S5 



gll:anings i>^' bee culture. 



Feb. 



GAURA BIENNIS. 



AN UNFAVORABLE KEPORT. 



MR. ROOT:— 1 see in recent numbersof Glean- 

 ings that Gaura biennis is still occupying 

 your attention. As I have made it the 

 subject of some investigation, perhaps my 

 experience might be interesting. 

 In the fall of 1883 I found my bees bringing in 

 great loads of honey, very early in the morning, al- 

 though nearly all honey-gathering seemed to stop 

 at about seven o'clock. Anxious to discover the 

 source of this honey, 1 walked out along the river 

 one morning before sunrise, and there, alongside of 

 a patch of sweet clover I found a sight that remind- I 

 ed me at once of your experience with the spider 

 plant. On tall, coarse-looking plants were numer- | 

 OU8 curious- looking flowers with long sprawling i 

 petals of a delicate pink color. The beauty of the [ 

 flower, however, was completely eclipsed, to a bee- 



keeper's eye at least, by a large drop of nectar 

 which hung in the midst of the long downward-turn- 

 ed stamens— a drop so large, in many cases, that 

 one bee could not take it all. 



As 1 looked upon the globules of nectar glittering 

 lu the rising sun, and found that when one drop 

 was taken away another began to form immediate- 

 ly from the fluid which could be seen issuing from 

 the nectaries of the flower, I thought I had made a 

 great discovery. Visions of barrels and tons of 

 honey floated through my mind, and I longed to 

 have all the roadsides and waste places filled with 

 this wonderful honey-plant, with bees enough to 

 gather all of the honey. 



I broke ofl' a branch of the plant, and, going home, 

 interviewed the botany before the breakfast-table 

 had any charm for me. After settling in my mind 

 that it was the tjaura I began collecting informa- 

 tion in regard to it, and found that it was apparent- 

 ly a new plant in the locality; for while it was 

 found abundantly along the roadsides and on the 

 sandy river-bottoms, no one remembei'ed having 

 seen it before that season. In the meantime, the 

 hives were filling up slowly with a very dark, thin, 

 and unpalatable honey. Under the circumstances 

 1 concluded to learn more about the plant before 

 reporting on it, and an article written on the sub- 

 ject was consigned to the flames. 



Last season, Gaura hicnnts was conspicuous by its 

 absence, as only a very few scattering plants were 

 to be found. Again I concluded to wait; and but 

 for your remarks in Gleanings of Jan. 15 this 

 would not have been written. I will say, in defense 

 of uaura, though, that some of the honey which I 

 have yet, has improved very much since it was 

 gathered. J. A. Green, 118—118. 



Dayton, 111., Jan. 22, 188'.. 



Friend (Jieeii, 1 am sure we are very nivicli 

 obliged indeed, even though you liave tiun- 

 bled our air castle all into fragments. Please 

 send me a sample of the honey in the little 

 vial we mail you in a block. Now, 1 wonder 

 if the character of the honey is not largely 

 affected by the soil. It is so with melons, 

 and also with sugar-cane, especially early 

 amber. Is it not possible that the rank soil 

 along the river-bottoms had .something to do 

 with the Uavor of the nectar V Another 

 thing, I should not be surprised if it trans- 

 pire that the spider plant, Simpson plant, 

 gaiu-a, and others, would not bear honey of 



any account, unless they have a strong deep 

 soil. The gaura that was in our garden last 

 season grew where sods had been piled for a 

 foot or more. Some poor clay was mixed 

 with it, however, and tlirown over the top. 

 The nectar looked so transparent and beau- 

 tiful, it seemed to me as though it must pro- 

 duce nice honey. Are you quite sure your 

 dark poor honey came from the gaura? I rom 

 your statement it would seem quite proba- 

 ble, but yet we sometimes get sadly misled 

 in these things. I do not wonder tliat your 

 breakfast had no charms while you were 

 hvmting the botany, friend G. Can any oth- 

 er brother give us a hint V Another fact : 

 Experience seems to show that many of our 

 plants bear honey only occasionally; that is, 

 it is only once in several years that we have a 

 season just riglit for that particular plant. 

 Honey reports have verified this repeatedly. 

 Some'plant hitherto unknown is found every- 

 where in the greatest profusion, dripping 

 with honey, and next year it has all disap- 

 peared, and so on for several years after. 

 This fact makes the raising of plants for hon- 

 ey a very uncertain speculation. 



A VALUABLE HINT FROM ONE OF 

 OUH CANADIAN BEE-MEN. 



" Honey on a Stick, at 5 cts. a Lick." 



A SHARI' RISK TO (iET RID OF CRt)OKKD AND IR- 

 REGULAR SECTIONS. 



T SENT you a telegram one Saturday evening. 

 Air ordering 25 queens, and on the next Wednes- 

 |i day morning I received them all, without a siii- 

 '*' gle dead bee. That is what I call business. 



Our honey crop in this locality is hardly half 

 that of last year. 1 have just finished feeding 7 

 barrels of granulated sugar to 1.57 stocks. 



We exhibited over a ton of honey at our county 

 show here last week, and took in over $80.00 in cash 

 for honey sales, chiefly in quantities of a pound or 

 less. My son cut the pound sections into four tri- 

 angular pieces by cutting diagonally from corner to 

 corner, and then breaking the section into four 

 pieces, to each of which a triangular chunk of 

 honey was attached, and the furore he got up in 

 the crowd for treating each other to " honey on a 

 stick" was a new feature in the show. He also had 

 extracted honey in 5, 10, and 20c. packages, but the 

 comb honey cut in the presence of the crowd was so 

 toothsome that it became " all the go." They are 

 saying now.that the bank-bills taken in by the treas- 

 urer were stuck together with honey, and that the 

 dcniaiid for dry goods has increased, several dresses 

 being injured by honey in the crowd. If any one 

 has any crooked or bulged sections which he can 

 not ciate, this is just the way to turn them into 

 cash at twenty cents each, because they will do to 

 cut up, just as well as the best grade. S. Cohneil. 



I,indsay, Ont., Oct. 9, 1884. 



Well, friend C, your son is a genius in- 

 deed, if he got that up himself. The only 

 drawback I see is, that in cutting the honey 

 a good deal of "juice" would run out ; but 

 l)erhaps he let this drip into some of those 

 cans, and then he would be that much ahead. 

 .Inst about luncli time I should think it 

 might be quite an idea. I have myself been 

 studying about comb honey for a lunch, for 

 a good many years, but 1 think your idea is 

 ahead. 



