78 
ARTIFICIAL PASTURAGE 
duties of the hive, for the simple reason 
that she has been laying more or less all 
winter; and, probably, if she were a human 
being, she would say she was “all petered 
out.” 
Packing the hives with chaff, sawdust, 
or any other warm, dry, porous material, 
so as to economize the natural heat of the 
cluster, seems to answer the purpose much 
better, and such treatment seems to have 
none of the objectionable features of work¬ 
ing with artificial heat. The packing needs 
to be as close to the bees as possible; and 
to this end all the combs should be re¬ 
moved except such as are needed to hold 
their stores. Bees thus prepared seem to 
escape the ill effects of frosty nights in 
the early part of the season, and exactly 
what was hoped for by the use of artificial 
heat is accomplished for brood-rearing. 
By turning to the general subject of 
“Temperature,” it will be seen that arti¬ 
ficial heat or a sudden rise in temperature 
has a tendency to start brood-rearing in a 
colony. Ordinarily it requires something 
like 95 degrees Fahrenheit in the cluster 
for the rearing of brood. When this point 
is reached, no matter what the outside tem¬ 
perature may be, brood-rearing will be 
started; but when the temperature outside 
is below freezing, so that the bees can not 
fly, artificial heat does much more harm 
than good, because brood-rearing in mid¬ 
winter usually spells disaster for the col¬ 
ony before spring. During open winters, 
however, especially if the colonies are well 
packed, and toward spring, breeding does 
no harm. If a colony is of normal strength 
it will raise brood as soon as it can safely. 
To stimulate brood-rearing by means of 
artificial heat is always a mistake. By read¬ 
ing the whole article on Temperature else¬ 
where in this woi'k one will understand 
why this is so. 
For a further consideration of this sub¬ 
ject see Temperature. 
ARTIFICIAL PASTURAGE. — Altho 
there was formerly quite a trade in seeds 
and plants to be cultivated for merely their 
honey alone, little encouragement can be 
given to those who expect to realize money 
by such investments. There is certainly a 
much greater need of taking care of the 
honey that is almost constantly wasting 
just for lack of bees to gather it.* A field 
of buckwheat will perhaps occasionally 
yield enough honey to pay the expense of 
sowing, as it comes in at a time when the 
bees in many places would get little else; 
and if it does not pay in honey, it certain¬ 
ly will in grain. 
Alfalfa, sweet clover, and alsike clover 
at the present time afford the best exam¬ 
ples of artificial pasturage of anything 
known. But neither sweet clover nor al¬ 
falfa will grow everywhere, at least, until 
the soil has been put in the right condition 
with proper inoculation. 
Sweet clover furnishes an artificial as 
well as wild pasturage, and is now being 
grown as a regular farm crop. In many 
portions of the West where the land is too 
dry to grow alfalfa, sweet clover will 
thrive. In many parts of Kentucky, Kan¬ 
sas, Nebraska, South Dakota, Oklahoma, 
Indiana, Illinois, Michigan, and Missouri, 
sweet clover is coming to be a very profit¬ 
able crop. It often does well on land 
that will not grow anything else, especially 
on rocky hillsides. See Sweet Clover. 
Alsike clover also furnishes artificial pas¬ 
turage in the eastern States. It often 
takes the place of ordinary red clover that 
fails to do well. Alsike can stand wet feet, 
but red clover will not. This discovery has 
caused many farmers to grow it either with 
timothy or exclusively, and the result is 
that wherever it is extensively grown the 
keeping of bees is profitable. 
In general, it may be said: Plant and 
sow all that will be sure to pay aside from 
the honey crop, and then, if the latter is 
secured, you will be so much ahead; but 
beware of investing much in seeds that are 
for plants producing nothing of value ex¬ 
cept honey. Alsike, Avhite Dutch clover, 
buckwheat, rape, alfalfa, and the like, it 
will do to invest in; but catnip, mignonette. 
Rocky Mountain bee-plant, etc., should be 
bandied rather sparingly. 
The question, “How many acres of a 
good honey-bearing plant would be needed 
to keep 100 colonies busy?” has often been 
asked. If 10 acres of buckwheat would an¬ 
swer in full bloom, perhaps there would be 
needed 10 other similar fields sown with 
rape, mustard, catnip, etc., blossoming at 
as many different periods, to keep them 
*,See Foreword, 
