THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



611 



time, utiiversiilly discoiinifred, lie was 

 gnitilied to know that now all the 

 progressive bee-keepers are advisins 

 the'phuitiiig of it, as well as alsike 

 ami scores of other plants, for honey 

 alone. There was no doubt now that 

 it was the key to the situation. In 

 vain we niav look the world over for 

 the best and naost industrious bees, 

 unless we provide them with plenty 

 of pasturage. There was no use of 

 denving it— by supplying our bees 

 with bloom from clover and basswood 

 till frost, we are causing a continuous 

 honev How, and, consequently, an un- 

 broken income of gold dollars from 

 spring till fall. Phuiting for honey 

 will be the most popular advice, here- 

 after, and will be given by every pro- 

 fressive apiarist in America. In 

 tirope they are also beginning to 

 eclio the same advice, and soon no one 

 will willingly own up to the fact that 

 he ever iliscouraged the planting of 

 anv bloom for honey alone. 



\V. H. IJussey : There is a large 

 crop of sweet clover within live miles 

 of the place of this meeting, at Aus- 

 tin, and he had seen the bees working 

 vigorously on it within a week. 



Thomas G. Newman said that 

 nearer still, were acres of it — within 

 one-quarterof a mile on all the vacant 

 lots just south of Madison and west of 

 Oakley streets. The birds had scat- 

 tered the seeds and the bees were still 

 reveling on tlie delicious nectar it 

 provides. Its modest little blossoms 

 would continue until long after win- 

 ter's frost and snow had withered or 

 buried all vegetation, and enveloped 

 the land in its sheet of snow— then 

 you may still see the tiny little flow- 

 erets of sweet clover rise amid wind 

 and storm, and show its verdure and 

 loveliness. 



James Ileddon : Will it pay to buy 

 land, pay taxes and keep up improve- 

 ments, say, with interest on the in- 

 vestment, about $5 per acre, to plant 

 for honeyy 



I'res. Miller: I have conlidence 

 enough that it will pay, to say that I 

 would be willing to yearly pay SIO per 

 acre, for good pasturage for my bees. 



James Heddon : Then as I am the 

 first to occupy it, and as others will 

 not be foolisu enough to come into the 

 territory I occupy with any other bees, 

 think of the territory surrounding my 

 apiaries that I am reaping a iiarvest 

 from— the property of my neighbors. 

 Is it to be wondered at that I look 

 witli a jealous eye at any one who 

 would think of coming and occupying 

 tlie territory with me— dividing my 

 pasturage. Is it not a wise thing to 

 keep others out of ray territory V 



Pres. Miller: There is a point of in- 

 terest there, but what we want to 

 know most is, what are the best plants 

 to sow to cover the gap after basswood 

 bloom until frost. I shall try sweet 

 clover and tigwort thoroughly. 



James Heddon : Some 12 vears ago 

 I planted several kinds, but did not 

 succeed to my satisfaction. I want a 

 staple blooni and I believe sweet 

 clover will fill all our expectation. It 

 grows anywhere, in anv kind of soil, 

 on the poorest or best of laud, in fact, 

 no land can be so poor that it will not 

 grow, thrive upon and enrich it. 



L. II. Scudder advocated the ydant- 

 ing of tigwort (also called Simpson's 

 lumey plant and carpenters' square). 

 and i)roduced a handful of seeil to 

 show to the uieuibers of the conven- 

 tion. You can lill the gaps in fences 

 and roadways by scattering it in the 

 fall. It will grow readily and give the 

 bees abundance of forage. One acre 

 of figwort, cultivated as you would 

 corn, will yield more protii in honey 

 than an acre of corn, lie had counted 

 100 seeds in one bulb. 



Pres. Miller had counted these tiny 

 seeds in one bulb and there were 104 

 of them. 



Rev. D. Whitmer: I shall sow fig- 

 wort for my bees. I sowed some 

 sweet clover, but from some cause it 

 never came up. 



Geo. Thompson : Of all the plants 

 to cover the gap from white clover to 

 frost, sweet clover is the best. It is 

 a biennial. I once sowed a lot of it 

 in a small box and it did not come up ; 

 I was disgusted with it and threw it 

 out ; next year I discovered it where 

 I had thrown it out, coming up as 

 thick as hairs on a dog's back. 



AV. II. Bussey : It should be frozen 

 to get it to bud. He had sowed it in 

 the spring and thought it would not 

 come up, but after a frost it came 

 abundantly ; one of its recommenda- 

 tions being that it thrives well in dry 

 and hot weather. 



Geo. Thompson : The reason for 

 that is that its roots are as long as my 

 arm and it goes ilown to the water. 



President Miller : I sowed some 

 sweet clover in July, but it did not 

 come up very strong. I will let it 

 stand and reso w the same ground with 

 it this fall. By sowing two years in 

 succession on the same ground, we 

 can obtain a continuous bloom every 

 year. 



James Heddon : I sowed sweet 

 clover 6 or 7 years ago, and it is now 

 as thick as ever —it does not die out. 



L. II. Scudder sowed an acre in the 

 fall and it did not come up, but he 

 saved some of tlie seed till spring and 

 then sowed it, and it came up very 

 thickly. 



President Miller had sowed it on 

 rich ground, broadcast, but it was 

 choked with weeds. It should be 

 sown in drills, and the weeds should 

 be kept down. He sowed figwort in 

 drills and it did well, but when sowed 

 broadcast the weeds choked it, and 

 killed it all out. Some of the stalks 

 of figwort were taller than he could 

 reach, when on good soil, and kept 

 well watered. 



M. M. Baldridge : Sweet clover 

 should be sown on two pieces of land, 

 alternate years, because when planted 

 lioth successive years on the same 

 land, its profuse growth may choke 

 it and the roots die out. There is an 

 old law against iilanting sweet clover 

 I think, and it ought to Ije abolished. 



The President appointed L. II. 

 Scudder and M. M. Baldridge a com- 

 mittee to present a resolution calling 

 for the abolition of the law against 

 sweet clover if it really existed in the 

 State of Illinois; the committee to 

 ascertain and report at the next meet- 

 ingof the Society. 



M. M. Baldridge : It never grows 

 on i)asture lands or in cultivated fields 

 and it is not a noxious weed. 



President Miller had seen it grow- 

 ing on blue clay and rocky ground, 

 where nothing else would grow. 



Peter Dahl had plenty of it growing 

 and preferred it to ragweed. 



Fuel for Smokers. 



\V. H. Bussey : What is the best 

 fuel for smokers ? 



J. E. Hunter : Dry corn cobs split 

 up. 



O. O. Poppleton : Elm wood par- 

 tially rotten. 



Dr. J. II. Sliultz : Refuse ax hand- 

 les ; they are hickory wood and when 

 split up fine and cut short will last for 

 hours. 



Dr. Stevenson thought cotton rags 

 are best. 



Mrs. L. Harrison also uses and likes 

 cotton rags in smokers. 



James Ileddon : Hard wood is ob- 

 jectionable; it makes too hot a fire, 

 and runs creosote. Puuk or rotten 

 maple wood is best. 



Geo. Thompson likes rotten apple 

 wood best. 



Adjourned to 7 p. m. 



EVENING SESSION. 



The Convention was called to order 

 at 7 p.m. by the President, Dr. C. C. 

 Miller, who stated that it was his de- 

 sire to prevent increase as much as 

 possible, in order to work for honey, 

 and, therefore, in the absence of any 

 thing else before the Convention for 

 discussion, he would name as a sub- 

 ject 



The Preventien of Swarming. 



E. J.Oatman: As a rule the colo- 

 nies that do not swarm do not give as 

 good results as those that give, at 

 least one swarm each. 



Geo. Thompson : It adds to the 

 quantity of honey gathered, to let 

 them swarm, for it is well known that 

 swarms gather more honey than old 

 colonies. 



E. J. Oatman : Yes ; swarms work 

 with more vigor, and gather more 

 honey than older colonies. 



J. E. Hunter believes that the clip- 

 ping of queens' wings has an influence 

 on swarming. Before he clipped the 

 wings of his queens he was troubled 

 with excessive swarming; since then, 

 he has not. In the spring he had 90 

 colonies, and now he has 135. 



James Heddon ; One of the causes 

 of swarming is that bees are dissatis- 

 fied with their queen; they will be 

 more likely to swarm when the queen's 

 wing is clipped. The bees thought, 

 with him, that a queen with a wing 

 clipped was not a whole queen. By 

 giving the queen plenty of room and 

 using comb foundation judiciously, 

 swarming can be largely controlled. 



O. O. Poppleton : I do not desire 

 increase, and liave had only 4 natural 

 swarms this season. I believe with 

 Mr. Ileddon that bv the use of comb 

 foundation and giving the queen 

 room, swarming may be controlled. 



W. H. Balch : Does the clipping of 

 tlie (lueen's wmg prevent her from 

 laying the eggs, which will fill the 

 hive wit be 



