October, 1916. 



American Hee Journal j 



terwecd. In sections where the cot- 

 ton (loos not yield much, the honey is 

 all l)iUer and ii small amount of il 

 will ruin a lank of good lii.ney. Uit- 

 terwoed is also a great pollen plant, 

 furnishing abundance of bright yellow 

 pollen throughout its blooming period. 

 Even the stems and foliage of this 

 plant are intensely bit'er and no an'- 

 mals eat it." 



Doctor Panimel in his bo; k on 

 "Poisonous Plants" cites a tiuutation 

 which states that it has been reported 

 as fatal to horses and mules in sev- 



WAThRlNG DEVICE IN THE J. M. DAVIS APIARY 



Fig. 8o.— BiTTERwEED Blossoms 



eral of the gulf states. It is said to 

 contain a narcotic poison and to be 

 the cause of bitter milk. 



A relative of th''s plpnt, the north- 

 ern sneezewetd, Helenium a^.tonnale 

 is also a good honey piant and pro- 

 bably less bitter than the southern or 

 nar''ow-leaved snee; ew ed just des- 

 cribed. Neither, however, can be said 

 to be desirable additions to the honey 

 producing flora because of the danger 

 of spoiling good honey from mixing 



with it. The nor' hern sneezeweed is 

 found in various localitiLS from Con- 

 necticut to the D.ikota.? and south- 

 ward. It is also found in places in 

 the Rocky Mountain states. 



The bitter honey seems to be as 

 good as any for brood-rearing and 

 where present the beekeeper s. ould 

 use care to avoid mixing it with his 

 m rketable product and use it for 

 feeding the bees. The bi.terness is 

 said to come from the po len grains 

 present in 'he honey and to Improve 

 g' eat y with a' e as he polen g".ains 

 settle to the bo' torn of the container. 



Atlantic, Iowa. 

 Copyright: 1Q16. by Frank C. Pellett. 



BITTERWEED IN A TENNESSEE BARNYARD 



A Unique Watering Device 



Too little attention is paid to the wa 

 :er supply in the apiary. Many a 

 beekeeper has found his neig ibors 

 hostile because of anno a ce of b es 

 about rain bar'-els, watering troughs, 

 open wells etc. Jf a sufficient supply 

 of water is available near the hives 

 the bees will seldom be 'roiblesome 

 elsewhere. It must be constant, how- 

 ever and should be available f om ear- 

 ly spring until free ing weather in 

 fall. Otherwise the bees are quite 

 likely to seek a suppiy elsewhere and 

 once having found it, to continue to 

 frequent the same source. There are 

 numerous plans for providing water 

 for the bees without danger of drown- 

 ing. The one si. own in the p cture 

 requires frequent filling but there is 

 little danger to the bees and ihe sup- 

 ply is sufficient for thousands of bees 

 to drink at once. The picture was 

 taken in the apiary of Mr. J. M. Davis, 

 of Spring Hill. Tennessee, at the time 

 of the visit of our staff correspondent. 

 As will be seen there are three very 

 shallow troughs, one immedia'ely un- 

 derneath the other. The large can at 



