480 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Oct. 



wall among other weeds. They will grow in spite of 

 other weeds, and, in fact, I believe they thrive best 

 among weeds, as they grow from 2 to 6 feet high. I 

 will send you some roots in the fall if you wish. If 

 sown this month or next, it makes root enough to 

 bloom some next season. M. L. Hobbs. 



Middleport, Meigs Co., ()., Aug. 17, 1880. 



We sent the specimen to Prof. Beal to be 

 named, who replies as follows : 



The plant is Cacalia suaveolens (Heavy Scented 

 Indian Plantain). Gray says, "Rich soil; Connecti- 

 cut to Wisconsin and south; rare; blossoms late in 

 summer." W. J. Beal. 



Lansing, Mich., Aug. 24, 1880. 



Please name the enclosed honey plants. No. 1 is a 

 good honey plant. No. 2 is still better, and has been 

 in bloom two months. Bees work on it early and 

 late. No. 3 is not yet in bloom, but will be in a few 

 days, and will yield honey until frost. There is a 

 great amount of it in this country. Bees are now 

 doing well on sumac and buck bush. The latter has 

 yielded honey in abundance for two months, and is 

 the surest thing yet for honey. Buckwheat is just 

 teeming with bees. G. W. Stites. 



Spring Station, Ind., Aug. 10, 1880. 



No. 1 is Simpson's Honey Plant or Fig- 

 wort. No. 3 is Eupatorium altissimum, one 

 of the Bonesets. No. 2 we sent to Prof. 

 Beal who named it "Pycnanthemum lanceo- 

 latum, a kind of mi;vt, called in some locali- 

 ties narrow-leaved Basil." 



VERBENA HASTATA, OB BLUE VERBENA, ETC. 



Enclosed find leaf, flower, and spike, of a plant 

 that bids fair to become noted for the honey it pro- 

 duces. A single plant standing in my garden has 

 now been in bloom for five weeks, and will bloom 

 until fall. This single plant engages from 12 to 20 

 bees from morn till night. A few acres of it would 

 certainly be of great value. Can you give its name, 

 and value as a honey plant? Motherwort has made 

 a favorable impression here this season. Basswood 

 flow was short, but heavy. The honey came in a 

 perfect flood while it lasted. A young swarm that 

 came off on the 20th of June had its ten combs built 

 out from top to bottom in just 10 days. 



Bloomdale, O., July 17, '80. R. B. Robbins. 



The plant you sent is one that seems to be 

 raging among my bee-keeping friends at 

 present, as several specimens have been sent 

 in. It belongs' to the Vcrbenacece or Vervain 

 Family, and the species is Verbena hastata, 

 or Blue Verbena. The seed of it has been 

 advertised in the list of honey producing 

 plants for a good many years past. 



I send you the flowers, seed, and also some small 

 plants of a plant which grows in my garden, but I 

 do not know the name. My bees have been at work 

 on it, gathering both honey and pollen for nearly 

 three months. The plant is quite hardy, living out 

 all winter without any protection. D. B. Hall. 



Parkersburg, West Va., Aug. 7, 1880. 



Prof. Beal, to whom we sent the speci- 

 mens, replies as follows : 



Plants sent are Scabiosa. It has no common 

 name but Scabish. One species is called Mourning 

 Bride. They belong to the teasel family. 



Ag. College, Lansing, Mich. W. J. Beal. 



INDIAN HEMP, OR SWAMP MILKWEED, ETC. 



Editor Gleanings:— Inclosed please find specimen 

 of honey plant. The only name I know for it is In- 

 dian Hemp. It is a plant that grows generally in 

 wet, waste places, but I have seen it on dry, light 

 soil. It blossoms just at the time when basswood 

 stops blossoming. My bees just hum on it from 

 morn till night, and I am satisfied they get consider- 

 able honey from it. But the honey of this plant, in 

 my mind, is of secondary interest when compared 

 with its other good qualities. You will notice the 

 plant is very rich in "fiber," and of an excellent 

 quality. The specimen of fiber I send is gathered 

 from stalks two yeais old, perhaps, which have been 

 run over by cattle and broken down; but the lint, or 

 fiber, still clings to the old dry stalks. Now, can not 

 this plant, that is so rich in fibrous material, be util- 

 ized in the manufacture of ropes, cords, linen, etc.? 

 It occurs to me that sections of country where there 

 is much wet, swampy land, if well set to this plant, 

 might be made quite remunerative with its crop of 

 honey, together with its fibrous material. The plant 

 grows in bunches, or hills, with from 6 to 30 stalks to 

 the hill, and from 2^2 to 4 feet high. 



I think it is admirably adapted for bridging over 

 the space that occurs between basswood and buck- 

 wheat. I believe the plant is a relative of the milk- 

 weed, and perhaps would have, in a measure, the 

 same fatality to bees; but, as the nectaries of the 

 flower are smaller than those of the milkweed, of 

 course the trap would necessarily be smaller, and I 

 am satisfied that it has not the sticky substance that 

 so tangles the bees in the milkweed. 



I also send specimen of a shrub that grows and 

 blossoms with the Indian Hemp. It is also a great 

 favorite with the bees, and grows in bunches similar 

 to the currant, from 3 to 5 feet high. 



Friend Wilson and myself have taken 3000 lbs. from 

 our 46 old swarms, ana it is all basswood. 



M. A. Gill. 



Viola, Richland Co., Wis., July 24, 1880. 



Prof. Beal kindly names the specimens 

 sent as below : 



The herb is Ascicpias incarnata, Swamp Milkweed. 

 The second, the shrub, is Spircea salicifolia, or Mea- 

 dow Sweet. W. J. Beal. 



Agr'l Coll., Lansing, Mich., Aug. 20, 1880. 



WHAT AN AUTHORESS THINKS OF MOD- 

 ERN REE-CULTURE. 



ALSO HOAV SHE SUCCEEDS IN TRANSFER- 

 RING, AFTER AN EXPERT (?) DIDN'T. 



f;IIE following is from the pen of Mrs. 

 Marie Rowland, author of "Papa's 

 — "" Own Girl." The letter was not in- 

 tended for publication, but I have obtained 

 permission to use it. If I mistake not, it 

 contains some very valuable lessons for even 

 our veterans. 



I have, I believe, read every No. of Gleanings, 

 since I subscribed last December. I had never 

 owned a bee then, but I meant to get some, and so I 

 subscribed for your journal sending a dollar for 

 Bro. Pressey (the largest bee-keeper in town) for the 

 ABC. He has my Gleanings, and I borrow the 

 ABC. I have so much need for it that I keep it 

 borrowed most of the time. I must get me a copy 

 out of charity to him. We commenced talking 

 about the "new departure" in bee-culture last win- 

 ter when we both read "The Blessed Bees" with 



