SKPTKMUliR, 1919 



GLEANINGS IN BEE C U I. T U R E 



571 



large areas are soon covered by lieuse thick- 

 ets of raspberries; and in sections which 

 have been burned over there springs up a 

 rank growth of fireweed or willow-herb. But 

 in a few years these plants become less 

 vigorous, and other forms of vegetation be- 

 gin to take their place. With the disap- 

 pearance of the forests and the increase of 

 the area of land under cultivation, the time 

 must come when the raspberry and the fire- 

 weed wull no longer be the chief reliance of 

 the beekeeper of northern Michigan. To 

 what other sources shall he then look for his 

 surplus honey? In southern Michigan the 

 plants which furnish most of the surplus are 



Milkweed (A.irle)nas Syriaca.) 



white clover, alsike clover, and basswood; 

 but basswood in this region does not yield 

 annually, as every other year it fails to 

 bloom freely, and is not only not abundant, 

 but is becoming rare. White clover does not 

 grow well in the sandy soil of northern 

 Michigan, and it will be long before alsike 

 clover W'ill be extensively planted. Thus 

 bee culture here is likely to be largely de- 

 pendent on milkweed. 



Milkweed Honey. 



Alieady the milkwcu^ds cover much land 

 and arc steadily spreading. There are sev- 

 eral sjK'cies, but the most common one is 

 .l.sc'/e;;i«.S' sijriuca, a tall hardy plant with 

 deep roots, which multiplies freely from 

 seed. When once it has obtained a foot- 

 liold, it is almost impossible to eradicate it. 

 It blooms from early in July to the middle 

 of August. L. C. Gordon of Bellaire, who 

 obtains annually a surplus of 50 pounds of 

 milkweed hoiiey per colony, writes that the 

 Dow of nectar is not affected to any great 

 extent by the weather. The color, he says, 

 is very light, in fact, about the lightest hon- 

 ey produced in this 

 section, and is very 

 thick if left to ripen 

 thoroly. 



Milkweed honey is 

 described by Ira D. 

 Bartlett of East Jor- 

 dan as follows: It is 

 very light in color, ex- 

 cept in unfavorable 

 seasons, when it is a 

 little darker, altho it 

 would always be class- 

 ed as white. The fla- 

 vor is something like 

 clover but stronger, be- 

 coming milder with 

 age. The body is good; 

 in hot dry seasons it is 

 very heavy. 



Thru the kindness of 

 Mr. Bartlett I have 

 received a sample of 

 pure milkweed honey, 

 which, he says, is 

 slightly darker than 

 the average. The comb 

 is white, but the ex- 

 tracted honey is ting- 

 ed with yellow, which 

 would promote its sale 

 with most buyers 

 rather than otherwise. 

 It had a very pleas- 

 ant flavor, not at all 

 pronounced, leaving a 

 fruity tang perhaps a 

 little suggestive of 

 quince. We prefer it 

 to clover honey, and it 

 is certainly well suited 

 for table use, deserv- 

 ing to rank with the 

 best of our northern 

 honeys. 

 As much as 15 or 16 pounds of milkweed 

 honey has been stored in a single day; but 

 i to 6 pounds is nearer the average. On 

 page 594, Gleanings, August 1, 1914, the 

 reader may see a photograph of an apiary 

 in Antrim County where the yield of this 

 honey was 95 pounds per colony. An aver- 

 age of 11 pounds per day for ten days is 

 said to have been obtained in some instances. 

 Waldoboro, Maine. 



