702 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



Oct. 31, 



consulted the narratives of many early travelers, from Father 

 Hennepin down, and find no mention of honey having been 

 met with on any occasion than as above stated. Had the 

 Indians possessed honey, would they not have set it before 

 some of their guests? and would the latter, who mention 

 everything else they met with, have forgotten honey? 



In conclusion, as no one pretends that the honey-bee was 

 found in New England, as Josselyn, who, in 1638, must have 

 known the first English settlers, and been familiar with their 

 doings here, says expressly that they introduced our beloved 

 insect, I think we may very safely dispense with the Norwe- 

 gian theory of their introduction, and assume that the A^iis 

 melUflca is a valuable European insect, for whose introduc- 

 tion we are indebted (as for many other blessings) to the peo- 

 ple of the Mayflower, or their immediate followers. 



The foregoing is from a letter written to L. L. Lang- 

 stroth in ] 864, by his brother-in-law, Wm. G. Malin, and 

 now published in Gleanings. 



Soui1r)€rr) Departtrjejpt* 



CONUnCTED BY 

 DR. J. P. H. BROWN, AUaVSTA, GA. 



[Please send all questions relating to bee-keeping In the South direct 

 to Dr. Brown, and he will answer In this department.— Bd.1 



Keeping a Hive-Record. 



I don't use any tags, nor do I paint the numbers on the 

 liives, but have the plan of the apiary in my record book thus : 



If I want to look in, say hive D, 10, I don't need to step 

 in front of the hives and look for the number, but can stand 

 in any part of the apiary, count down on row D, and make a 

 bee-line for hive D, 10. 



My record-book is 3x6 inches, just right for a hip-pocket, 

 and it is a great satisfaction to sit down in the evening after 

 a day's work with the bees, and go through the book to see 

 what I have done, and map out my next day's work. Try it 

 next season, and you will wonder that you could do so long 

 without a record-book. R. V. Sauer. 



Brackettville, Tex. 



Keeping; Empty Combs. 



On page 503, Mr. G. VV. Demaree names a problem for 

 those who know a great deal about impracticable things, and 

 especially for the practical bee-keepers, viz.: "Give us the 

 best, cheapest, cleanly way of keeping empty combs when not 

 in use." 



I know that " impracticable things " are impracticable — I 

 am trying to make a living by keeping bees, and I do nearly 



all the work myself. I keep about 100 colonies for extracted 

 honey, and have not lost any combs or had them injured since 

 I built my honey-house, five years ago. 



I have a room 4x8x8 feet, ceiled so as to be bee-tight, 

 with a small window in the rear end to give light. Strips, 

 one inch square and eight feet long, are nailed horizontally 

 on either side, and two inches further apart than the depth of 

 the frame I use. These strips are for rests for other strips 

 that hold the combs. These latter strips are 1% inches by 

 %, and four feet in length. Two of these strips I place upon 

 the lower horizontal strips at the rear end of the room, and 

 hang the combs upon them as they are hung in the hives ; 

 then another tier, until the top of the room is reached. Then 

 one strip is used for each lot of combs, allowing one end of 

 the frames to rest upon the strip used in the previous tier. 



When the combs are put into the room they should be 

 fumigated with sulphur — two weeks later fumigate again, 

 and, afterward, once in six weeks. I know this method is 

 sure, and I am persuaded that it is as cheap and as cleanly as 

 filling the combs with salt or gasoline. S CZ3 



A room as described above will hold about 1,200 combs. 

 In fumigating, I use an old oven (a relic of the past). Fill it 

 half full of burning coals, set it in the room, pour into it a 

 half pound of sulphur, and shut the door. 



Bessemer, Ala. C. C. Parsons. 



Something More About Crimson Clover. 



I have noticed with pleasure theincreasinglinterest shown 

 by the American Bee .Journal in the culture of crimson clover 

 as a honey-plant. 



I have sown it for several years, and have every year 

 large fields of it. In walking through it when in bloom it 

 seems that almost every blossom has a bee on it. It produces 

 a fine grade of honey, and, unlike red clover, the bees can 

 readily get at the nectar. '^_. ~ . ~^ 



Valuable as it is for honey, it is one of the most profitable 

 crops that can be grown. Among its advantages are these : 



1. It grows in the winter, and prevents the .dand from 

 washing. 



2. It is cut in the spring, and the ground can then be 

 utilized for another crop, thus getting two crops off the land 

 per year. 



3. Unlike the clover, you do not have to wait a year for a 

 crop. 



4. It yields more abundantly than red clover a kind of 

 forage which horses and cattle prefer to almost any other. 



5. According to the reports of the experiment stations, 

 its nutritive value is of the highest. I know that my horses 

 keep in the best condition on it. 



6. It never causes "slobbering," as red clover often does. 



7. It can be grown on sandy land where red clover will 

 not thrive. 



8. It yields twice as much seed as red clover. 



9. But its greatest value is as a fertilizer, and as such is 

 the best and cheapest known. It possesses more highly than 

 any other leguminous plant the power of conveying to the soil 

 the nitrogen of the atmosphere. Its roots go deeper into the 

 soil than red clover, and are more numerous. It loosens up 

 stiff clay land, which, after awhile, becomes as friable as if 

 sand had been mixed with the soil. It has been shown by one 

 of the experiment -Stations that an expenditure of $2.65 on 

 crimson clover as a fertilizer put as much nitrogen in the soil 

 as $15 worth of nitrogen purchased in commercial fertilizers. 



As a good example of its value : I came into possession 

 of a field which would not produce over 20 bushels of corn to 

 the acre. By using about 25 bushels of ashes to the acre, and 

 returning to the field the manure from the crops which grew 

 on it I, last spring, harvested the heaviest crop of clover hay 

 grown in this valley, and have to-day nearly ready for gath- 

 ering a crop of corn of 75 bushels to the acre. 



As a grower of this clover may I correct some errors in 

 the articles in relation to it which have appeared in the Bee 

 Journal ? It is useless to sow it in the spring, as it will not 

 thrive. It must be sown in the late summer or fall, according 

 to location. Shallow cultivation of the land will not do ; the 

 ground must be plowed deeply, if it has not been so treated 

 some time durine the season. It can be sown in the corn at 

 the last cultivation, and harrowed in with a very fine-toothed 

 cultivator. If sown in the open field it should be brushed in. 



The bee-keeper who sows this clover may not only make 

 his crop of honey, but his crop of hay ; have his land in far 

 better condition than before, and ready for a crop of some 

 kind as usual. Besides, his eyes will be brightened by the 

 most beautiful field of waving color he has ever seen. 



Lynn, N. C. E. B. Thomas. 



