1882 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



325 



honey, as wo thought, from dog- fennel (hope you 

 have none in Ohio), but to-day one of my daughters 

 was out getting berries, and noticed the bees very 

 busy at work on a certain bloom. On examining it, 

 she found that it had ascent like the honey our bees 

 are getting; so we have decided that it is not dog 

 fennel, but " red shank " (this is what Laura called 

 it). I inclose a twig with the flower, but it may not 

 retain the disagreeable scent till it reaches you. 



Cedartown, Ga., June 1<>, 1883. J. M. Harris. 



Plant from Cedartown, Polk Co., Ga., is Craiioflms 

 Aincrica)ni,f (New Jersey tea, or red root), a small 

 shrub 1 to 4 feet high, bearing a profusion of pretty 

 white flowers in clusters from the axils of the 

 leaves. The branches are reddish, round, smooth, 

 downy. The flowers are small, white, in beautiful 

 clusters. Calyx campanulate, 5, cleft; corolla 

 white, sepals long-clawed, sacate-arched. Leaves 

 oblong-ovate or ovate, serrate, and with three prom- 

 inent veins. They were used as a substitute for tea 

 during the Kevolution, whence its common name, or 

 one of them ; the other is from its roots being used 

 for coloring. There are several other species of the 

 Ceanothus from Mexico and South America, that 

 have recently lieen introduced into the greenhouse. 

 The disagreeable scent is somewhat variable in the 

 same species, often nearly wanting. 



Columbus, O., June 19, 1883. W. K. Lazenbv. 



MIAMI MIST. 



I send you a sample of a weed that no one here 

 can name; tell us what it is. I think it is an excel- 

 lent honey-plant; it blooms about twenty days im- 

 mediately after apple-bloom, at a time when there 

 is nothing else for bees to work on. It was the 

 prettiest sight I ever saw. Just think of a ten-acre 

 field of these beautiful little flowers covered with 

 Italians from morning until night! I saw such a 

 sight as this. I intend to gather some seed; they 

 are now nearly ripe. Joel Tilman. 



Akron, Ind., June 13, 1883. 



The plant is what goes by the common name of 

 " Miami mist"— Coftmantlins purshii— order Hydiv- 

 phyUacca'. It is quite common in fields and river- 

 bottoms, and is a very handsome flower when in 

 bloom. It is found from Pennsylvania to Georgia, 

 and west as far as Iowa. It is very abundant here 

 in Franklin County, Ohio, and I have just made a 

 collection of seed. W. II. Lazenby. 



Columbus, O., June 33, 1883. 



BliADDER-NUT. 



Inclosed you will find a small branch of a tree of 

 which I should like to know the name. I know of 

 only two trees; they are both on my place, and are 

 small yet, but arc growing very rapidly. They 

 bloom just after fruit-bloom is gone; the blossoms 

 hang in clusters all over the trees, and the bees 

 work on them just as they do on basswood. 



Ila Michener. 



Low Banks, Ont., Can., June 16, 1883. 



The plant is the bladder-nut {Staphijka trifoUa), 

 order Sapindacccv. It is a handsome shrub, 5 to 10 

 feet high; found in moist woods and thickets from 

 Canada to the Southern States. The flowers ai-e 

 whitish, appearing in drooping racemc-liko clusters 

 terminating the branchlets. The most remarkable 

 feature of the plant is its large inflated capsules, 

 which are more or less 3-sided, and contain several 

 hard, small nuts, or seeds. It usually blossoms in 

 May. W. K. Lazenby. 



Columbus, O , June 33, 1883. 



WATER-LEAF, OB BURR-FLOWER. 



I put in a honey-plant that the bees seem very 

 fond of, to get the botanical name. It is called 

 chicken's foot, and is used for greens. 



Silas M. Jewell. 



Cleveland, Oswego Co., N. Y., June U, 1883. 



The plant is what is commonly known as " water- 

 leaf," or" burr-flower," Hudwplnfllum Virginicum — 

 order HijdidphnUacca'.. It is found in moist woods 

 throughout the United States; is a herbaceous 

 plant, with a stem from one to two feet high, bear- 

 ing large tufts of flowers. I have observed that it 

 is a favorite with the bees. W. li. Lazenby. 



Columbus, O., June 33, 1883. 



We are indebted to Prof. W. E. Lazenby, 

 of tbe State University, Columbus, Ohio, for 

 the above very full and complete descrip- 

 tions of the phmts we have sent him. The 

 plants are pressed, and kept in our herbari- 

 um with his descriptions, so that we may 

 ourselves identify them when they are sent 

 in again. 



DAVARF HOLLYHOCK. 



I write you in regard to one of the greatest honey- 

 plants in existence. I refer to the "dwarf holly- 

 hock," or mallard. I have a patch that has been in 

 bloom since early in April, and each plant now has 

 thousands of blooms, and has been roaring with bees 

 since first in bloom, at all times of day; and when 

 poplars were in bloom, which literally flow with 

 honey, they still roared and swarmed on the mal- 

 lard. It blooms till trost. I will send you a lot of 

 the seed, if you desire. I have seen every species 

 of honey-plant, and this excels every thing that ever 

 came under my observation. It grows on any soil. 

 I could get barrels of honey if I had a field of this 

 plant. J. H. Borrow. 



Lynnville, Tenn., June 19, 1883. 



AV"e have what is called mallows, a small 

 sort of hollyhock, if hollyhock it could be 

 called, that we have mentioned before on 

 these pages ; but send us some seed, and we 

 will give yours a trial, and tender thanks 

 besides. 



^VATER FOR BEES, 



AND SOME OTHER MATTERS. 



N the Sth day of May I feci safe to make a re- 

 port of my successful effort in wintering my 

 bees. I put into the cellar 131 swarms on the 

 31st of November, and put them upon their summer 

 stands on the 18th of April, losing one in the cellar, 

 I wintered 5 in chall' outdoors, and lost two. Since 

 putting them upon their summer stands I have 

 found a few queenless, and a few feeble swarms 

 that will require doubling uj), which will reduce my 

 numbers to about 113; and although we have had a 

 frigid and dry April and May, they are all building 

 up splendidly. 



For the first time in my experience as a bee-keep- 

 er I weighed every swarm when they were put in 

 the ccUai", and when placed upon their summer 

 stands, and I wish to say that, as long as I keep 

 bees, I shall hereafter practice the weighing. The 

 average consumption of honey was only 6 lbs. per 

 colony. Now, will some of our chaff - hive advo- 

 cates give us the average consumption of honey, 

 say for 100 swarms of bees? I think we will find the 



