1880 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTUHE. 



413 



a large drop of honey in every flower. We only set 

 out about 100 of the Simpson Plants, and but very 

 few of them are in bloom yet, but they show honey 

 in every blossom. I believe these two plants will 

 pay well to raise for the honey alone. 



If I succeed in getting 100 lb. of comb honey per 

 colony this poor season, I will tell you how I did it. 



HAKRY RlACKBUKN. 



Webbervifle, Ingham Co., Mich., Aug. 1, 1880. 



SPIDER PL.VNTS IN MAINE. 



I would like to tell you about those Spider Plants 

 away down here in Maine. I got a 5c package of the 

 seed, and also a package of the Simpson Honey Plant 

 seed, and gave half of them to a neighbor who keeps 

 bees. I planted mine in a hot-bed, about the first of 

 May, and transplanted the first of June. They be- 

 gan to bloom about the 25th of July. At present, I 

 think I have about 100 bunches of flowers. My bees 

 begiu to visit them about 5 o'clock p.m., and work 

 until dark very busily. Then in the morning, they 

 work well until nine o'clock or after, making 7 hours 

 or more when they can get honey from them. To- 

 night, I was there about sunset and kept the bees 

 away from a bunch of flowers about ten or fifteen 

 minutes, and it would do any bee-keeper good to see 

 that drop of honey grow until it was nearly large 

 enough to drop off. 1 will have 500 plants next year 

 any way. William Hoyt. 



Ripley, Somerset Co., Me., Aug. 9, 1880. 



I planted some of the Simpson Honey Plant, which 

 grew well, and I think it is one of the best plants 

 for honey that we know of. My bees are the blacks; 

 I have only one Italian colony. In the morning, I 

 can see the blacks and Italians both on this plant, 

 but through the day I can not find one black bee on 

 it. Why is this so? Last fall you said the blossom 

 was full of honey, and so I thought the black bees 

 might reach it. Now I cannot understand this. The 

 Italians are all day long there at work. I have also 

 the Spider Plant doing well. I got the seed from 

 you, and it has been in full bloom ever since the -ith 

 of July. The bees are on it every night and morn- 

 ing, but I think the Simpson Honey Plant will pro- 

 duce more honey than the Spider Plant. They are 

 both very valuable plants for any apiarist, because 

 they come in just at the time when most needed. 



Saginaw City, Mich., Aug. 15, '80. G. Castbllo. 



BLACK BEES OUT EARLIEST IN THE MORN- 

 ING. 



I was a little surprised to find that the 

 bees which were out the very earliest were 

 invariably black bees, that remained in sev- 

 eral new swarms we bought in June. These 

 black bees got large loads, for they were the 

 first on the ground ; but while they stopped 

 in the middle of the day the Italians kept 

 right on. This seems to upset the old claim 

 that the Italians work earlier than common 

 bees. Which raoe lays up the most stores? 

 The Italians, by far; for they have whole 

 combs of solid honey, while the blacks have 

 only a little along the top bars. 



Of course, I have tested the quality of the 

 honey from these plants. The comb built is 

 as white as snow, almost, and the honey is 

 Cull as white as either clover or basswnod 

 honey ; but I have never been able to get a 

 taste of the honey in the hive, so as to dis- 

 tinguish the honey of one plant from that of 

 the other. About the last of the month, we 

 had a yield of honey which tilled up the 



hives so much, that I am forced to the con- 

 clusion that it came from some other source ; 

 for our 18 acre honey farm could not possi- 

 bly furnish 300 colonies enough so that they 

 could store from 3 to .5 lbs. each, in the space 

 of 10 days or two weeks. Erom the taste of 

 the honey, I should say it came from red 

 clover ; and I found many bees coming 

 home with the well-known red-clover pollen 

 on their legs. While on a visit to an adjoin- 

 ing county, I saw a held of 18 acres, pretty 

 fairly swarming with Italian bees, and the 

 hives were filling very much as they do in 

 June. 1 do not think any doubts need ever 

 be expressed again, about Italians working 

 on red clover. 



DELETERIOUS EFFECT OF CERTAIN BLOS- 

 SOMS ON BEES. 



I told you that our melilot had made a 

 most luxuriant growth. Well, while it was 

 in bloom I noticed many bees hanging to the 

 fiowers in a dumpish sort of a way, and 

 when touched with the linger, they moved, 

 but did not fly away. A good many stayed 

 on the Mowers all night. On looking into it 

 further, I noticed, as it seemed to me, alto- 

 gether too many dead bees on the ground 

 among the plants. Mr. Gray called atten- 

 tion to this, and I explained it by saying I 

 presumed it was bees that died of old age. 

 lie thought the number too great, by far. 

 After thinking about it, I looked among the 

 Simpson plants, but have never been able to 

 find a bee on the ground. The bees have 

 covered this ground for weeks, and in num- 

 bers ten-fold greater than those on the mel- 

 ilot. If you touch them with your linger, 

 they are always off in a second. 



On another page I have mentioned the 

 "Minnick" honey plant; well, I watched its 

 blossoms as they unfolded, with great inter- 

 est, but, as soon as I found bees on them, I 

 thought they seemed "logy." At night, 

 some of them did not fly home, but remain- 

 ed in a dumpish way on the blossoms all 

 night. Finally, I found some on the ground, 

 with their tongues protruded, dead. As I 

 have seen this only on the two plants men- 

 tioned, I have decided them to be unhealthy 

 for the bees. Am I right? 



CYPRIAN AND HOLY-LAND BEES. 



The Cyprian bees are hatched out, and 

 have been at work for several Aveeks in the 

 fields. They are exactly like Italians, in 

 every respect, so far as I can see, and cer- 

 tainly in no way any better. The Holy-Land 

 queens have a ringed appearance, as I have 

 said elsewhere, and the bees from one queen 

 are enough different from Italians to be 

 something of a curiosity. When young, 

 they have the same whitish down on their 

 bodies that I have mentioned in the ABC 

 as belonging to the albinos. Another Holy- 

 Land queen has bees showing this peculiari- 

 ty very faintly, and her bees, although three 

 banded, are as cross as average hybrids. As 

 honey or pollen gatherers, they are certainly 

 in no respect in the least superior to our 

 other Italians. I have purchased of friend 

 Jones, nine queens in all. Just as soon as I 

 can find anything about them to recommend 

 them over the Italians we have, I will let 

 you know. As I said last month, I rejoice 



