At<I^Al,FA AS A HONEY PIvANT 63 



stems. The hay should be chopped up in some way. 

 Using a heavy half-barrel with the bottom resting on 

 a solid base and chopping with a sharp spade is a very 

 practical method. Mix from a fourth to a half their 

 bulk with corn-meal or bran, pour hot water over the 

 mass and cover to keep in the steam, and let stand six 

 to ten hours before feeding. The bran is rich in lime, 

 and aids in the production of the egg-shell and the 

 bone of young birds. If bran is used the mixture 

 has a laxative tendency, and perhaps cannot be fed 

 every day. The careful poultry-grower finds in alfalfa 

 a helpful friend. 



ALFALFA AS A HONEY PLANT 



Alfalfa is the greatest honey plant known to modern 

 agriculture. It is superior to white clover, sweet 

 clover, or buckwheat, and under favorable conditions 

 gives a honey flow from June till October. The 

 farmers in the alfalfa-growing distridls are only begin- 

 ning to appreciate their opportunities for honey pro- 

 dudlion. There were 57,722 stands of bees in Kansas 

 in 1899. The average honey produdl per stand was 

 given as a little over thirteen pounds for the whole 

 state. Eighteen Eastern counties, where alfalfa is 

 scarcely known, produced only 7.6 pounds of honey per 

 stand. These eighteen counties contained about 

 thirty-eight per cent, of the bees of the state, 21,918 

 stands, and produced only twenty-two per cent, 

 of the honey. The following table illustrates the 

 value of alfalfa in honey produdlion. The counties 

 seledted are the leading honey-producing counties of 

 the state: 



