1880 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



473 



lee makes a similar report in regard to the 

 bees of a Holy-Land queen I sold him. This 

 cross stock of ours, however, does not pro- 

 duce bees differing in looks, from the ordi- 

 nary Italians, or at the least very little. The 

 one that produces bees with the white rings 

 of down has a very gentle progeny, so it may 

 be that not all Holy-Land bees are cross. 

 1 1 ow do others find them ? 



SIMPSON AND SPIDER PLANTS DURH9G A 

 DROUGHT. 



While every thing else is almost dried up, 

 these two plants are furnishing honey still 

 right along. The Spider Plants are still in 

 bloom every morning, and the number of 

 tlowers produced each day is scarcely less 

 than it was a month ago; but the yield of 

 honey is quite sensibly increased by the 

 light showers we have had once or twice. 

 Irrigation would doubtless give an immense 

 yield of honey with this plant. Below are 

 some reports from different localities: 



THE SPIDER PLANT IN DIFFERENT LOCALITIES. 



The Spider Plants, of which you sent me the seed, 

 are very line, and some of them are in flower at this 

 time, and produce an abundant supply of honey or 

 nectar. I have called the attention of those who 

 seemed to doubt the statement in Gleanings, and 

 they have invariably admitted that your statement 

 was not an exaggeration of the value of the plant. 



Port Jefferson, N. Y., Sept. 4, 1880. H. L. MoGBR. 



My Spider Plants have just commenced blooming. 

 The large drops of honey are there every morning, 

 for a fact. George Ebell. 



Baker City, Oregon, Aug. 19, 1880. 



The Spider Plant has been in bloom for 2 months, 

 and I tried your dipper on the nectar; I shall plant 

 a good patch next year. B. F. Carroll. 



Dresden, Tex., Aug. IT, 1880. 



From the 5-cent package of Spider Plant seed ob- 

 tained from you, I got only 9 plants. They com- 

 menced blooming the latter part of June, and are 

 still blooming. I never saw anything produce so 

 much honey in a single tlower. Great drops form 

 before dark. The bees work on it until nearly dark, 

 and then again early next morning. Sometimes 

 6ome of the flowers do not seem to have any honey, 

 when others have a large drop, which drops off on 

 the ground when shaken. H. H. Fox. 



Tribulation, McDonald Co., Mo., Sept. 0, 1880. 



I got 12 plants from the 5-cent package of seed 

 which you sent me, and they began to bloom July 

 10th. The drops of honey were there so large, that 

 they frequently dropped out upon the leaves. I 

 watched it closely every morning, but never a bee 

 touched it for a week, though they were thick on 

 the cucumbers within 30 feet. I took a shingle one 

 morning, and stuck it into a pile of Italians that 

 were hanging out, and got it covered with bees, and 

 carried them to the plants, and got a few to light on 

 the flowers, and they stuck to them closely after 

 that. My best plant is now 1 feet high, and has 

 branches 2 feet long. I have not seen a drop of hon- 

 ey on them for 15 weeks, but the reason is the bees 

 get there before it is light enough to see the honey. 

 I have given each plant about a gallon of water daily 

 for the last 3 weeks, so as to have it mature the seed 

 which is beginning to ripen. ( '. T. Smith. 



O'Fallon, HI., Aug. 10, 1880. 



I want to ask your opinion of the way my bees 

 treat the Spider Plant. The plants are very line in- 

 deed, and the large drops of nectar, at present writ- 

 ing, are to be gathered morning and evening; but, 

 with a few exceptions now and then, the bees do not 

 notice the honey in the plant at all, but they just 

 fairly svoa/rm around the stamen part of the flower, 

 and seem to be gathering pollen, while the nectar is 

 allowed to go to waste. Why is this? Would you 

 supply pollen artificially? The bees are storing hon- 

 ey very rapidly from the cotton bloom, and I 

 thought this explained the neglect of the Spider 

 Plant. The plants are very fine, being about 6 feet 

 high, and set 3 feet apart each way, and the branch- 

 es are so woven together as to make a perfect mat 

 of flowers. I am unwilling to see it neglected, if 

 there is any remedy. Bees do not gather pollen I 

 believe in the evening, but they buzz around this 

 flower just as they do in the morning, with that 

 pleasant hum which indicates a good flow of honey, 

 and still leave the honey ungathered. I would like 

 to hear your opinion on this subject, as I had intend- 

 ed to have at least Y 2 acre of Spider Plants next 

 year. F. N. Wilder. 



Forsyth, Ga., Aug. 19, 1880. 



The strange phenomena you mention are 

 caused, I think, by the fact that your bees 

 find plenty of honey from other blossoms, 

 but a scarcity of pollen. With a larger area 

 of Spider plants, I think you would find bees 

 enough on hand to gather every drop of hon- 

 ey as fast as it is secreted. 



Since rny Spider Plant has ripened, I find it grow- 

 ing all around me. It has been growing in this sec- 

 tion no one knows how long. I found it at one house 

 growing right in the bee-yard, but no one had ever 

 noticed any bees on it. 1 have saved quite a quanti- 

 ty of seed, and have scattered a great many in out- 

 of-the-way places. I intend to give it a big trial 

 next year, and see if my bees will attack it. Bees 

 have done nothing this year in this section, in conse- 

 quence of the very warm winter. K. P. Johnson. 



Smithville, Ga., Sept. 5, 1880. 



fertilizers for spider plants. 



I had one acre of the Spider Plant, all growing 

 nicely very early in May, and, after going over my 

 corn with a compost of bone-dust, ashes, plaster, 

 and salt, I thought it would start them so nicely, 

 that I would go over them with the same; so I did. 

 To my surprise, it killed every plant. I tell you, for 

 a spell it was hard to tell whether I belonged in the 

 Growlery or Blasted Hopes, or both. 



Tekonsha, Mich., Julv 20, 1880. M. G. Hakes. 



GATHERING SEEDS OF HONEY PLANTS. 



As the flowers of the Spider Plant blossom 

 each day, the seed also ripens in the same 

 way, and the only way to gather it is to go 

 around every day or two, after the seeds get 

 so ripe as to shell off readily, and shell them 

 into a tin pan or pail. In this way a boy or 

 girl of 10 years will gather a pailful of seed 

 a day easily. We shall be able to furnish 

 the seed this season for not over a dollar a 

 lb. Demand and supply will likely settle about 

 a fair price. I think a lb. without doubt 

 would furnish plenty of plants for an acre. 

 It grows nicely on any good corn ground. 

 We gather the most of the Simpson seed by 

 shaking the branches over a large, tin dish- 

 pan. At the close of the season, the stalks 

 are gathered and threshed. Catnip, hoar- 

 hound, and motherwort seed are gathered by 

 girls in the same way,— shaking the branches 

 over a large dish-pan, and then separating 

 the leaves and sticks by a sieve. 



