294: THE HIVE AND HONEY-BE K. 



the freshly-gathered honey disappears before it is sealed 

 over by the bees. 



Of all the sources from which bees derive their supplies, 

 white clover is usually the most important. It yields large 

 quantities of very pure white honey, and wherever it 

 abounds, the bee will find a rich harvest. In most parts 

 of this country, it seems to be the chief reliance of the 

 Apiary. Blossoming at a season of the year when the 

 weather is usually both dry and hot, and the bees gather- 

 ing its honey after the sun has dried off the dew, it is 

 ready to be sealed over almost at once. This clover 

 ought to be much more extensively cultivated than it now 

 is. The Hon. Frederick Holbrook, of Brattleboro', Ver- 

 mont, one of New England's ablest practical farmers and 

 writers on agricultural subjects, thus speaks of its value : 

 " Red-top, red clover, and white clover seeds, sown together, 

 produce a quality of hay universally relished by stock. My prac- 

 tice is, to seed all dry,* sandy, and gravelly lands with this mix- 

 ture. The red and white clover pretty much make the crop the 

 first year ; the second year, the red clover begins to disappear, and 

 the red-top to take its place ; and after that, the red-top and white 

 clover have full possession, and make the very best hay for horses 

 or oxen, milch cows or young stock, that I have been able to pro- 

 duce. The crop per acre, as compared with herds-grass (timothy) 

 is not so bulky ; but ; tested by weight and by spending quality 

 in the Winter, it is much the more valuable." 



For years I sought in vain to procure a cross between 

 the red and white clover, having the honey and hay- 

 producing properties of the red, with a short blossom, 

 into which the domestic bee might insert its proboscis. 

 Such a variety, originating in Sweden, has been imported 



* Mr. Wagner says: "The yield of honey from various plants and trees depends 

 not only on the character of the season, but on the kind of soil, in which they 

 grow. Marshy meadows are inferior to those of a drier soil for bee-pasturage. 

 White clover growing in the latter will be visited by bees, when that growing in 

 the former is neglected by them." 



