1918 



AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL 



239 



second crop of red ciover. Now this 

 is nothing remarkable, for I have 

 seen them doing so for more than 

 twenty years past; but recently, pass- 

 ing through a field of red clover in 

 bloom, I stopped to watch them, and, 

 to my surprise, found them working, 

 not on the blossoms, but on the 

 leaves. This, I confess, I had never 

 seen before. On closer examination 

 I found the clover leaves covered 

 with small plant lice, and the under 

 leaves covered with honeydew, very 

 similar to that frequently found on 

 the leaves of the hickory, oak and 

 other trees, though the honey is not 

 so dark-colored as from leaves of 

 trees." 



On page 839 of the American Bee 

 Journal for 1906 is found a rather 

 convincing discussion of the subject 

 of honey from red clover. It was at 

 a convention of the National Asso- 

 ciation, and several men of wide 

 reputation took part in the discus- 

 sion, and testified to the fact that 

 they had secured surplus from red 

 clover. Hutchinson stated that he 

 had secured 500 pounds from red 

 clover at a time when there was 

 nothing else in bloom, and that it 

 was a light amber or dark white 

 color. Messrs. Townsend. Stone. 

 Davenport and others agreed that 

 they had secured red clover honey, 

 Townsend reporting as much as 2,000 

 pounds stored in two weeks' time. 



The subject is discussed at length 

 in Bulletin No. 46 of the New Zealand 

 Department of Agriculture, by Isaac 

 Hopkins, whose experience in this 

 connection is interesting. We quote 

 him in part : 



"In my early days of beekeeping it 

 was a moot point whether Italian 

 bees worked on red clover or not. 

 At this time I had a unique oppor- 

 tunity of testing the matter thor- 

 oughly, an opportunity which would 

 rarely occur; therefore, I feel myself 

 on safe ground when dealing with 

 Italian bees and red clover. 



"For five years (1882-87), I was lo- 

 cated on the late J. C. Firth's estate 

 at Matamata. where I started large 

 bee farms. My bees, which were 

 chiefly Italians, were near to thou- 

 sands of acres of red clover. * * * 

 Now and again we saw a few here 

 and there gathering pollen from the 

 blossoms, and sometimes a good deal 

 of pollen from red clover was 

 brought in when, no doubt, it was 

 scarce elsewhere. 



"In order to make a thorough test, I 

 shifted, on one occasion, a number of 

 strong two-story colonies to the cen- 

 ter of a 700-acre paddock of red 

 clover. The first crop had been cut 

 for hay, and the second crop flowers 

 were just opening. There was no or- 

 dinary bee forage anywhere near. 

 After the fourth day, I examined the 

 hives and found from the odor that 

 came from them on removing the 

 covers that some nectar had been 

 gathered from the surrounding clo- 

 ver. I also observed that some clover 

 pollen had been stored. 



"There were two seasons out of the 

 five when my bees worked more free- 

 ly on the red clover than in others. In 

 those seasons it was noticeable that 



myriads of small slate colored moths 

 flitted about the clover, while they 

 were rarely seen at other times. I 

 was much interested, and in casting 

 about for the reason, I became satis- 

 fied after very many tests that the 

 red clover was secreting at times 

 much more nectar than usual, and it 

 may have been that it reached a 

 higher level in the tubes on these 

 occasions, and so came within reach 

 of the tongues of the bees. Be that 

 as it may, some red clover nectar 

 was gathered from second crop 

 flowers in these seasons." 



While the different observers are 

 by no means agreed as to the reason 

 why the bees are able to get nectar 

 from red clover on occasion, the tes- 

 timony is very closely agreed upon 

 the fact that it is onlv from the sec- 

 ond crop, and in hot and dry seasons, 

 that the bees are able to store honey 

 from this source. So many widely- 

 known men come forward with the 

 positive statement that they have 

 been able to secure surplus honey 

 from red clover, that we can hardly 

 question the fact that honey is some- 

 times stored from this plant. Whether 

 the corollas are punctured by other 

 insects, the tubes are shortened by 

 drought or the nectar rises higher in 

 the tube, remains to be proven. 



How I Won My Bee Honors 



By D. M. MacDonald 



MY apicultural training began in 

 my boyhood, over 50 years 

 ago, in the dear home garden, 

 with its multitude of perennial flow- 

 ers, its abundant fruit bushes and 

 its miniature orchard of apple, plum 

 and other nectar-bearing trees. The 

 small valley was an ideal honey-pro- 

 ducing one. In the summer every 

 meadow field was like a garden bed, 

 the white clover covering it as with 

 a mantle of white, and in autumn 

 the sloping hills on either side, for 

 leagues and leagues, were one mass 

 of purple heather, smelling on the 

 glorious days of August and Septem- 

 ber sweet as an honeycomb. 



Over forty years ago, in my own 

 apiary, working among the bees was 

 an unmeasured delight, and when 

 the bee fever caught on, the pursuit 

 became a fascination, and the study 

 of the indefatigable workers became 

 a charm. That the hobby proved a 

 paying one increased the zest and 

 added to the interest. My day's 

 work only occupied from 10 a. m. till 

 4 p. m., with Saturday an off day, and 

 Sunday, of course, a day of rest. So 

 there was ample time for prosecuting 

 the pursuit. 



Fortunately, too, I was early in- 

 troduced to bee literature of the best, 

 those ancient tomes which breathe 

 the true spirit of the Bee Master. 

 For pure, unmitigated enjoyment, 

 commend me to an old, old beebook. 

 Its perusal opens up a new and un- 

 tainted pleasure. As a counter poise 

 I was made familiar with the master- 

 pieces of the New World — with 

 Langstroth's inimitable treatise, with 

 Quinby's "Mysteries," with Root's 

 admirable compendium, with Glean- 



ings, and the Old Reliable. My own 

 library was being steadily added to, 

 and every beebook known was open 

 to me. 



About thirty years ago I made at- 

 tempts to add to bee literature, and 

 finding every article submitted ac- 

 cepted, I broadened out, sending con- 

 tributions to America. There was in 

 all this a fair foundation for pre- 

 suming to aspire to adding the title 

 of "Bee Expert" to my name. Urged 

 by some members of the Council of 

 the British Beekeepers' Association, 

 who desired me to act as an exam- 

 iner for the Third Class north of the 

 Tweed. I resolved to make the 

 plunge, in August, 1909. 



Almost under the shades of Carlisle 

 Ha, in the sweet valley of the River 

 Eden, and looking out in the dis- 

 tance on the Cumbrian Mountains, 

 clothed at the time in a rich dress 

 of purple heather, I underwent a rig- 

 orous examination in all the 

 branches of practical beekeeping. 

 The examiner was thoroughly con- 

 scientious and occupied the full time 

 specified. The dusk of evening be- 

 ing- well advanced made the queens 

 hard to find, and the day being 

 rather unfavorable, handling bees 

 and frames was a trying ordeal. 

 However, in due course, there came 

 down from headquarters the intelli- 

 gence that I could write myself down 

 a "Third Class Expert." 



The Association has wisely decreed 

 that no man shall proceed further 

 unless he proves that he can handle 

 bees and show that he has a good 

 general knowledge of the whole art 

 and practice of beekeeping on mod- 

 ern lines. 



My ambitions, however, aspired 

 higher, so. after a holiday in the 

 South of England, visiting some of 

 the leading apiaries there, I had a 

 hard grind preparatory to sittings 

 for the higher pass. This examina- 

 tion was all in writing, held near 

 home, with a Major approved by the 

 Council of the British Beekeepers' 

 Association, to supervise the pro- 

 ceedings. The time allotted was five 

 hours, the first half being taken up 

 with the practical side of the subject 

 and the other half with the scientific, 

 five questions being given in each 

 section, and every minute of it was 

 taken up with busy writing. The test 

 was a fairly severe one, as each 

 question not only required several 

 pages of foolscap to answer, but sev- 

 eral of them had to be supplemented 

 by drawings and sketches illustrat- 

 ing the subject treated, such as vari- 

 ous organs of the bee. 



At the close, the Superintendent 

 sealed up the papers and posted them 

 directly to the Secretary of the Brit- 

 ish Beekeepers' Association. The ex- 

 aminer receives only the numbers 

 assigned to each candidate, no names 

 being sent to him. In due course no- 

 tice came down that a pass had 

 been secured and later a "Second 

 Class Certificate." 



The first pass was merely a prelim- 

 inary skirmish, in fact it is now de- 

 scribed as the "Preliminary" exam- 

 ination. The second was to test the 

 examinee's mettle. The crux of the 



