DEVOTED EXCLUSIVELY TO PROGRESSIVE BEE CULTURE. 



Vol. XVIII. Chicago, lU., February 22, 1882. 



No. 8. 



J^'^^^'^\^;^^9^:^l{^ 



Published every Wednesday, by 



THOMAS G. NEWMAN, 



Editor and Puoprietor. 

 974 WEST MADISON ST., CHICAGO, ILL. 



TERMS OF SUBSCRIPTION! 



WEKKI-.Y— (52 numbers) JSa a year, in advance. 

 'i'hree or Six Months at the same rate. 



EnUred at Chicago post office as second class viatter. 



TOPICS PRESENTED THIS WEEK. 



Editorial- 

 Sweet Clover for the South 113 



Fastening Foundation in Frames 114 



Syrian Bees 114 



Mild ^'inter in Europe 114 



Items 115 



Catalogues 1 15 



Foul Brood ; its Origin, Development and 



Cure 115 



Goodrich's Foundntion Fastener lli 



Local Convention Directory 115 



Amon^ Our Exchanges— 



Encouraging Outlook 115 



Introduction of Bees Into America llfj 



Convention Notes— 



Nebrasfeu State Convention 116 



Prevention of Swarming lin 



Correspondence — 



The New Races of Bees 117 



The Best Bees Controversy 118 



How to Use the Apiary Register 118 



Foundatiiin for Surplus lU) 



Section Honey Boxes 119 



Wired Comb Foundation 12*j 



The Theory of Parthenogenesis 120 



Wooden Separators for Sections 121 



Plan for Wintering Bees 121 



Location an Importint Matter 121 



Selections from Onr Letter Box- 

 Much Honey Consuuied 122 



Bacterium 122 



Bees Wintering in First Rate Order 122 



Better than Ever 122 



Tin Numbers for Hives 122 



DoingNicely 122 



N. E. Wisconsin Convention 122 



The Lewis Section 123 



Irregular <'omba 123 



An Excel ^eu t lieport I2a 



Will Air-'i'ight ,Iars Prevent Candying?.. 123 



What was it ? I2:i 



Bees in the Cellar Doing Well 123 



Climbers for Shade 123 



Ail Right, sn f ar 123 



Recipe tor Rlaking Paste 123 



Bees have Inid Frequent Plights 124 



Bees Doing Well 124 



Prospects Brighter J 24 



Cold 124 



The Langstroth Hive 1 24 



Wintering Well in Chaff. 124 



Packed in Chaff 124 



Spring-ljiko 124 



Dairy vs. Apiary 124 



Bee-Kef>pingin Georgia 124 



Mild Winter 124 



Beo-Keeping in Utah 124 



Young Bees 124 



g^\TOg/^^ 



ltil!r!ti^i 



Sweet Clover for the South. 



We are more than pleased to ob- 

 serve the deep interest awakening in 

 regard to planting to secure a con- 

 tinuous honey flow, and the general 

 favor which the much abused, but 

 very worthy, sweet clover (Melilotus 

 alba) is gaining. Mr. J. L. Edwards, 

 of Wadesboro, N. C, in a letter dated 

 Feb. 6, 1882, writes as follows : 



I have had poor success with bees, 

 owing to the fact tliat there are but few 

 honey-producing plants or trees on 

 my plantation, or in my section of the 

 country ; but your remarks on sweet 

 clover,"in the Bee Journal for Jan. 

 11, encourages me to give it a trial- I 

 am anxious to raise enough honey for 

 my own family. Now, I wish to know 

 if sweet clover will do well as far 

 South as this— latitude 330? If it will 

 make good hay and pasture, I will 

 plant it instead of red clover. What 

 kind of land does it grow best on i* I 

 have about 50 acres of creek bottom, 

 part sandy loam and a part clay loam ; 

 I have also a variety of uplands, sandy, 

 clay and gravelly. Some of my bot- 

 toms are too wet for red clover, some 

 are too sandy ; all of my uplands are 

 too dry for red clover to stand our long 

 hot summers. Please answer the 

 above questions, and give me all the 

 information you can. I feel deeply 

 interested in sweet clover. Hay is 

 worth S25.00 a ton with us, and if 

 sweet clover will succeed here, as well 

 as it does in the Northern States, I 

 will go into it quite extensively. 



Try the sweet clover on your bot- 

 tom lands, especially on the sand and 

 clay loams; also on the uplands. It 

 will stand any amount of water, and 

 on gravel soil the tap-root will run 

 down till it finds moisture. Your 

 climate, we think, is well adapted for 

 its growth, as it will withstand any 

 degree of summer heat or winter cold, 

 and its deep-penetrating, wide-spread- 



ing roots, admirably adapt it to any 

 variety of soil, whether wet or dry, 

 sand or clay, loam or gravel. Being 

 remarkably thrifty in growth, it will 

 be found equal to red clover for soil- 

 ing, and can be successfully grown in 

 localities where the latter will prove a 

 failure. Prof. C. E. Thorne, of the 

 Ohio State University, thus testifies 

 regarding its value as a field plant : 

 "It will grow quite luxuriantly in hard, 

 poor clay, where even white clover 

 will scarcely live at all, and grows 

 much more rapidly than red clover in 

 any soil, while in the soils that are, as 

 is said, ' clover-sick,' it thrives as 

 well as anywhere. It is a good forage 

 plant for bees and for cattle, and is 

 well adapted for soiling, as it makes a 

 growth of 4 to 6 feet during the season, 

 and is said to bear 2 or 3 cuttings. A 

 German analysis gives its hay a feed- 

 ing value of $15 per ton as against 

 $16.28 for very good red clover hay. 

 While red clover, upon which our 

 farming in many sections, and espec- 

 ially in clay lands, depends so es- 

 sentially for crops of grain, is becom- 

 ing more and more uncertain. It 

 would seem to be worth while to try 

 this ' fast weed ' as a resource for re- 

 cuperative green manuring, in heavy 

 soils especially." 



But its greatest recommendation for 

 the general bee-keeper is the fact that 

 it requires no especial cultivation, 

 thus making it especially desirable for 

 roadsides and commons. Being a 

 biennial, the seeds possess great vital- 

 ity, and may be kept over for a long 

 time, and scattered a handful at a 

 time, as opportunity offers, or a bare 

 place developes itself. 



1^- Mr. Vennor says : " We are 

 going to have a very stormy and cold 

 March in western and southwestern 

 sections chiefly." But he has signally 

 failed in his prognostigations for De- 

 cember and Jannary, for this locality. 



