American "Bgc Joarnalj 



luxuriantly along the roadsid s does 

 not necessarily prove that the adjoin- 

 ing fields contain the proper bacteria. 

 It is always well to make sure, and in- 

 oculation is orw of the conditions that 

 must be complied with in order to be 

 reasonably sure of securing a stand. 

 Champaign, III. 



( Jo /><■ concluded next month.) 



The Honey-Producing Plants— 

 " Yellow Fall Flowers " 



BY FR.\NK C. PELLETT. 



IN preparing this series for the Ameri- 

 can Bee Journal no effort will be 

 made to consider the honey-plants 

 in any particular botanical order. 

 Rather will they be grouped as to col- 

 ors and seasons of blooming. In fact, 

 no great importance is attached to the 

 printed matter in connection with 

 these pictures. It is the special design 

 to obtain a series of photographs that 

 will enable the beekeeper to recognize 

 the principal plants that contribute to 

 his honey crop or supply pollen at a 

 time when it is of special value. In 

 many cases two or three pictures of 

 each plant will be shown in order to 

 give a near view of flower and leaf and 

 also a view of the whole plant. 



CUl' PLANT. 



During the late summer and fall 

 months there is a variety of coarse 

 weeds with yellow flowers common 

 along roadsides and in waste places 

 that are the source of considerable 

 honey. Of these, golden-rod and wild 



sunflower are commonly spoken of as 

 honey-plants. There are several others 

 equally valuable where they are suffi- 

 ciently abundant. The first to be men- 

 tioned will be a cup plant (Silphium 

 terfotialum), also commonly called 

 rosin weed. Figure 1 shows the plant 

 and Fig. 2 the flowers. Bv looking 

 closely at the picture, it will be seen 

 that the stem is square, and that the 

 leaves are grown together at the base, 

 thus making a cup around the stem, 

 from which the name is derived. These 

 plants are abundant on rich lands 

 along streams and sometimes on up- 

 lands in the Mississippi valley and 

 eastward. They grow from four to 

 eight feet high, with numerous large 

 yellow flowers, so that where plentiful 

 they furnish considerable pasturage 

 for the bees, who visit them very freely 

 and seem to seek them in preference to 

 more attractive plants of the same 

 season. 



GOLDEN-ROD. 



The golden-rods are of many species 

 and of wide distribution. They are so 

 well known as honey-plants that little 

 need be said concerning them. Golden- 

 rod i.Solidago') is an important source 

 of honey in many sections. In Iowa 

 it is seldom mentioned as important 

 excepting for the upper Mississippi 

 river section. The honey is usually 

 thick, and, when ripened, of good qual- 

 ity. The flowers are attractive and are 

 much sought for by many beetles and 

 other insects beside the bees. 



PARTRIDGE PEA. 



The partridge pea (Cassia') is report- 

 ed as an important source of honey in 



Georgia and Florida. The photograph 

 shows the common roadside species of 

 the middle West, with blossom, seed 

 pod and leaf. The flowers are of an 

 attractive yellow color of just about 

 the size shown. This plant is very 

 common along sandy roads in Iowa, 

 and at times it may be found for miles 

 at a stretch. While the bees visit it 

 freely when in bloom, the amount of 

 honey stored from this source is sel- 

 dom noticeable in this State. 



This plant is peculiar in that the neC' 

 tar does not seem to be secreted by 

 the flower proper, but by a gland at the 

 base of the petiole. The season of 

 bloom lasts several weeks in midsum- 

 mer. As it comes for the most part 

 after the close of the clover harvest, 

 the partridge pea in the northern 

 States serves mostly to keep the bees 

 occupied until later flowers bloom in 

 sufficient quantity to make a real honev 

 flow. The quality of honey stored 

 from this source is said to be poor. 



Atlantic, Iowa. 



[ To be continued.} 



FIG. i.-FLOWER OF CUP PLANT 



Report of the Secretary of the 

 Ontario Beekeepers' Asso- 

 ciation for 1914 



BY MORLEY PETTIT. 



THE following report from the Sec- 

 retary and Apiary Inspector of 

 the Ontario Beekeepers' Associa- 

 tion will be of interest to our readers. 

 Ontario is leading in many agricultural 

 pursuits : — Editor. 



The total number of memberships iti- 

 the Ontario Beekeepers' Association 

 received during the year ending Oct. 

 31, 1914, is 1281, compared with 1404 

 last year. 



Four hundred and sixty-nine of 

 these members came in from 26 affil- 

 iated county associations and the bal- 

 ance of 815 by single subscriptions. 



The fact that only 120 members have 

 fallen away in this year of hard tijnes 

 and crop I'ailure is encouraging, espe- 

 cially in view of the 875 increase a year 

 ago. All those new members would 

 not renew at the end of the first year 

 for reasons of sentiment, but because 

 they are getting their money's worth. 



The queen order business was con- 

 tinued during the year. Two hundred 

 and forty-seven members purchased 

 2143 queens at an average price of 

 about 70 cents each. This will be con- 

 tinued next year. 



The war situation in August brought 

 on a serious menace to the beekeeping 

 industry in Canada, owing to the diffi- 

 culty of securing sugar for winter 

 feeding. The secretary sent a letter to 

 the members of the association advis- 

 ing them to communicate with their 

 representatives in the Dominion Legis- 

 lature, urging some special provision 

 forbeekeepers underthe circumstances. 

 The subject was debated in the House, 

 and was referred to Sir Geo. E. Foster, 

 Minister of Trade & Commerce, who 

 wrote to the secretary asking for a 

 statement of the beekeepers' needs. A 

 second letter was then sent out to the 

 members and about 100 replied, stating 



