THOUSAND ANSWERS 45 



Cleome pungens worth cultivating for the honey alone? Is the 

 honey of good quality? Is it light or dark, and how does it com- 

 pare with white clover honey? 



A. Cleome pungens is not worth cultivating for honey alone. 

 I do not remember to have seen any statement as to the charac- 

 ter of its honey, and I don't know whether anyone ever secured 

 enough of it to tell just what it was like. 



Clover, Alsike. — Q. There is not a half acre of white or alsike 

 clover within three miles. Would it be profitable to sow IS or 20 

 acres? 



A. Just for the honey alone that the bees would get, it would 

 not pay at all. But if you take into account the additional gain 

 from hay and pasturage, it might pay well. 



Q. Does red or alsike clover bear pollen, or is it an excess of 

 nectar that blights the seed when the bees do not gather it? 



A. Red and alsike clover yield both nectar and pollen, but 

 honey-bees do not often work on red clover. An excess of nectar 

 would do no harm; but if the clovers are not visited by insects, 

 especially bees, there will be no fertilization, and so no seed. Red 

 clover is mainly dependent on bumblebees for fertilization. 



Q. Will alsike clover make bee pasturage in this state (Ken- 

 tucky) ? A very small amount has been sown in this country the 

 last year or so, white clover being the principal source of honey. 



A. I think alsike mary be counted on as a good honey-plant 

 wherever white or red clover does well. 



Q. Do you think it will pay to buy alsike clover seed for 

 farmers to sow within one mile — say 40 acres? Would it make 

 any perceptible difference in the yield of honey? 



A. Yes, or sell it to them at a discount. 



Q. (a) When should alsike clover be sowed? 



(b) How much seed should be sowed per acre? 



(c) Should it be sowed by itself, or with any other crop? 



A. (a) At the same time farmers in your locality sow red 

 clover. 



(b) About four pounds. 



(c) Either way, a favorite way being to sow with oats. On 

 rich ground, where the alsike would be likely to lodge badly in 

 wet weather, a sprinkling of timothy is good. 



Clover, Crimson.— Q. Is the spring the proper time to sow 

 crimson clover? If so, what time in the spring? 



A. If sown in the spring it should be as early as frost is well 



