January 



American "Bae Journal 



anxious and determined a person might 

 be to learn them. We can compare this 

 matter exactly with other lines of work 

 where the masters of industry have at- 

 tained great ends in tlieirundertakings. 

 while others, with apparently the same 

 chances, but a lack of certain essen- 

 tials, went to the wall. 



But we wish to put in a word of 

 warning, or explanation, before we say 

 anything more, and that is. that we are 

 not writing these things as boasting 

 ourselves over what we have done. 

 Not at all, for the thought never oc- 

 curred to us until we felt, as we were 

 penning these lines, that some of the 

 readers, especially those who do not 

 know us so well, might think that was 

 our aim. Our reason for giving these 

 experiences are to encourage others to 

 adopt the intensive-extensive ways of 



bee-keeping, and nothing more, and as 

 we have gained much by the experi- 

 ences of others, we are as willing to 

 give ours in return. 



However, to make this long story 

 short, our aims are to improve our bee- 

 keeping, and keep not only right up- 

 to-date, hut Just a little ahead of that, if 

 it is possible to do so, and if we find 

 that we can profit therefrom. 



As we saw Rogers, the aviator, fly 

 over our apiaries today, on his "from 

 coast to coast trip," we felt as though 

 it would not be long ere we would be 

 flying to our apiaries in a flying ma- 

 chine, and it is rather doubtful whether 

 or not some of us may not remain 

 just up-to-date enough to do just such 

 "stunts" some time in the near (?) 

 future. Then that will be part of our 

 ititetisive-cxtcnsii'e bee-keeping. 



Contributed 



Articles^ 



The Basswoods as Honey-Trees 



BY G. M. DUOLITTLE. 



A correspondent wishes me to tell 

 the readers of the American Bee Jour- 

 nal all about the basswoods ; how early 

 in the season it can be told whether 

 they will bloom or not; if there are 

 years in which they yield no nectar; 

 and if it will pay to move an apiary to 

 a basswood locality a score of miles 

 away. 



Regarding how early in the season 

 we can tell whether there will be a 

 basswood bloom, I will say that, in 

 common with nearly if not quite all 

 trees, the fruit-buds are formed for the 

 next year's production nearly one year 

 in advance of the time of blossoming. 

 This is certainly true of the basswoods, 

 as these buds are mostly formed dur- 

 ing June and the first half of July, so 

 that the results of next season's nectar- 

 yield, so far as buds and flowers are 

 concerned, are already formed in em- 

 bryo, while the readers are perusing 

 this article, on the apparently hare and 

 lifeless branches of the basswood trees 

 as we behold them these zero days of 

 winter. They wait only for the warmth 

 of spring to bring this dormant life 

 into growth. It is possible that with a 

 microscope these buds might be made 

 to tell their secret holdings, even in 

 mid-winter, but as there is no need of 

 such haste, I have never tried to see as 

 to this. 



As soon as these buds unfold, some 

 time during the coming May, then we 

 can know to a certainty in this matter, 

 and this will be in good time for know- 

 ing whether to make preparations for 

 moving the bees or not. 



As soon as the leaves start out a lit- 

 tle we can find the bunch of buds at 

 the base of each leaf, if wc examine 

 closely, as yet curled up quite compactly, 

 and looking somewhat like the half of 

 a white sweet-pea seed, or perhaps a 

 very tiny, fuzzy caterpillar would de- 

 scribe it better. With each week this 

 bunch of buds grows so that in (wo 



weeks this little, fuzzy caterpillar has 

 unfolded and lengthened out till the 

 " fly-leaf " (that carries the bunch of 

 mature basswood seeds over hill and 

 dale for rods around, with every pass- 

 ing breeze or wind in the fall, thus 

 propagating itself in every nook and 

 cranny within this circuit, unless dis- 

 turbed by the oncoming of the wood- 

 man's ax) is very easily seen, and the 

 tiny buds begin to separate themselves 

 so that they can be counted. 



At the end of about 7 weeks from the 

 time the trees begin to show their 

 green in the spring, they open their 

 flowers filled with nectar to invite the 

 bees to a sumptuous feast. Of course, 

 a cool season will retard the time of 

 bloom a week to 10 days, and a very 

 hot season will advance it very nearly 

 as much, but the above is the rule. By 

 going over my old record-book, kept 

 for more than 40 years, I find that June 

 28th is the earliest I ever knew bass- 

 wood bloom to open in this locality, 

 and July 16th the latest. Thus the in- 

 quisitive and knowledge-seeking eye 

 can tell nearly 2 months in advance as 

 to the promise for a yield of basswood 

 honey. 



Regarding a failure of nectar from 

 this source, I will say that up to about 

 10 years ago, I never knew such a thing 

 as an entire failure, although there 

 were years during which the weather 

 was not propitious for a continuous 

 secretion of nectar during the whole 

 time of the bloom. At that time we 

 had so cold a spell after basswood 

 commenced to leaf out, and was so 

 forward that the little fuzzy ball of 

 buds could be seen that ice formed 

 fully half an inch thick during the 

 night, and that year there was not any 

 basswood bloom at all on account of 

 freezing. Since then a freeze killed all 

 the buds on the low ground, but on the 

 hills there was some bloom, but not 

 enough to give anything like a full 

 yield. Aside from these 2 instances, 

 the shortest flow I ever knew gave a 3 

 days' yield, in which honey was so 

 plentiful that the bees could not pre- 



pare room fast enough to store it, with 

 a gradual winding up of 2 days more, 5 

 days in all. The longest yield was of 

 25 days' duration, with 3 of them so 

 cold that the bees could work only a 

 little during the middle of the day. 



The condition of the atmosphere has 

 much to do with the secretion of nec- 

 tar in the basswood flowers. The most 

 unfavorable weather is a cold, rainy, 

 cloudy spell, with the air or wind in a 

 northerly direction. If basswood came 

 in bloom at a time of year when we 

 were likely to have much of such 

 weather, there might be some doubt 

 about the advisability of moving an 

 apiary to a region where basswood is 

 abundant; but, as a rule, we have very 

 little of such weather during the month 

 of July, which is the time of its bloom- 

 ing in most localities. During July we 

 are more likely to have showery 

 weather, with the air southerly, or a 

 still time, and the atmosphere charged 

 with electricity, at which time the nec- 

 tar will almost drop from the blossoms, 

 providing no rain comes within 2 or 3 

 miles from the apiary. At such times 

 as this I have seen nectar sparkling in 

 the bloom after it had fallen to the 

 ground ; so much so as to attract my 

 attention in the morning sunshine. 

 During such times as these, this nectar 

 is almost or quite honey, not only 

 sweetened water, as is often the case 

 with nectar from clover, teasel or buck- 

 wheat, which makes the basswood 

 doubly valuable over most other honey- 

 secreting plants or trees. 



Several times when basswood was 

 yielding under such conditions, I have 

 seen fully a bee-load of honey in a sin- 

 gle flower, and from one stem of blos- 

 soms of from 9 to 12 flowers, I have 

 jarred 2 or 3 thick drops of nectar 

 into the palm of my hand, enough so 

 it could be poured from the hand. 

 Such extremes are the exceptions, 

 however, and not the rule. Still, I 

 know of nothing that will give as much 

 honey per day under the same condi- 

 tions as will basswood. One year I 

 extracted the honey from the upper 

 stories of a single colony during bass- 

 wood bloom, and 3 days later I ex- 

 tracted from these same upper stories, 



2 in number. Result: t)6 pounds, or 22 

 pounds per day, as the average for the 



3 days from a single colony. 

 Regarding moving an apiary a score 



of miles to a basswood locality, I will 

 say that I believe basswood to be the 

 greatest honey-producer in the world, 

 and the least likely to fail to yield nec- 

 tar of any plant or tree, therefore I see 

 nothing against such moving, except 

 the expense. Dr. Gallup, now deceased, 

 while living in Iowa, proved years ago 

 that basswood is an enormous yielder 

 of nectar, when he obtained a yield of 

 20 pounds per day on an average from 

 a single colony, during a period of 30 

 days ; or GOO pounds from a single col- 

 ony during the 30 days basswood was 

 in bloom, this record being found in 

 the American Bee Journal during the 

 early '70's, if my memory serves me 

 right. This record has never been 

 beaten, if I am correct, by a single col- 

 ony, during the same number of days 

 from any other source. 



If our correspondent, or any reader 

 of this, can move their bees to a bass- 

 wood locality, and return them at an 



