THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



421 



My Experience with Sweet CloTer. 



I sowed it with Alsike and mam- 

 moth clover ; tliey all bloomed this 

 season ; in the same range is timothy 

 and blue grass. Calves, hogs and 

 sheep (my stock rams) were allowed 

 to run on it, and the hogs were fed. 

 The mammoth and Alsike were eaten 

 down close to the groimd, while the 

 sweet clover is from 4 to 6 feet high ; 

 nothing eating it. In case of the ad- 

 vise given to Mr. F. M. Cheney, to 

 feed it down with pigs, it might be a 

 benefit to bees, but it would be death 

 to pigs. My stock eat rag and hog 

 weeds in preference. I shall not sow 

 any more of it, and will destroy what 

 I have, if I can. I regard it as a weed 

 useless only for bees, and a positive 

 damage to the farmer and stock 

 grower. J.A.Johnston. 



Green Hill, Ind., Aug. 11, 1883. 



[Your experience is very different 

 to hundreds of others, who give the 

 very opposite, as their experience. 

 But we give all sides to every ques- 

 tion, and all may strike a balance for 

 themselves. — Ed.T 



Bees on a Strike. 



Since the 27th day of last month 

 the bees through this section have 

 been on a strike, so to speak, when 

 white clover gave out. It has been so 

 very dry that other flowers have 

 failed to yield nectar. Melilot clover 

 is doing but little, and smartweed is, 

 this year, a failure. Buckwheat is 

 but little sown, so we may calculate 

 but a small yield of honey for the 

 balance of the season. Our corn, for 

 this season, will scarcely produce naif 

 a crop, and fruit of all kinds is almost 

 an entire failure. H. W. Wixom. 



Mendota, 111., Aug. 14, 1883. 



That Glucose Slander on Bee Men. 



It is but justice to the bee men of 

 the world, that I add ray testimony to 

 that of Mr. Wm. Muth-Rasmussen, 

 of California (page 377), against the 

 foul slander up6n the bee men of 

 California, "that they feed glucose 

 very largely, and make money out of 

 it." Such a statement has not a 

 particle of truth to back it. I spent 

 six years in California, and did noth- 

 ing else but care for bees and produce 

 honey. In that time I have seen both 

 sides of the bee business ; I have 

 seen the time when honey flowed as 

 it flows in no other country ; then I 

 have seen many more seasons when 

 there was scarcely any honey, and we 

 had to feed the bees to keep them 

 from starving, but we did not feed 

 glucose ; we did the same as Mr. 

 Kasmussen ; bought honey at a much 

 larger figure than we had sold it for, 

 and fed it to the bees. Such a base 

 fabrication has its origin in the cor- 

 rupt brain of the glucose manufac- 

 turer, and has no other foundation for 

 truth than the satisfying of an un- 

 principled desire to steal the good 

 name that pure honey has gained, by 

 palming oft their foul stuff upon the 

 inexperienced ; thereby making money 

 for themselves, but aiming a deadly 

 blow at the honest and hard-working 



honey-producer. Mr. Editor, " tire 

 not " in the good work you- are en- 

 gaged ; in nor give the enemy any 

 quarter until the popular verdict of 

 an outraged people shall place the heel 

 of disapprobation upon the head of this 

 venemous reptile, glucose. 



A. W. OSBURN. 



Water Valley, N. Y., Aug. 3, 1883. 



Little Increase and Surplus. 



My bees (41 colonies) have not 

 boomed any yet. I have had but lit- 

 tle increase and very little surplus. I 

 am out of the reach of basswood, and 

 cannot make the seed grow. Sweet 

 clover has also twice failed to grow 

 for me, but I shall try again. 



M. E. Darby. 



Dexter, Iowa, Aug. 13, 1883. 



Honey Crop of New York. 



Do not condemn the New York 

 honey crop until you hear from more 

 of us. The weather has been rather 

 too wet, but bees here have done 

 pretty well between showers. After 

 rather a moderate yield from clover, 

 basswood came in bloom, on July 19, 

 and was very sweet for 18 days. From 

 40 weak colonies I have taken 3,000 

 pounds of very choice capped honey, 

 with the extractor. Although I use 

 a frame 11x13, 1 think Mr. Demaree 

 is ahead in the frame argument. 



\V. H. S. Gkout. 



Kennedy, N. Y., Aug., 18, 1883. 



No Honey. 



The honey season here has been the 

 poorest I have ever known. No 

 honey wave or honey shower came 

 this way. Honey dew has made its 

 appearance again this season in 

 abundance. II. R. Boardjian. 



East Townsend, O., Aug. 13, 1883. 



What the Bees Gathered in 30 Days. 



The following is what an average 

 colony of bees gathered from white 

 clover, by weight, without swarming, 

 on full frames of wired foundation, 

 in 30 days : June 15, 1 lb. ; IB, 2 lbs. ; 

 17, 4 lbs. ; 18, 5 lbs. ; 19, nothing ; 20, 3 

 lbs. ; 21, 2 lbs. ; 22, 3 lbs. ; 23, 1 lb. ; 24, 

 1 lb. ; 25, nothing ; 26, nothing ; 27, 1 

 lb.; 28, 8 lbs.; 29, 9 lbs.; 30,5 lbs.; 

 July 1, 6 lbs. ; 2, 3 lbs. ; 3, 1 lb. ; 4, 2 

 lbs. ; 5, 5 lbs. ; 6, 3 lbs. ; 7, nothing ; 8, 

 4 1bs. ;9, lOlbs. ; 10,1 lb.; 11, 4 lbs. ; 

 12, 3 lbs. ; 13. 1 lb. ; 14, nothing ; 15, 1 

 lb. ; total, 84 lbs. The above shows that 

 not every day do the bees gather honey. 

 In the heighth of the season, I only 

 took on an average of 25 pounds from 

 40 colonies, to date, mostly in ^^ inch 

 sections,or7 to the foot. I use the Hed- 

 don case, and my honey is built in 

 as good shape as when I used wide 

 frames and tin separators, and I can 

 empty a case of 28 sections in less 

 time than it required to take out the 

 8 sections in one wide frame. I would 

 almost as soon think of going back 

 from a movable frame hive to the old 

 box hive, as to go back from a case 

 to wide frames and separators ; they 

 are relics of the past. 



J. J. HUItLBERT. 



Lyndon, 111., Aug. 5, 1883. 



Horse Mint. 



Enclosed I send a specimen of 

 a plant that grows on old, worn-out, 

 sandy land, and blooms in July. It 

 yields considerable honey of fine qual- 

 ity. What is it V F. Wilcox. 



Mauston, Wis., Aug. 3, 1883. 



[Horse Mint [Monarda Bradburiana). 

 There are three other species of Horse 

 Mint, all of which are good honey 

 plants. — T. J. BuRRiLL.] 



Vervain, Red Clover, etc. 



Bees are doing well here this sum- 

 mer. There has been no honey drouth 

 here at all. The fall flowers are com- 

 ing in. Our bees are working very 

 strongly on a plant which I have never 

 seen mentioned in any publication I 

 have ever read. This is the blue ver- 

 vain (or vervine). I never saw them 

 work on any thing any stronger, un- 

 less it is bass\yood. It seems to rival 

 the spider plant, for they work on it 

 all day, and I have seen a dozen on a 

 single plant, and as quick as one bee 

 leaves, another comes, and thus they 

 keep at it all day. It grows in rich, 

 moist land (not wet), along the creek 

 bottoms. There are about 4 acres in 

 this patch, and there are millions of 

 bees on it. I would like to know if 

 this has been recognized before as a 

 honey plant V Will Italian bees gather 

 honey from red clover i* Or, will any 

 strain of Italians or hybrids gather 

 enough to depend on it for a crop of 

 surplus honey ? If any of them will 

 do this, they will be the "coming bee" 

 for this section, regardless of all else, 

 for from June until September there 

 is plenty of red clover. 



An Amateur. 



Wayne Co., Ind., Aug. 14, 1883. 



[Vervain has often been mentioned 

 as an excellent honey producer. See 

 pages 537, .540, and 569 of the Bee 

 Journal, for last year. Occasionally 

 bees gather honey from the red clo- 

 ver, but it cannot be "depended upon 

 for a crop of surplus honey" — not by 

 any means. — Ed.] ' 



Local Convention Directory. 



1883. Time and PLace oj Meeting. 



Auk. 29.— S. W. Iowa, «t Red Oak, Iowa. 



K. C. Alkin.Seo. 



AuE 29.— Iowa Central. atWinterset FairGrounds. 

 Z. G. Cooley. Sec. Pro tern. 



Aug. 29, 30.— Ky. State, at Louisville, Ky. 



Dr. N. P. Allen, Sec, Smith's Grove, Ky. 



Sept. 4.-N. W. 111., & S. W. Wis., at RIdot, III. 



Jonatlian Stewart, Sec. 



Sept. 12-14.— Trl-State. at Toledo, Ohio. 



Dr. A. B. Mason, Sec, Wagon Works, O. 



Sept. 18-20.— North American, at Toronto, Out. 

 A. 1. Root, Sec, Medina, O. 



Oct. 9, 10.— Northern Mich, at Sheridan. Mich. 



O. B. Goodno, Sec, Carson City, Mich. 



Oct. 17, 18.— Northwestern, at Chicago. III. 



Thomas G. Newman, Sec. 



Oct.— Northern Ohio, at Norwali(. O. 



S. F. Newman, Sec. 



Deo. 5-6, Michigan State, at Flint. 



H. D. Cutting. Sec, Clinton, Mich. 



tS^ In order to have this table complete. Secre- 

 taries are requested to forward full particulars of 

 time and place of future meetingB.— KD. 



