643 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



May 1 



the brood to some extent, it wouM serve to 

 keep up the strength of the colony. After 

 days and nights of wrestling with the prob- 

 lem, strangely enough the simple idea of nail- 

 ing an excluder-zinc on each side of an empty 

 brood-comb suddenly occurred to me. A 

 hole was made in the top-bar, through which 

 the queen was run at the beginning of the 

 swarming season, and kept there till all dan- 

 ger of swarming was past, which, according 

 to late authorities, would be when all open 

 brood was capped. However, I left mine till 

 swarming began to wane with other colonies, 

 in order to be on the safe side, also frequent- 

 ly watching for queen-cells on the frame of 

 brood which the queen kept filled; but I never 

 found any. As fast as the broocl hatched in 

 the other combs the bees polished them out 

 and kept a small brood-nest of them waiting 

 for the queen, which, according to some, 

 would be a good preventive of foul and blacK 

 brood. 



When the queen is released she is in good 

 condition for laying, and will rear a lot of 

 young bees for winter. During two years' 

 trial with two colonies I have had no swarms, 

 and good crops of honey. Whether it will 

 work as satisfactorily on all colonies or in 

 other localities I leave for time to demon- 

 strate. 



St. Marys, Ont. 



SWEET CLOVER. 



Why is Not the Yellow Variety More Wide- 

 ly Known? 



BY A. L. AMOS. 



The little I have written in Gleanings 

 started a small avalanche of letters of inquiry 

 to which I have been trying to do justice. 

 Some of these letters were quite interesting. 

 For instance, I got one from California, in 

 which the writer said: 



Some 25 years ago I was engaged in the hardware 

 and seed business at Paola, Kan., and for some cus- 

 tomer I wrote to an eastern seed-house for a little each 

 of the white and yellow Bokhara clover. They were 

 identical in habit, but I thought the yellow contained 

 more nectar, as the bees were almost crazy for it, and 

 it bloomed from early till late. I now conclude that 

 this is the same as sweet clover referred to. Do you 

 knowi' 



I wonder what became of that yellow sweet 

 clover started so long ago near Paolo, Kan. 

 I wonder how it comes that the white sweet 

 ■clover is known all over and the yellow is 

 not. 



Its great merit was recognized in some 

 quarters years ago. 



A very interesting letter from the late Mrs. 

 L. Harrison was read by Mr. York at the 

 Illinois State Bee-keepers' convention, held 

 in Chicago in 1896. She said of Melilotus 

 officinalis, "This is well known, and gaining 

 in reputation as a forage-plant and for bee- 

 pasture. ' ' 



When D. A. Jones, of Canada, attended 

 the sessions of the North American Bee-keep- 

 ers' Association he advocated the merits of 

 what he called Bokhara clover, first, last. 



and all the time. Prof. Cook took a plant in 

 his hand that Mr. Jones brought with him, 

 and, standing up smilingly, said, "Look at 

 its root. It's only sweet clover." So it was; 

 but it was Melilotus officinalis — the yellow 

 variety. See A'>nerican Bee Journal, 1897, 

 page 34. Ten years ago! Why has it not 

 made greater headway to recognition? That's 

 what puzzles me. 



I have looked in many "bee-books," man- 

 uals of bee-keeping, to find among the hon- 

 ey-plants Melilotus alba alone, instead of be- 

 ing accompanied by its twin-sister, Melilotus 

 officinalis. It is mentioned in the ABC, 

 bvit hardly gets justice. I confidently believe 

 the next edition will have more to say. 



I want to see merit find recognition. My 

 experience with the yellow sweet clover is 

 that it is far ahead of the white as a forage- 

 plant. The white does not hold its own when 

 stock feed on it, but the yellow does. Dr. 

 Gandy, of Richardson Co., this State, has had 

 yellow sweet clover for many years, and at- 

 tributes to it much of his success as a honey- 

 producer. Mrs. Lambrigger, of Knox Co., 

 Neb., wrote of it with enthusiasm some ten 

 years ago. 



Comstock, Neb. 



[There is really little to say by way of 

 criticism of what Mr. Amos has stated, ex- 

 cept that I indorse all that he says. It is 

 possible the yellow sweet clover would grow 

 in Florida, as it flourishes very well in Ber- 

 muda, a warmer country, and it is evident it 

 will grow in cold Nebraska without special 

 care, but A. I. Root thinks not. Mr. Amos 

 puts a puzzling question when he asks why 

 such a valuable plant as yellow sweet clover 

 is almost unknown in this country. But this 

 much may be said: There are many valuable 

 plants, animals, birds, and insects awaiting 

 an introduction into this country. As a rule, 

 introducing a new thing is a thankless task, 

 and no money in it for any one. Sainfoin, 

 for example, the finest of all the clovers, has 

 never been successfully introduced into this 

 country. No one can tell why. Read the 

 history of alfalfa in this country, and, in spite 

 of its success in the West, the farmers of the 

 East will not accept it on any account. See 

 also the case of white sweet clover where leg- 

 islatures pass laws condemning it as a weed, 

 whereas it is a valuable agricultural crop in 

 several countries. It is our business as bee- 

 keepers to stand up and fight the battle of 

 the honey-producing plants or go out of the 

 bee business. This world is, first of all, a 

 fight with ignorance and prejudice. — ^W. K. 



M.] 



»«» « 



THE DANZENBAKER HIVE. 



Can Straight AVorker Combs be Secured 

 AVithout Full Sheets of Foundation? 



BY MKS. W. S. WINGATE. 



I was much interested in the article on the 

 Danzenbaker hive by Mr. Grant Stanley, in 

 Gleanings for Jan. 15. I have been very 

 enthusiastic in regard to that hive for the 



