478 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Apr. 1 



FIG. (5. — THE 



SNYDKK \VAX-1M:KSS 

 ACTUALLY USED. 



IS 



where the bees are doing well and where 

 they are not, will not these 100 hives give a 

 final result of accuracy equal to that of 

 weighing the same number in one apiaiy ? 

 And will not the good and bad reports be 

 necessary, actually necessary, to get the 

 proper average v 



While admitting one hive is not an accu- 

 rate quantity, because it can represent only 

 a limited area, and may even be misleading, 

 still in 100 colonies will not the test prove its 

 value ? The National Bee-keepers' Associa- 

 tion could do nothing to increase its pres- 

 tige and popularity more than to take up 



the ques- 

 t i o n of 

 combining 

 with the 

 excellent 

 service of 

 Glean- 

 iNGs' hon- 

 ey-crop re- 

 ports, and 

 furnish its 

 members a 

 monthly 

 report, say 

 from May 

 to Septcm- 

 FiG. 7.— THE WOODEN TUB OF ber, of sta- 



SNYDER wax-press. tistics thuS 



compiled. My idea of these reports is based 

 on that followed by the government in cer- 

 tain lines, and the reports would read some- 

 thing like this: 



Estimated hives in State 



Now given the number of hives in com- 

 mercial yai'ds, and the yield of the State is 

 approximately arrived at for market pur- 

 poses. 



Another point, some hives will not do well, 

 and some will be abnormal. How about 

 these ? Simple enough. They I'epresent a 

 factor present in all beeyards, and properly 

 go right into the report, because they are 

 representative of just the conditions we are 

 trying to arrive at. They are not mislead- 

 ing, but tend to higher accuracy. 



Charleston, W. Va. 



[Gleanings will be pleased to cooperate 

 with any intelligent movement that may be 

 inaugerated to help along a line of effort 

 suggested by our correspondent. — Ed.] 



YELLOW AND WHITE SWEET 

 VER AT DR. MILLER'S. 



CLO 



Their Value to Him. 



BY DR. C. C. MILLER. 



Last summer our cow-pasture was perhaps 

 one-fourth covered with sweet clover. It 

 grew rank, but the cow didn't seem to care 

 for it. Still, there was so much of it that it 

 would hardly be noticed if she ate quite a 

 bit. But the grass was also luxuriant and 

 abundant, and she evidently preferred that. 

 By and by there came a dry time, a very dry 

 time, and pastures were brown. Then it 

 was that the sweet clover showed its value. 

 It remained cheerfully green while the grass 

 about it was dry and parched. It had, how- 

 ever, run up to six feet and more in height; 

 and if you stop and look meditatively at a 

 solid mass of sweet clover six feet high you'll 

 realize that there's a lot of feed in it. Grad- 

 ually it was reduced in height ( although, of 

 course, the cow didn't eat from the top down) 

 until finally it was reduced to a height of twt> 

 feet or so, as you will see by Fig. 1 from a 

 photo taken Sept. 3, 1906. Compare this 

 with the height of the single stalk in Fig. 2, 

 which was taken the same day. But the 

 compai'ison is not entirely fair, for No. 2 

 grew on rich low ground that had the wash 

 from the elevated ground surrounding, and 

 this stalk growing alone was especially se- 

 lected on account of its unusual height. I 

 was afraid the slender top might not show 

 in the picture, so I held a dried weed beside 

 it at the same height. From the ground to 

 the top was just nine feet. I may have seen 

 taller sweet clover, but I'm sure that's the 

 tallest I ever measured. 



That the cow does not eat it down lower 



