790 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Nov. 1. 



the Nebraska exhibit at the Columbia exposi- 

 tion, where he secured for his State four medals 

 and diplomas. 



In 1877 he was a member of the lower branch 

 of the State Legislature, and is now actively 

 engaged in political work. I believe he is a 

 candidate for Senator from his district, and bee- 

 keeping friends told me that he had more than 

 an even chance of securing the honor. 



Mr. Whitcomb is of large physique and com- 

 manding presence, and one also who wields 

 considerable infiuenee. He is editor and pub- 

 lisher of the Friend Telegraph. 



NEBRASKA AS A HONEY STATE; HEARTSEASE, 

 ETC. 



Before I attended the Lincoln convention I 

 had the impression that Nebraska as a honey 

 State ranked only as second grade; but on going 

 into the State I was agreeably surprised to 

 learn of its great resources, not only in the line 

 of agriculture, but of its possibilities in the line 

 of great yields from single colonies as well as 

 from whole apiaries. If it is not already, it 

 soon will be one of the great honey States. 

 Beautiful in climate, rich in soil, peopled with 

 the best blood from all over the country, a 

 grand future is in store for it. 



One thing that struck me on the way was the 

 immense cornfields. A five-acre field in Ohio 

 seems like a large one; but it was no uncom- 

 mon sight to see forty or fifty acres of corn as 

 we sped along on the cars; and I was told that 

 some fields had as high as 100. And such corn! 



But the thing that interested me most was 

 the large amount of heartsease that we could 

 see all along the waysides, in the stubble-fields, 

 everywhere it could get a foothold. I was told 

 that there were hundreds of acres of it, and no 

 bees in reach to gather its nectar. 



The heartsease of the West is very like and 

 perhaps the same as smartweed of the East. 

 The latter is a low-growing, sprawling plant, 

 which probably in Nebraska would grow into a 

 large vine, and be called heartsease. Here in 

 the East it rarely if ever yields any honey— at 

 least, not enough to make a showing in the 

 hive. As announced in our last issue, Mr. 

 Belong stated before the convention that he 

 secured as high as 4.50 lbs. from a single colony. 

 Indeed, if I understood him correctly after the 

 convention, he had two such colonies that gave 

 such a remarkable record; and his average was 

 250 lbs. All of this was from heartsease. Oth- 

 er bee-keepers reported heavy yields from the 

 same source. The extracted heartsease that 

 was on exhibition was of a beautiful rich 

 amber. The flavor of it was not just to my 

 notion; but very many do like it; and while it 

 does not rank alongside of white clover and 

 other qualities of white honeys, it brings a fair- 

 ly good price. Besides the heartsease, alfalfa 

 and sweet clover should be given prominence 

 in the State. 



I noticed that the wild sunflower— a very 

 small plant with us in Ohio— perhaps three or 

 four feet high, was six and eight feet high in 

 Nebraska, and every thing else seemed to be in 

 like proportion. 



Right here I can do no better than to make a 

 couple of extracts from a paper read by Mr. L. 

 D. Stilson, editor of the Neljrnslia Bee-keeper, 

 before the convention: 



For several years past the great bulk of our honey 

 lias been produced from heartsease, a plant some- 

 thing- like the smartweed of the East. It grows in 

 every waste place, it springs up in every stubble- 

 field, and, no matter whether it is dwarfed by 

 drouth to a tiny plant of a few inches, or whether 

 watered by copious showers, and grows to the 

 heiglit of a man, it alwaj'S blossoms full and is 

 always laden with honey. 



The climate of our State is such that plants se- 

 crete very rich nectar, so that the bee can gather 

 it; and, after storing in the hive, it can at once be 

 sealed over, retaining to a great extent the aroma of 

 the flower from wliich it was gathered. A few years 

 ago we extracted fi'om one super clean, returning 

 the combs, and in four days we extracted fifty 

 pounds again, nearly all sealed, and weighing fif- 

 teen pounds to the measured gallon. 



By consulting Gray's Botany I find that 

 heartsease belongs to the violet family— a very 

 small one. Most of the heartsease bloom seem- 

 ed to be of a purplish red. I saw some in the 

 fleld that was pink, and also a few blossoms 

 that were pure white. The smartweed of Ohio 

 is of a purplish red. 



P. S. — While conditions are inviting in Ne- 

 braska, especially so last season, don't " pull up 

 stakes" without fully investigating. Take the 

 time to write, and if all looks well go yourself 

 first. It is but fair to state in this connection 

 that Nebraska has had its drouths, and is liable 

 to have them again. Then there are the heavy 

 winds of the prairies; and then, too, the winter- 

 ing problem is not solved by any means. 



BEES AND grapes; A REPORT FROM PROF. W. 



.J. GREEN, OF THE OHIO EXPERIMENT 



STATION. 



You will notice by referring to pages 647 and 

 706 that several of our friends around Medina 

 have claimed, as they have several seasons 

 before, that the bees were destroying their 

 grapes. We tried to convince them it was a 

 mistake, but it was a pretty hard matter to 

 convince at least some of them. Finally my 

 esteemed friend Mr. George Thompson (the one 

 who first helped me to start in bee culture, see 

 introduction to A B C book) told me the bees 

 were at work on his grapes in very great num- 

 bers. But he is too careful a man to commit 

 himself fully on the start. He said he was 

 going to make a careful investigation in order 

 to see whether the bees were really guilty or 

 not. A few days later he told me he had found 

 the thief. He said a little bird was hopping 

 from bunch to bunch, making needle-like per- 

 forations so quick that he could hardly see how 

 he did it; and that, after the bird, came the 

 bees. We expressed much interest, and asked 

 him a great many questions about the bird. A 



