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AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL 



November 



The Russian Oleaster a Valu- 

 able Overlooked Honey Plant 



By L. H. Pammel. 



I HAVE, on several occasions, 

 called attention to the value of 

 the so-called Russian Olive (EIk- 

 agnus hortensis Bief var Songorica 

 Beruh) as a honey plant. The Rus- 

 sian Oleaster is a silvery, scurfy- 

 leaved small tree with perfect yel- 

 lowish flowers. The calyx is four 

 cleft, the exterior side is scurfy, the 

 inner yellowish. The Russian Olive, 

 as it is called, should more properly 

 be called the Russian Oleaster, as Dr. 

 N. E. Hansen, of Brookings, South 

 Dakota, has stated in one of his bul- 

 letins. The Russian Oleaster, known 

 botanically as the var Songorica, was 

 first introduced into this country by 

 Professor J. L. Budd, because of its 

 hardiness and ornamental qualities. 

 The young trees branch freely and 

 produce an abundance of white, 

 scurfy foliage which makes it a most 

 attractive and striking shrub. When 

 the tree becomes older it loses some 

 of its handsome character because of 

 the divergent branches. It is one of 

 the most fragrant of our cultivated 

 small trees. The vicinity of these 

 trees for some distance is rendered 

 fragrant by their blossoms. The sea- 

 son of blossoming varies somewhat, 

 but with us is about the middle or 

 early part of June. 



I wish to call attention to this 

 plant because it is one of the best of 

 our spring honey plants. The bees 

 visit the plant in large numbers, 

 when in full bloom from early morn- 

 ing until late in the evening. There 

 is a place for this tree in large yards 

 and it is especially desirable along 

 roadsides. The tree is a rapid grower. 

 I set a specimen in my yard in 1892. 

 It now has a spread of 54 feet. The 

 trunk is 18 inches in diameter, height 

 of tree 35 feet. The tree might be 

 cut now and made into eight fence 

 posts. It is true the trunk is not 

 very straight, but the fence posts are 

 serviceable. I think the Russian 

 Oleaster has great possibilities as a 

 honey plant. I am somewhat sur- 

 prised that beekeepers have not paid 



more attention to the use of this 

 plant. 



Thousands of trees were sent out 

 by Professor J. L. Budd and wherever 

 in the western country the tree is 

 found the influence of the Professor 

 of Horticulture is shown. I would ad- 

 vocate the planting of this tree ex- 

 tensively along roadsides in the Mis- 

 sissippi Valley, at least as far north 

 as southern Minnesota and northern 

 Iowa. 



Ames, Iowa. 



My Early Experience in Bee- 

 keeping 



By B. A. Manley. 



IN 1883 I commenced beekeeping 

 with one colony of hybrid bees in 

 rather a poor home-made hive 

 after the Langstroth pattern. I added 

 to this one by increase and purchase. 

 Until two years later I had, I think it 

 was twelve. I had very little time to 

 give to bees. I was manager of a 

 lumber, grain and live stock business, 

 too. Of course, I did not permit bees 

 nor anything else to take me away 

 from my business. 



One day in June, 1885, B. F. Wood- 

 cock, a friend of mine, and a very 

 successful beekeeper, was in my of- 

 fice. I was getting all that I could 

 out of him about bees. He had re- 

 cently bought a dozen pure Italian 

 queens and had them all in good con- 

 dition. He said he could spare one ol 

 them. He had about fifty colonies 

 and his farm work was crowding him. 

 I bought one and a few days later he 

 brought me in a fine colony of pure 

 Italian bees. We took them down 

 (three blocks from the office) to my 

 home. Mr. Woodcock looked through 

 my bees. I had one pure black col- 

 ony. He said: "I would get rid of 

 that black queen and give it this 

 Italian queen and from that get new 

 queens for all your bees." He gave 

 me instructions as to how to do it. I 

 at once transferred the Italian queen 

 and did it without any mishap. How 

 interesting it was to me to watch the 

 blacks disappearing from day to day 

 and the growth of queen-cells in the 

 Italian colony. The result was 

 eighteen colonies headed with queens 



the offspring of this one pure queen, 

 all in good condition. 



I did this with more business at the 

 office than any one man ought to try 

 to do. I did not permit myself to neg- 

 lect any of it until I broke completely 

 down. Twelve years ago I had to 

 give up and closed out my interest in 

 the lumber, grain and live stock busi- 

 ness, and am giving my attention to 

 beekeeping. I have 115 colonies in 

 winter quarters. 



I closed out my 1917 crop of 5,700 

 pounds of honey at good prices and 

 could have sold much more. We don't 

 need to get uneasy about the honey 

 market. The consumption of honey 

 is just beginning. 



Milo, Iowa. 



OLEASTER, COMMONLY CALLED THE RUSSIAN OLEASTER. 



Distance Bees Fly 



By Eric J. Outram. 



ON reading your remarks in the 

 February American Bee Jour- 

 nal about the distances bees 

 fly, I thought you might be interested 

 to hear that when preparing for the 

 heather season last year, I found un- 

 doubted traces of heather honey in my 

 hives, although the nearest heather to 

 my house is four and one-half miles 

 away. The heather country lies 

 southwest from my home and about 

 150 to 200 feet higher level. As the 

 prevailing breezes at that time of the 

 year (end of August) are from the 

 southwest, it is easy to imagine the 

 bees beating up the wind while light 

 and gliding down-wind and down-hill 

 while loaded. 



On taking the hives to the heather, 

 we get an almost exclusively heather 

 crop of rich, darkish, thick honey, 

 very full flavored and of excellent 

 medicinal qualities. 



I have eaten large quantities of 

 honey (mostly heather) this winter, 

 more than ever in my life before, and 

 this is the first winter I've passed 

 since I was 16, without a dose of in- 

 fluenza, catarrh, or such bronchial 

 troubles as flesh is heir to in an Eng- 

 lish winter. 



I find your paper most interesting 

 and instructive, although conditions 

 are so totally different on your side , 

 the puddle from ours. 



Later — Since writing my last letter 

 to you, I have found another patch 

 of heather nearer home, about a mile 

 and a half away. This somewhat dis- 

 counts what I said about the long 

 flight of my bees. 



It must puzzle some of you 100-hive 

 men to hear us talk of "taking the 

 hives to the heather." But in this part 

 of the country the large majority of 

 beemen are business or working men 

 who run bees as a more or less paying 

 hobby, and consequently large api- 

 aries are few and far between. 



Owing to recent ravages of disease, 

 the "paying" part of the hobby hasn't 

 been as conspicuous as might have 

 been. 



England. 



These two letters are a good illus- 

 tration of how easy it is to be de- 

 ceived upon the distances traveled 

 by bees. This question is of import- 



