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heou 



BEE-PAPf;^ 



IN AMERICA 





35th Year. 



CHICAG-O, ILL., DEC. 19, 1895. 



No. 51. 



Cojptributed /Vrticlcs^ 



On Importaxit JLpiariaii Subjects, 



Sweet Clover for Honey and Forage. 



BY. TVM. STOLLEY. 



Complying with Dr. Miller's request on page 759, re- 

 specting sweet clover (melilot), I will say this : 



1st. 1 think that about 7-10 of my 175 pounds of sur- 

 plus per colony came from sweet clover, because my bees 

 worked but a few days on alfalfa bloom, when it was cut for 

 hay. They worked much more on sweet clover than they did 

 on alfalfa, while they worked on alfalfa. I estimate that of 

 the first 2,000 pounds of (nearly white) honey gathered, 

 9/10 came from sweet clover, and but 1. 10 from alfalfa. 

 About 1,000 pounds of fall honey, I believe, consists of J^ 

 melilot, 3/10 buckwheat, and l,/5 wild bloom. There is 

 plenty of golden-rod in my locality, but bees do not work on 

 It, while four or five miles south of me (on the Platte River 

 islands) bees work well on the same plant every fall. 



2nd. I am inclined to believe that sweet clover, if allowed 

 to grow without being cut (the second year of its growth, of 

 course) will yield more honey than if cut ; but I do not think 

 that this is under certain conditions the proper thing to do for 

 one who is first and foremost a farmer, and where honey-pro- 

 duction comes in as a secondary consideration. 



3rd. Again, if a farmer is also a stock-raiser, besides be- 

 ing a bee-keeper, he may consider the fodder to be obtained 



tions, I will further say that I think it most profitable to cut 

 a proper portion of the sweet clover within two miles of my 

 little apiary, principally on the public roads, as far as a mower 

 will do it (there is always quite a lot of it that grows too near 

 fences and hedges that cannot be cut), just about the time 

 when it will soon begin to bloom, so as to cause numerous and 

 profuse sprouting anew. A proper part (about 14) of the 

 growing of melilot I aim to allow to grow unmolested. The 

 bees will boom on it soon (early in .July), and by the time the 



:'-S e' ^'' ^ ' t '' 







Apiary of Mr. Wm. Stolley, Qrand Island, Nehr. 



from a timely cutting of sweet clover worth much more than 

 the number of pounds of honey he is likely to get, if he per- 

 mits it to become stocky ; but yielding all the honey there is 

 to be obtained, if allowed to mature without cutting it once. 



■Ith. Always keeping in view my localiity, and taking my 

 surroundings as a basis when answering the Doctor's ques- 



Sweet Clover. 



most copious honey-flow from this first maturing crop is about 

 to pass away, the part that was cut in June is taking its place. 

 In doing this, and having but a certain number of colonies to 

 work on a certain number of acres of melilot at all tim.cs in 

 bloom,, the bees will have excellent pasturage from the first of 

 July until frost kills all vegetation. 



