'ields 

 no honey, while it yields honej- out here, and within 10 

 miles of my place in Illinois it doesn't yield a drop ? 



Mr. Westcott — I have eight acres of alfalfa at my place 

 that grew a length of nine feet this year. I let that 'alfalfa 

 stand until it was in blossom, and in fact it was too ripe be- 

 fore I cut it. I never saw bees on it but one time, and then 

 pnly a few. I visited it quite often. In the middle of the 

 summer, before I cut it. I tried it again, but when I lookt at 

 it then there were no more bees upon it than there were in 

 the spring. It is in blossom to-day, but I have received no 

 honey from that alfalfa j'et. 



The convention then adjourned to hold an informal ses- 

 sion on the grounds of the Trans-Mississippi and Interna- 

 tional Exposition, the next forenoon, at 9:30. 



The following are the papers by Dr. Brown and Wm. 

 McEvoy, previously referred to ; the first is by Dr. Brown : 



Needs of Bee-Culture in the South. 



This subject embraces so much and presents so many 

 topics for discussion that I am at a loss to know what to 

 select for this short paper. You will find the needs in the 

 South of the same character as the needs that are required 

 for the successful and profitable culture of the honey-bee in 

 all other sections of our country. 



The first great need is an abundance of honey-produc- 

 ing flora ; second, bees to gather it ; third, sufficient knowl- 

 edge on the part of the bee-keeper to enable him to know 

 when and honi to manipulate the bees in order to secure the 

 most profit from their industry ; and fourth, a market for 

 the. sale of the product when gathered. I think these are the 

 great needs for profitable apiculture in any country. 



In the South we have a g-reater variety of melliferous 

 plants than there is in the North. The" honey season is 

 more extended, while the flow seldom comes in, "as it were, 

 in a rush. From the middle of June until the first of Sep- 

 tember bees seldom gather more than a support, except pos- 

 sibly along the coast of Florida, where the black mangrove 

 grows. There is need of a forag-e plant capable of standing 

 drouth and heat, and at the same time secreting hone)', to 

 come in and fill up this void between the close of the spring 

 harvest and the fall honey-flow, which comes about the first 



