266 



AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL 



August 



queen bumblebees, the only caste of 

 bumblebees then on the wing, for the 

 males and workers do not appear un- 

 til later; the fiy honeysuckle (Loni- 

 cera ciliata), also pollinated in May 

 by female bumblebees, which in their 

 haste to get the nectar often cut the 

 buds into shreds; the Tartarian 

 honeysuckle (Lonicera Tatarica) of 

 the garden; the bog fly honeysuckle 

 (Lonicera coerulea) ; the bush honey- 

 suckle (Diervilla trifida), the yellow 

 flowers of which turn red in fading; 

 the horse chestnut; the foxglove, 

 and the Gladiolus. 



The garden pea is almost invaria- 

 bly and the garden bean is usually 

 self-fertilized, but both, as well as 

 the scarlet runner and sweet pea, are 

 in fact bumblebee flowers. Honey- 

 bees often visit the flowers of the 

 scarlet runner, from which they are 

 able to suck a little nectar, and oc- 

 casionally the nectaries are perforat- 

 ed by bumblebees and then the 

 honeybees rob the blossoms ' in 

 wholesale fashion. Besides the red 

 clover, the crimson and Alpine and 

 several other clovers are bumblebee 

 flowers, indeed a good many of the 

 pulse family, although visited by 

 honeybees and other long-tongued 

 bees, as well as bumblebees, seem 

 rather better adapted to the latter, 

 since they are better able-to depress 

 the keel. 



The lungwort (Pulmonaria offici- 

 nalis), Belladonna (Atropa Bella- 

 dona), the bearberry (Arctostaphylos 

 Uva-u'rsi), the wood betony (Pedicu- 

 laris silvatica) , gill-over-the-ground 

 (Glechoma hederacea), and largely 

 butter-and-eggs (Linaria vulgaris) 

 are bumblebee flowers. The scarlet 

 sage (Salvia pratensis), with its 

 walking beam mechanism for placing 

 the pollen on a bee's back; dragon- 

 head (Dracocephalum), Molucca 

 balm (Moluccella laevis), bugle (Aju- 

 ga reptans), and several orchids, as 

 the showy orchis (Orchis specta- 



bilis), the pink flowers of Pogonia 

 (ophioglossoides), common in bogs, 

 and Calypso borealis are all pollinat- 

 ed by bumblebees. The pretty flow- 

 ers of the purple Gerardia (Gerardia 

 purpurea) are abundant in autumn, 

 but they contain little nectar and at- 

 tract only a few bumblebees. Finally, 

 there may be added to the list Cerin- 

 the alpina, Scopolia atropoides and 

 black henbane (Hyoscyamus niger). 

 This is far from an exhaustive list 

 of bumblebee flowers ,but it includes 

 the more common species, and shows 

 how widely distributed and abundant 

 they are. In many instances honey- 

 bees are able to gather pollen and 

 not infrequently a little of the nec- 

 tar ; but, so far as I am aware, not 

 one of these bumblebee flowers is of 

 much value as a honey plant. Bumble- 

 bees have played an important part 

 in the development of our flora and 

 the bumblebee flowers should be 

 known to every beekeeper. 



Before removing the head of a barrel 

 mark the head and chime carefully 



The Use of Barrels for Honey 



By the Editor 



REGARDING what barrels to use 

 for storing honey temporarily, 

 before pouring it out into re- 

 tail receptacles of different sizes, our 

 readers are referred to the editorial 

 in the July issue. We will now ex- 

 plain how we take honey out of a 

 barrel, even after it is granulated, 

 without damaging the barrel. 



We must; however add ia few 

 words concerning the use of barrels. 

 While reading the July editorial on 

 this subject, a friend turned to the 

 editor and said: "Of course, you 

 wash out the barrel with hot water 

 first?" Not by any means. We have 

 said, and we repeat now, that "a bar- 

 rel will not do which has been rinsed 

 out." The barrel must be as dry as 

 possible and the glue coating inside, 

 which is so slight as not to be easily 

 detected when the inside is inspect- 

 • ed, must not be disturbed. The bar- 

 rel must be dry, else the honey would 

 absorb the moisture which it con- 

 tains within the staves and the bar- 

 rel would leak. 



Syrup barrels -, which have iron 

 hoops may prove as good as alcohol 

 barrels, but they must be free from 

 odor. Alcohol evaporates very read- 

 ily and a barrel which has contained 

 it is perfectly clean unless it has 

 been used for other purposes mean- 

 while. 



When pouring fresh harvested 

 honey into barrels we use a large 

 funnel and sieve, which is almost 

 a necessity. A whole pailful of 

 honey is dumped into this without 

 having to wait for it to run through 

 the funnel. 



Let me repeat that the great ad- 

 vantage of barrels is that the honey 

 may be drawn from them into any 

 sort of retail receptacle as trade re- 

 quires. Drawing from S-gallon tins 

 is much more troublesome. If the 

 barrel has been set properly with 

 the bung up, for a few days, while 

 the honey is liquid, the few parti- 

 cles of wax which may have found 



their way into the honey will be 

 drawn off with the last gallon or 

 two. This is put into an open vessel 

 and the skum skimmed off as soon 

 as it has risen to the surface. 



When it is expected to allow the 

 honey to granulate in the barrel, the 

 latter should be set on its head, so 

 that the moats of wax will be at the 

 top, when the head is removed. If 

 a half gallon of space be left when 

 filling the barrel, the head will not 

 touch the honey and will be more 

 easily removed. 



To remove the head and not in- 

 jure the barrel we first mark the 

 head and the chime in such a way 

 that the exact position in which the 

 head is placed may be found again. 

 Two marks, on edge of head and 

 chime, with a pencil, a crayon or a 

 chisel, will enable one to find the ex- 

 act spot in resetting the head. If 

 this is not done, the head may be put 

 back in another position and possi- 

 ble slight irregularities, which fit 

 into each other, will be placed so as 

 to cause ill-fitting joints and possi- 

 ble leakage in future. We must have 

 our barrel as good as before, so that 

 it may be used indefinitely. For con- 

 venience, the hoops may also be 

 marked so as to be returned in the 

 same position. 



We now use a strong gimlet 

 screwed into the center of the head 

 for a hand hold. With a hoop-driver 

 and a mallet, the hoops are driven up 

 and removed from the head. If the 

 honey be slightly liquid, it is well to 

 retain one or two to be put back as 

 soon as the head has been lifted out. 



The staves may have to be driven 

 apart a little. Usually they fly 

 back to assume a straight, nearly up- 

 right position as soon as released 

 from the hoops. The head is lifted 

 away without effort by means of the 

 gimlet. If no gimlet is at hand 

 when the operation is performed, a 



Chasing the Hoops on a Honey Barrel 



