THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



297 



winter, in a few liives, tlie dead bees 

 began to drop from between the combs 

 to sucli an extent tliat soon the lieaps 

 reached to tlie frames, and these 

 heaps of dead bees were removed two 

 or three limes. If the frames had not 

 been raised, the ventilation of the 

 hives would have been effectually 

 stopped. The bees dying thus were 

 not distended, and showed no signs 

 of dysentery. I increased from .39 to 

 65 after the 1st of August, last season. 

 Possibly some of my bees were pre- 

 maturely old. I fed 1,02.5 pounds of 

 loaf sugar last fall, and did not dis- 

 criminate against combs containing 

 pollen. I thiifc my past winter's ex- 

 perince shows that bees may, with 

 very good ventilation, be wintered in 

 a very moist atmosphere, and that 

 they may be so " clotlied " as to clus- 

 ter out in an atmosphere at 40^. 1 at- 

 tribute my success to extremely good 

 ventilation. I lost extensively in the 

 same cellar during a previous winter 

 through want of ventilation. I may 

 give the particulars at a future time. 

 Lindsay, Ont.. May 12, 1883. 



Errata— In the 12th line from the top ot the 

 second column, puce 2ixi, there should be ji minus 

 slpn before 'S^. The want of it mnltes an error of 

 16''. Then the fliiures 54-f and Jljii, a little further 

 on, are made a thousand times too ^reat by the 

 omission of a del itoal point before the tlrstrj, in 

 the drst case, and tlio snhslitution of a comma for 

 a decimal point, bctwot'ti the Qr-t'2 and the 1, in 

 the second case. There are other typographical 

 errors of minor importance. S. C. 



Read before the Western Maine Convention. 



Bee Pasturage in Maine. 



DR. J. A. MORTON. 



I do not know much of this shrub 

 •which is referred to by Mr. Alley in 

 his lately published " Bee-Keepers' 

 Handy Book," unless it is our com- 

 mon white alder, found growing wild 

 so plentifully on low lands. If it is, 

 yon are all familiar with it. It is a 

 clean little tree, bearing an abund- 

 ance of bright red berries, of a swfeet- 

 ish, bitter taste. I do not know about 

 its nower, but think you had better 

 take observation of it this season, and 

 govern yourself in regard to it, as it 

 proves itself pleasant to the bees. It 

 would make a good hedge row. 



The basswood, or American linden, 

 is the most important honey-yielding 

 tree in the whole State. It is well 

 known to all bee men, and I only 

 call attention to it, for the purpose of 

 urging you to stop cutting it for tim- 

 ber at any price. Let something else 

 take its place in the lumber yard, and 

 keep it growing for the bees ; also 

 propagate it by setting out trees in 

 low places, and along the numerous 

 little streams in pastures, and along 

 streets and roadsides and by fences, 

 and even in woods where the growth 

 is scattering, or the ground is cum- 

 bered by dwarfed spruces or other 

 evergreens. Where nothing but trees 

 can grow there set the basswood. The 

 locust mingled with it or in close 



loxmity. on woody pastures, on the 

 more barren ridges and sandy knolls, 

 will grow quite fast, and soon bear 

 flowers and become valuable for 

 timber. 



In the last part of the honey season 

 the wild bloom is quite plenty and 



useful. Fireweed on the meadows 

 and river banks ; and goldenrod on 

 the dry, worn out sandy plains, in 

 lields and pastures where nothing else 

 will grow, are quite good honey plants 

 and help out the bees nicely— still I 

 am not very partial to them, for no 

 stock eats them, and they are only 

 useful for their honey, and the syrup 

 from granulated sugar is as good if 

 not better for wintering, but in this 

 matter let every man suit himself. 

 The wild aster and frostweed are tlie 

 last honey plants of the year, if we 

 accept sweet clover and motherwort, 

 which last from the first flowering till 

 the severest frosts kill them down. 

 Motherwort, catnip and some few 

 others are good weeds to sow in waste 

 places not tit for other flowers, but 

 they should be sown in considerable 

 quantities to be of any benefit. A 

 little patch of these plants are an in- 

 .jury because the bees are quite fond 

 of them, and are diverted from a 

 larger extent of other flowers not so 

 pleasant to them but yielding much 

 more honey, and more profitable to 

 the bee master. 



To those different trees, shrubs and 

 plants, you can add such as you find 

 by experience good for the purposes 

 intended. Buckwheat is a good grain 

 for feeding, and generally pays for 

 cultivation in its yield, but is quite 

 uncertain for honey. To some it will 

 be profitable to raise, to others it may 

 not. Try it. if you like. 



I wish now, having mentioned in 

 detail the leading honey plants of our 

 State, to give a rational, easy and 

 economical method of renovating any 

 of these exhausted and worn out 

 lands to which I have called attention, 

 which will enhance their value year 

 by year, and at the same time give 

 you a fair percentage on the invest- 

 ment by an immediate return in the 

 increased production of lioney. If 

 you are the fortunate or unfortunate, 

 Just as you may please to think it, 

 owner of such property, not worth the 

 trouble of repairing the fences every 

 spring, for what it will produce 

 through the summer, and, perhaps, 

 turned out to common, go and " sur- 

 vey the landscape o'er " and decide 

 that you will do something for the 

 cause of agriculture and apiculture, 

 for they go hand in hand in this en- 

 terprise. 



If you have several pastures take 

 the one nearest to the bees, first. If 

 quite small, and you can possibly do 

 so, exclude all stock from it for a year 

 at least:. If it is large and you cannot 

 lose the use of the whole of it for the 

 season, partition off a part of it by 

 fencing in more or less, but as much 

 as you can ; and by using the loose 

 rocks for this piu'pose, you gain two 

 points, you have a substantial fence 

 and get rid of the rocks. It pays to 

 snug up rocks in pastures as well as in 

 fields. Should there not be rocks 

 which can be easily handled in suf- 

 ficient quantities to complete this 

 fence, finish it with the scattering 

 spruces, firs, and other stunted ever- 

 greens within the enlosed part, whicli 

 are only a damage, as they only poison 

 the laiid for grass. Stumps and logs 

 can be used for this purpose also. 



Now go over it and cut every stunted 

 evergreen from them — for nothing 

 will grow under the shadow of such 

 trees— dig up root and branch, run- 

 ning junipers, sweet ferns, hard 

 hacks, brakes and all ; removing 

 stumps if convenient, and either pile 

 up in small heaps to burn ; or what 

 is better, leave them to decay on the 

 groundj for a cord of rich rubbish left 

 to rot, fertilizes ten times as much as 

 its ashes after being burned. Should 

 there be scattering red or rock maples, 

 elms, willows or other trees produc- 

 ing nectar bearing flowers, especially 

 basswood or locusts, by all means let 

 them stand, and if they are not in 

 sutticient quantity, draw on the woods 

 or other sources for enough to fill the 

 complement. Or, if the soil is suit- 

 able, and sheep are to occupy the 

 land, it would be a more excellent 

 plan to set native grown apple trees 

 of the hardy winter varieties, and in 

 a few years, by a little extra pains, 

 you will have a nice young orchard. 

 None of these trees need be set in a 

 regular line or order, but single or in 

 clumps in very rocky spots or places 

 where the grass will not grow or is in- 

 accessible to the stock. Of course, be- 

 fore setting these trees the land must 

 be plowed, if it can be done even 

 poorly, and smoothed off, with some 

 dressing, the more the better, such as 

 stable manure or muck, or ashes, or 

 even plaster will help it some, but be 

 as generous as you can, and you will 

 never regret it. 



Having got the land all ready for 

 the seed, be liberal with that also, for 

 you can well afford it, and, if you wish 

 to make the bees happy, sow from 

 5 to 10 pounds of sweet clover to the 

 acre, or its equivalent of White Dutch 

 or Alsike. I should prefer to have 

 them sown separately, but you may 

 like to mix them— do as you please 

 about this. To ttiese clovers you may 

 add the seeds of good pasture grasses, 

 if you wish to favor the stock which 

 is to occupy the pasture, rather than 

 the bees; but remember one thing, 

 herds grass is not good for this pur- 

 pose, the cattle soon kill it out. 



Now, perhaps, some will say it is 

 too late to do all this when there is 

 scarcely time to set in the regular 

 crops. That is all true ; but try to get 

 in an acre or two of sweet clover, or 

 White Dutch, or Alsike, and make the 

 bees happy, and you can leave the 

 balance of the pasture to work on by 

 odd jobs through the whole season, 

 and, by fall, you will be all ready to 

 sow the seed, or at least by early 

 spring. But in that case the cattle 

 must be kept out next year instead of 

 this. All I have said of the small 

 pastures will apply equally to the 

 large, whether mostly clear of woods 

 or partly in forest growth ; but let the 

 forest be divided off from the cleared 

 portion as much as it can be, for 

 woods are not good pastures, except- 

 ing basswood tor bees, the grasses 

 and tender plants will not grow there, 

 particularly is this true of evergreen 

 woods. All worn-out pastures, old 

 orchards and mowing fields, may be 

 treated in the manner above indicated 

 with variations to suit each particular 

 case, only be free with the manure 



