FIFTY YEARS AMONG THE BEES 113 



small advantage in having the annual variety of yellow sweet 

 clover. 



Alfalfa (Fig. 47) has become quite common here, a boom 

 for it having started about 1912. But it is a rare thing to see a 

 bee at work upon it, and I think it is generally understood that 

 it does not yield nectar east of the Mississippi. 



GIANT WHITE CLOVER. 



A new honey-plant was mentioned a good deal in foreign 

 bee-journals, a giant white clover, called Colossal Ladino (Fig. 

 48). I succeeded in getting some seed from Switzerland, sowed 

 a few of them in the window in the winter, and had the plants 

 blooming in the summer of 1902. For the purpose of compari- 

 son you will see in Fig. 48, at the right, a branch of red clover, 

 and at the left a plant of common white or Dutch clover, both 

 grown on the same ground. As you will see by looking at the 

 picture, the new plant has leaves as large as those of red clover 

 ahd in appearance I think they are identical. The blossom, 

 however, which you will see toward the left, looks precisely like 

 a large white-clover blossom. The habit of growth, too, is that 

 of the common white clover, running along the ground and 

 taking root as it goes. A look at the picture will show this, the 

 roots being seen coming from the stalk at the left. 



Just how much value there is in this new clover I do not 

 know. As will be seen, it grows much larger than the common 

 white, but only as its leaves and leaf stems are larger, for it 

 does not grow up and throw out branches like red clover. It 

 died out the second winter. 



LINDEN, CATNIP, GOLDENEOD, ASTERS, HEARTSEASE. 



Linden or basswood (Fig. 49) is a scarce article, the flavor 

 qf linden honey being seldom perceptible in any honey stored 

 by my bees. I take great pleasure, however, in the sight of a 

 row of lindens running from the public road up to the house 

 (Fig. 50). 



Catnip (Fig. 51) is scattered iibont in some places quite 

 plentifully where it has the protection of hedges, for whicli il 

 seems to have a great liking. It has a long season. 



