440 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Nov. 



CALIFORNIA 



AS A BEE KEEPING 



STATE. 



ARTICLE NO. 3. 



WHITE SAGE. 



BEAR GLEANINGS: - I have taken considerable 

 trouble to find out about the white sage, the 

 great honey producing- plant of southern 

 California. 



In the first place, the locality or soil determines 

 late or early blossoming- (that is within a bee's flight, 

 or in the vicinity of an apiary), and not the height 

 of the mountains, as many suppose. 1 he earliest 

 blossoms are either high up on the mountains, 

 among the rocks or gravel, or in the valley on very 

 sandy soil. On rich, black soil, it grows so much 

 larger that it blossoms quite late. Then again, on 

 the north side of a deep gorge or canyon, it will 

 blossom early; while, on the south side, where the 

 sun does not shine but two or three hours in the 

 day, it blossoms very late. 



Inside of a square mile, there may be a dozen dif- 

 ferent kinds of soil, and all at about the same alti- 

 tude. It grows from 2 to 14 feet in height, and a 

 root will occupy from 6 inches to 6 feet in diameter, 

 and send up from one to a dozen blossoming stalks, 

 the number depending mostly upon locality and 

 soil. If fire runs over the country, as it did in many 

 localities last season, it spoils the blossoms for the 

 next season, as this season's growth produces the 

 blossoms next season. 



In the Ojai (pronounced Ohi) and Tar Creek val- 

 leys, the season is later than in the Sespe or Santa 

 Clara valleys. In the upper valleys, they have some 

 frost and sometimes a little snow; still the season is 

 about the same in length for honey. If bees could 

 be kept down in the valley in the fall and spring, 

 and moved up into the white sage country during 

 its blossoming, the bee season would be prolonged 

 from February to November; but moving bees is 

 quite a task. E. Gallup. 



Scenega, Ventura Co., Cal., Aug. 26, 1879. 



WHENCE COMETH THE HONEY DEW. 



HpIIE following was clipped from the 

 JJLj Lewiston (Me.) Journal: 



Will you allow me space in your valuable paper to 

 ask a question, as well as offer a few statements for 

 the benefit of bee keepers? The question I wish to 

 ask is, whence comes the honey-dew? Webster de- 

 fines the word honey dew as "a sweet saccharine 

 substance, found on the leaves of plants in small 

 drops," which, as applied to this section of the 

 country is a misnomer. 



My attention was first called to this subject, du- 

 ring a period of dry, hot weather in August, 1873, by 

 increased activity of my bees. Noticing that they 

 worked early and late and were storing honey rap- 

 idly, I sought for the source of these stores of hon- 

 ey and found they got it froni the leaves of beech 

 trees, where it had collected in large drops. I have 

 noticed it nearly every season since, and have never 

 seen a particle on any other leaf except beech, un- 

 less they were in close proximity, and were covered 

 by the dropping from the beech leaA^es above. Now 

 what causes this sweet deposit, and why is it not 

 found on the leaves of the maple and other forest 

 trees as well as the beech? I once thought I had 

 traced the cause of this sweet deposit to a species 



of green fly, but have come to the conclusion that I 

 was mistaken; for it would take myriads to produce 

 the quantities I have noticed on the leaves of a sin- 

 gle beech tree. Perhaps my assertion that it is con- 

 fined to beech trees only may be doubted, but as the 

 season for its appearance is close at hand, I invite 

 bee keepers to investigate for themselves and see if 

 my statements are not correct. 



A few facts now as to its effects on bees. The 

 winter following the summer when it was so plenty, 

 there was great mortality among the bees in this 

 section, Mr. Blaisdell, the Aroostook honey man, 

 losing his entire stock of upwards of thirty swarms, 

 and others all, or nearly all; while at Limestone and 

 other places near burned forests abounding in fire 

 weed and away from beech trees, they wintered, en- 

 tirely free from the dysentery that destroyed ours. 

 The same results have followed in seasons of an 

 abundance of honey dew since; the swarms that 

 came out late being sure to die before spring, while 

 the swarms that had plenty of honey in the hives 

 and little room to store the honey dew wintered 

 well. I have had swarms die in mid-winter with an 

 abundance of honey, but every particle sour, and 

 they were in hives stored with honey dew every 

 time. The same results have followed feeding hon- 

 ey stored in boxes during the periods named; and 

 so well are its effects known to bee keepers in this 

 section, that frequent rains during August and 

 September, to wash away the deposit, are looked 

 upon by them as special blessings. Hoping these 

 few lines may induce some one to give the true 

 cause of honey dew, I will close. L. W. Reed. 



Westfield, Aroostook Co., Me., July 29, 1879. 



—»•«.«■- — 



GLEN OAK APIARY. 



THE YDCCA. 



f,HE yucca, which your brother writes you about, 

 is plentiful around my apiary, but has this 

 J season yielded neither pollen nor honey, and I 

 do not think it is a hones'' plant. Without the flower 

 stem, it is an insignificant plant, but with it, is one 

 of great beauty. Its hundreds of beautiful, pendant, 

 white cups are so thick that, at a distance, it looks 

 like a pole with a white cap. The green leaves only 

 rise a few inches from the ground, but the stalk, 

 two and three inches through, often rises six feet 

 high before a flower appears. The natives chew the 

 stalk, which has a great deal of moisture in it, to 

 allay extreme thirst ; as, in this dry country, one is 

 often at a loss to find water when needed. The flow- 

 er stem seems to run up almost in a night, so rapid 

 is its growth. 



Belonging to the same family is the Spanish Bayo- 

 net Plant [see drawings on p. 137, Apr. No.], though 

 it is essentially different from the plant of the same 

 name in Florida, and more resembles what is com- 

 monly called bear grass, in Virginia and N. Carolina. 

 Its flower is similar to the yucca, but does not grow 

 so high. Of the yucca, I am sure, if you would get 

 a bulb, in the spring, and plant it in a very dry place, 

 it would meet your expectations in point of beauty, 

 if not in honey. It is never seen growing in the 

 valleys, but on the driest sides of the mountains. 



CALIFORNIA AS A HONEY STATE. 



As you are aware, this season is a most disastrous 

 one, and the worst has not yet come, I fear. One of 

 my neighbors has already lost 33 per cent out of a 

 large apiary, and many are quitting the business. 



