806 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



Dec. 19, 



5th. My impression that sweet clover, if not cut, yields 

 more nectar than when it is cut. is not such that I am con- 

 vinced of it, but it is an open question with rae yet. To this 

 conclusion I have come by watching the working of the bees 

 on the bloom of sweet clover ; and it appeared to me that they 

 work with more vim on the first bloom. At all events, sweet 

 clover, on account of its deep, penetrating roots, is a much 

 more reliable honey-yielder than white clover, not being sub- 

 jected to the effects of ordinary drouths. 



6th. Treating melilot exclusively as a forage plant, I will 

 say that I have sown 15 pounds of seed to the acre, and 

 secured a good stand. I have sown early in the fall, so as to 

 insure good rooting of the young plants before frost; and I 

 have sown also late in winter, so as to allow the seed to take 

 advantage of the early spring moisture, with the same satis- 

 factory results. Even the stubble of small grain, or a corn- 

 field, is good enough for sweet clover without further cultiva- 

 tion, except a slight harrowing, and it will take care of itself 

 in this part of the world. I have frequently scattered the seed 

 indiscriminately on vacant places, along public roads, where 

 noxious and worthless weeds were growing, and three years 

 later the sweet clover had run out the weeds entirely. I5ut let 

 rae state right here, that sweet clover growing on and along- 

 side of public highways should be cut about June 120, so as to 

 dwarf the growth of the plants. If this is neglected, sweet 

 clover is likely to grow so rank and high as to make it a nui- 

 sance in winter, by causing the drifting snow to bank up, 

 thus making the public roads impassable. Many rank weeds, 

 however, generally growing now on public roads, are .just as 

 objectionable in this respect as sweet clover. By mowing it 

 the middle or 20th of June (not later, if the aim is to make it 

 profitable for the apiarist as a honey-producer), sweet clover 

 will furnish bee-pasturage until frost kills all growing veg- 

 etation, and is not objectionable in any way to anybody if 

 growing on the public highways; on the contrary, it is at- 

 tractive, its perfume is delicious, and it keeps the roads in 

 good condition. In a mild and late autumn I have seen melilot 

 thus treated blooming in December, and bees at work on it 

 here in Nebraska. 



7th. Sweet clover is much more succulent, and requires 

 considerably more curing than alfalfa. During the first year 

 it should be cut the latter part of June, when it is from 18 to 

 24 inches high ; again the middle or latter part of August, 

 and then it will make a fine subsequent growth, so as to make 

 excellent pasture for stock clear into winter, and not be in- 

 jured. 



The second year it should be cut but once, in June, or not 

 at all, as circumstances may make it advisable. This is my 

 experience here with sweet clover. What it may do, or not 

 do, in other parts of our great country, I will not pretend to 

 say. 



Each cutting will give from two to three tons of hay per 

 acre, according to productiveness of soil. If it is not desirable 

 to let it go to seed the second year of its growth, melilot 

 should be plowed up about the beginning of July ; a crop of 

 buckwheat may then be grown on the same land to maturity, 

 and winter grain may be sown following the harvesting of the 

 buckwheat the same year. 



If melilot is suffered to grow undisturbed the second year 

 to maturity, it makes a tremendous growth on good land, and 

 this is what scares some farmers. They do not know what to 

 do with it, when it stands in a solid mass 5 to T feet high, 

 brush-like, and nearly as hard to cut as wood. It takes a good 

 three-horse team and a No. 1 sulky-plow to put the whole 

 mass of vegetable matter underground and out of sight. But 

 the land itself will be enriched by it. Poor land will gain 

 rapidly in fertility by being worked in this way. The strong 

 and deep penetrating roots of melilot open up the subsoil of 

 the land, by making innumerable channels which permit the 

 mineral salts and moisture deposits below to rise to the sur- 

 face when needed for plant food, after the roots have decayed, 

 which takes place in a very short time. 



Knowing the nature of this plant, any sensible person 

 will be able to cope with it, and make this excellent plant a 

 source of profit; but " a natural fool " is apt to have a job on 

 hand that will make him " sweat," and he ought to, for that 

 is what he was created for. 



As I stated in my article on page 728, melilot requires 

 considerably more curing than alfalfa, and after being suffi- 

 ciently cured it should be stacked early in the forenoon or 

 towards evening, so as to prevent the leaves from dropping 

 off. Also a liberal sprinkle of salt should be thrown on every 

 layer of it. This will help greatly to prevent heating in the 

 stack, and will permit its being secured and stacked much 

 sooner than if not so treated. 



It is probably in order that I also state that land on which 

 melilot once matured and ripened its seed, is for a number of 



years stocked with it ; for how many years I am unable to 

 say. Not knowing the nature of this plant, I sowed its seeds 

 all around about my premises — lawn, apiary, and everywhere 

 else, and some of my neighbors predicted later on that the 

 blamed stuff would run me off of my farm, since it was getting 

 ahead of everything growing. " Yes," one of them said, 

 "this million clover (he could hot remember 'melilot') is 

 already on its march to town, and grows in the court-house 

 yard, and will eventually drive away the court house 'rats' 

 (county officers)." 



Well, years have passed since this storm of indignation 

 against sweet clover and myself was raging, but my apiary, 

 lawn, and the park is in as fine a condition as it ever was, and 

 our "court-house rats " are infesting the old court-house yet. 



If melilot is to be eradicated, it should be allowed to 

 bloom, but before ripening any seed, it should be cut near 

 the ground, and that will kill the plant in all its parts, or 

 "root and branch," as the saying goes. 



I hope that the foregoing will about satisfy Dr. Miller, 

 and probably some others who, after reading ray former arti- 

 cle on sweet clover, addressed me by letter and postal card, 

 making inquiries about it. I have answered some of them by 

 letter, I. c, those who enclosed a postage stamp or stamped 

 envelope, but those who neglected doing this will please ex- 

 cuse rae when I refer them to the above for information, as 

 an answer to their letters of inquiry. 



All that I have to add is, tiaat I have no melilot or sweet 

 clover seed for sale. Those who have, should make it known 

 by advertising in the American Bee Journal. 



Grand Island, Nebr. 



[Thank you, Mr. StoUey. I think Dr. Miller will now be 

 satisfied. Surely, you have told us a good deal about sweet 

 clover — that queen of honey-plants. It might be well if those 

 who read the Bee Journal would get their local newspapers 

 to copy Mr. StoUey's interesting and instructive article. By 

 all means urge the publishers of your farm papers to publish 

 it. It is just the kind of information that farmers, as well as 

 bee-keepers, need to have. — Editor.] 



Wintering — Size of Bees. 



BY J. H. ANDRE. 



Some twelve years ago, when examining an apiary in the 

 spring, that belonged partly to myself, I found the bees in 

 some chaff hives all dead, with plenty of honey in the hives in 

 good condition. Bees in the old-style box-hives close by had 

 wintered first-class. After much study over the matter, I 

 came to the conclusion that an hour of sunshine after a week 

 or ten days of severe cold weather would warm a single-walled 

 hive sufficient to arouse the bees and enable them to partake 

 of food, which would put them in condition for another cold 

 spell. The severe cold spell penetrated the double-walled hive, 

 and the warmth that was sufficient for the single-wall had no 

 effect on the double-walled hive. This would produce the re- 

 sult of sure starvation. 



In view of this, I wish to ask Mr. Morton, if his house-api- 

 ary ( mentioned on page 847) is not more objectionable than 

 a chaff hive. It seems to me the temperature will fall far be- 

 low the safe wintering point, and warmth will be lacking to 

 enable the bees to take food. Artificial heat quickly applied 

 to the room when it was warm enough for a flight outside 

 might work well, but it is doubtful if it could be regulated to 

 work at other times, on account of the bees crawling out at 

 the entrance and perishing. 



Dr. Miller, ( on page 726) speaks of "any two bees," 

 taken from his hives. Beg pardon, but Dr. M. will find a 

 great difference between a mass of bees on a small piece of 

 comb and " two bees." I do not wish to make too rash an as- 

 sertion, for it might bother me a trifle to tell which colony 

 bees belonged to in an apiary of 100 colonies or more, but 

 when I kept 20 colonies ( I never was as big a bee-keeper as 

 Dr. M. ) it was not at all difficult for me to tell what colony a 

 bee belonged to, if the queen was old enough for me to get a 

 knowledge of her progeny. 



In regard to two colonies working on a small piece of 

 comb ( now please bear in mind I do not mean in the apiary, 

 but half a mile or more away)—i{ Dr. Miller had experienced 

 the vexation of losing many a tree by tame bees working in 

 and running out the wild ones, he would have a different opin- 

 ion. My first thought on reading his exceptions was to have 

 the matter referred to the Query-Box, but a part of it comes 



