1880 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



479 



the bloom is white and small, coming out at each 

 receptacle, much like the bloom of wheat, but 

 much more perfect, the flowers being nearly as long 

 as those of the gooseberry or coral berry. To see 

 the bright Italians probing these tiny white flowers 

 all the day long is refreshing to the lovers of the 

 beautiful. If you have never seen the last named 

 variety, I will take much pleasure in sending you 

 some seed at my own expense, when the seeds arc 

 thoroughly ripened. G. W. Demak.ee. 



Christiansburg. Shelby Co., Ky., Aug., 1880. 



To be sure, we want to know all about any 

 plant tbat has even a remote relation to our 

 favorite Simpson Honey Plant, and we ac- 

 cordingly wrote friend I)., to send us frag- 

 ments of the plant, and some seed as soon as 

 possible. Almost before we had time to ex- 

 pect them, we received a stalk and leaves, 

 almost exactly like our own Simpson Plant ; 

 but the bunch of flowers was nearly like a 

 head of wheat, only it was a square head, in 

 stead of a round one. Enough ripe seed 

 shook out of the heads, while we were look- 

 ing at them, to plant quite a little bed, and 

 into the ground they went at once. Strange- 

 ly, the seed, too, looks exactly like the seed 

 of our common Simpson Plants. The fol- 

 lowing card came with them : 



By to-day's mail, I send you some sections of some 

 of the honey producing species of the figwort. For 

 convenience. T selected the smallest specimen I 

 could find. You may get a glimpse of the little 

 white flowers. These spikelets, or heads, have been 

 blooming for 4 weeks. I mean the same heads which 

 I send you. They have the curious habit of throw- 

 ing out a few fresh blossoms every day. Hence the 

 flowers, though perishable, keep up a regular suc- 

 cession. Dr. Killich, in his "Dictionary of Facts," 

 says that there are 21 species of the figwort. Doubt- 

 less there are more of them which produce nectar. 



G. W. Demaree. 



Christiansburg, Ky., Aug. :>J, 1880. 



Now see how Prof. Beal upsets all our 

 ''speculations:"' 



This is Giant Hyssop, LophanthU8 uepctoides. It 

 belongs to the mint family with sage, bergamot, 

 catmint, etc. ; while Scrophularia nodosa (Figwort) 

 belongs to another order. I am sorry you bee men 

 have seen fit to give new names to old plants which 

 already had good names, both common and scientific. 

 By Simpson plant you mean figwort, I suppose, or 

 guess. The plant above referred to is like one sent 

 some weeks ago. W. J. Beal. 



Agricultural College, Lansing, Mich., Sept. 3, 1880. 



Thanks, friend Beal, I presume you are 

 right about coining new names. By the way, 

 this reminds me that we have a book of 

 pressed specimens of honey plants, which 

 one of our girls made, and we have the 

 names and all that has been written in 

 Gleanings right on the page with them. 

 Well, this book has got so voluminous that 

 we often, of late, trouble our kind friend 

 Heal, with plants that are already named and 

 described, as in the case mentioned above. 

 We are going to try to do better after this. 

 As the seeds are now up, we are going to 

 have some Giant Hyssop, and I presume it 

 will bear just as much honey under that 

 name, as if it were really a new figwort. 

 Here is another report of the same plant : 

 You will find enclosed the top of a plant, that 



grows here in small patches, and the bees seem to 

 be perfectly insane over it. Please tell us what it is, 

 and what it is worth as a honey plant. I have not 

 noticed it until this fall, but for 2 months my bees 

 have been at work on it. D. E. Robbins. 



Hesperia, Oceana Co., Mich., Sept. 1, 1880. 



Prof. Bcctl:~I send you some plants to be named. 

 No. 1 we call Boneset, but if it is Boneset, it surely 

 does not secrete honey here. No. 4 also, which I am 

 told is Golden Rod, is in the same fix. The last three 

 specimens are full of bees from morning till night. 



Sunman, Ripley Co., Ind. E. B. Vincent. 



The samples sent were as follows: No. 1, Boneset; 

 Xo. 2, Helianthus [sunflower family.— Ed.]; Nos. 3 

 and 4, Golden Rods; t>, Aster; 5 and 7, two species 

 of Polygonum, closely related to buckwheat and 

 smartweed. The writer perhaps has observed that, 

 in wet weather or in dry weather, white clover and 

 many other plants fail to secrete honey to attract 

 bees. So it is also with Golden Rod, Boneset, etc. 



W. J. Beal. 



Agricultural College, Lansing, Mich., Sept. 3, 18S0. 



matrimony vine. 

 I send you a few roots of a perennial vine which 

 blooms from April until frost nips it in the fall, and 

 of which the bees are very fond. It may not be of 

 much value as a honey plant, but I am inclined to 

 think it will prove to be one of the best we have 

 in this part of the country. I am sure you will not 

 grudge it a nook on your honey farm. We have had 

 very dry weather for 6 or V weeks, but these vines 

 bloom on, and are roaring with bees from daylight 

 until dark. I examined the flowers just opening, 

 at 2 o'clock to-day and found them filled with honey, 

 although it has been a very sultry day, with a dry 



j south-westerly breeze. It is a profuse bloomer, as 

 the samples I sent you show, and, so far as I am 



| able to judge, bears honey all the time. I have ex- 



! amined the flowers at various hours of the day, and 

 in very dry weather, and find each flower, when just 



( ready to open, containing a drop of nectar almost, 

 if not quite, equal to that on the spider plant. The 

 bees work on it all day, even when basswood is in 

 the height of its glory. 

 Bean Blossom, Ind., Aug. 24, '80. E. S. Arwine. 

 Prof. Beal on receipt of the flowers replies 

 as follows : 



The flowers are Lycium vuhjarc (Matrimony Vine), 

 introduced from Europe but now common in old 

 gardens, and waste places. It spreads rapidly and 

 ; becomes a nuisance. Prof. W. J. Beal. 



Lansing, Mich. 



We have the vine in our garden, and in 

 i bloom; but perhaps it is too small to show 

 j any great activity among the bees on it as 

 yet. 



INDIAN PLANTAIN. 



I this day send you a specimen of a weed that bees 



work on from early in the morning until night, even 



| during the driest and hottest weather. We have 



, other good honey plants, but, like buckwheat, they 



! are only forenoon plants, while this, like white clo- 



t ver, is an all day plant; and, as it comes in blossom 



from the middle to the last of July, and lasts until 



| frost comes, it is just what we want. You can smell 



the bloom, as you can the linn, before you get to it. 



You can get enough seed out of this sample to raise 



200 plants, by planting or sowing them right away, 



on any kind of ground, as they grow here in a stone 



