476 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTUEE. 



Dec. 



All right, friend F. I have no objections 

 at all to queens from the egg ; in fact, the 

 greater part of ours have been so reared. In 

 grafting, we have been obliged to get larvae 

 that have just broken the cell, but perhaps 

 we shall succeed just as well in grafting 

 eggs ; who knows V I know very well, bees 

 will winter better where surplus honey is 

 stored in boxes and natural swarming is 

 practiced, for I have tried both ; but, my 

 friend, is it not because the combs are well 

 filled with honey, all around the brood nest, 

 just as they need it naturally, and in a much 

 different shape, from those where a novice 

 has divided and subdivided all summer ? 

 Does Doolittle increase entirely by natural 

 swarming V Will friend D. please stand up 

 and say Y If I am correct, he reduces his 

 number greatly, both in spring and fall, and 

 you may be sure he keeps the best queens, 

 and destroys the others. 



Well, I declare ! Friend D. obeys a sum- 

 mons pretty quickly. The following postal 

 was just handed me, and although it does 

 not quite tell what we wanted, it verities my 

 last remark. 



Friend R.:—l have just been reading' on page 431, 

 November Gleanings; please book me for a queen 

 from the queen told of as producing- the honey gath- 

 erers, early next season, if — if she don't die in win- 

 tering. G. M. Doolittle. 



Borodino, N. Y., Nov. 15, 1879. 



Before your remarks, friend F., I had 

 thought seriously of having an apiary next 

 season devoted to rearing queens from im- 

 ported mothers by natural swarming. How 

 much more will the friends give for such 

 queens ? I have several times wondered if 

 it might not stop the balling, swarming out, 

 spring dwindling, etc. ; but the farmers all 

 over the land, with their box hives, have 

 about as bad dwindling as any class I know 

 of. . They, neither in bees nor honey, come 

 anywhere near the educated, modern bee 

 men of our day. I shall hardly expect the 

 ABC class to escape spring dwindling as 

 well as do the old bee-keepers ; but do not 

 " wisdom's ways " admonish us to glean 

 from both and from all systems ? 



BEE BOTANY AND ENTOMOLOGY. 



A RELATION OF THE SIMPSON HONEY PLANT. 



^jf^iNCLOSED, please And a sample of a honey 

 flpUi plant. I counted as many as 87 flower stems 

 '-i-Xll on one stalk. It commences to blossom in 

 July, and remains in bloom about 2>4 months. Bees 

 work on it late and early, wet and dry. If you know 

 any name for it, I should like to hear from you, and 

 to learn if it is worth anything' for honey. 

 Buchanan, Mich., Sept. 26, '79. Wu. Blake. 



Prof. Beal replies as follows :— 



It is the top (a very poor specimen) of Lophanthus 

 ecrophular if alius. It is a sort of g-iant hyssop, of 

 which there are several in this country. They are 

 tall herbs belonging- to the mint family. Bees are 

 fond of all mints, in which they can reach the honey. 



The word scrophularifolius seems to indi- 

 cate that it is a relative of the Simpson 

 honey plant (Nodosa scrophularia), does 

 it not V I should be very glad indeed to see 

 even a distant relative ; will you not send 

 me some seed, friend Blake ? ' 



ASTERS. 



I heroin send you a twig of a bush that is quite a 

 honey producing plant, just coming into bloom. I 



would like to know its true name, if you will please 

 answer by card or in Gleanings. 



Hani mersvi lie, O., Sept. It, '79. J. L. Shinkle. 



This is a small aster (probably A. miser), of which 

 th^re are many species, all good for bees. The spec- 

 imen is imperfect. W. J. Beal,. 



Mich. Air. College, Lansing. 



Enclosed, you will find a branch of a plant that 

 grows on low lands. Tae frost has not hurt it yet, 

 while all other vegetation has been hurt. The bees 

 are busily working on it. C. L. Gage. 



St. Johns, Mich., Oct. 6, 1879. 



The above is a poor specimen of some kind of aster. 

 These are very common in autumn, and all good. 

 There are many kinds. Pkof. W. J. Beal. 



Bees cover this plant; what is it? 



Oxford, Penn., Oct. 6, 1879. S. W. Morrison. 



Prof. Beal replies,— 



This is another aster,— a poor specimen with no 

 leaves. 



actinomeris squarrosa. 



Enclosed, I send you a good honey plant. Please 

 tell me the name of it. It is very dry and hot here 

 now, and scarcely anything else yields honey. Buck- 

 wheat is drying up, but the bees are on this plant 

 from morn till eve. It grows from 5 to 8 It. high, in 

 the timber lauds along the creeks, and has now been 

 in bloom about a week. I send you some seed pods, 

 and flowers in full bloom, some buds and a full grown 

 leaf. M. M. Stover. 



Table Rock, Neb., Sept. 1, 1879. 



Answer by Prof. W. J. Beal :— 



This is Actinomeris squarrosa, a tall perennial, 

 somewhat resembling coreopsis and helianthus. 

 These are all good for bees wherever found, and 

 there are many kinds. 



Enclosed, please find a plant of which bees are 

 quite fond. 1 have inquired of several persons for a 

 name for it, but no one can tell. The stalk and 

 leaves resemble smartweed. There are acres of it 

 in this section, and when the weather is fine, the 

 bees are very busy upon it. It grows from one to 

 four feet high, on low wet land. Do bees get honey 

 from it? Please reply through Gleanings. 



Fielding, 111., Sept. 12, 1879. Joseph Mason. 



It is of the family Polygonaecai (Buck- 

 wheat) ; the genus, I think, is the same as 

 smartweed, Polygonum; the common name 

 is blackheart. 



WILLIAMS' HONEY PLANT. 



Prof. Cook:— I send you by to-day's mail a sample 

 of a weed which we call the "Honey Plant." It 

 grows on all kinds of soil, and on no soil at all. I 

 have all kinds of ground from a rock quarry to the 

 richest bottom lnnd, and it grows well on it all. 

 The sample I send you grew on dry and fine rock 

 which was thrown out of the rock quarry 10 feet be- 

 low the surface. The stalk was 6ft. high, it com- 

 mences to bloom the first of July, and blooms till 

 hard freezing. We have had 3 light frosts already, 

 an uncommon occurrence for this climate. 



This is a species of Composite^, near to bone-sot. 



Mich. Ag. Col., Lansing. Prof. A. J. Cook. 



SYMPHORICARPUS AGAIN. 



The bush with the red berries grows every where 

 about here. It grows in stools like the gooseberry 

 bush, and about the same size. It has a cluster of 

 blossoms under every leaf, which begin to open in 

 M ty, and the last ones are now just gone. Bees 

 work on this and the plant mentioned above from 

 morning till night. We call this buck bush. Please 

 send the name and description to Gleanings. 



Port Scott, Kan., Sept. 16, '79. F. B. Williams. 



This is Symphoricarpus vulgaris. A. J. Cook. 



SEVERAL HONEY PLANTS, ETC. 



Please name enclosed plants. Bees have been 

 working on Nos. 1, 2, and 8, about a week. They 

 grow along fences and in uncultivated places. Nos. 

 3, 4, 5, 6, and 7 grow on low land and meadows. Bees 

 work on them during August and the first of Sep- 

 tember. No. 9 is very valuable, for it keeps our 

 bees busy between basswnod and buckwheat bloom. 

 No. 10 grows in trreat quantities on sand bluffs, where 

 nothing else will grow. Bees have been working on 

 it about 6 weeks. 



