406 



December, 1H14 



American Bee Jonrnal j 



obtains the name of ' bitter weed.' It 

 grows both in fields and pastures. 



"It seems to have about the same 

 nature as dog-fennel or horse-fennel. 

 It grows, in this section, wherever rag- 

 weeds, fennels, crab-grass and Bermuda 

 grass will grow. It thrives best in 

 cultivated lands. It begins to bloom 

 and seed in early summer and con- 

 tinues on until frosts. Under most 

 favorable circumstances it reaches a 

 height of about 12 to 1.5 inches, then 

 the first bloom appears, and around 

 this and beneath it shoot out branches 

 until it has sometimes as many as 190 

 seed heads; these may have from 40 to 

 50 seeds to the head ; so you see it is 

 possible for one seed to reproduce it- 

 self 5000 tim-is in one season. 



"lam sending you, in this letter, a 

 twig of the weed. //' I leaz'e this honey 

 in the hive, will the bees ei'er ripen it in 

 such a iL'ay as to take the hitter out of 

 it ? If you have had any experience 

 with this kind of honey, please advise 

 me what to do and I will most heartily 

 appreciate it." Rev. W. S. Walters. 



Laurens, S. C. 



To make sure of a correct answer, 

 we referred the enquiry to our learned 

 friend, Dr. L. H. Pammel, the botanist 

 of the Iowa Agricultural Experiment 

 Station, who is now busy on a study 





Turning to tlie files of the American 

 Bee Journal, we find the plant described 

 at different times, by beekeepers un- 

 acquainted with botany, as yellow 

 " camomile " or yellow "fennel," which 

 it resembles slightly. Dr. J. P. H. 

 Brown, of Georgia, a former contribu- 

 tor of the American Bee Journal, de- 

 ceased in 1909, described the llelcniutn 

 tennifolium in November. 1886. He 

 states that an extract from this plant 

 was used during the Civil War as a 

 substitute for quinine in the treatment 

 of chills and fever. He reports its 

 honey as unfit for use by man, but 

 good for breeding purposes. It has 

 medicinal properties. 



The northern sneeze weed, Ueleniiim 

 automnale, mentioned by Dr. Pammel, 

 is reported at different times as a good 

 honey producer. U. Stephenson, in 

 1888, W. J. Cullinan, in 1890, praised it 

 as a honey plant, though the honey is 

 said to be slightly bitter. 



Speaking of the bitter weed of the 

 South, R. H. Whitfield, in the Southern 

 Live Stock Journal, held that there was 

 a greater freedom from disease among 

 bees in the South than in the North, 

 owing to the tonic and prophylaxis of 

 the bitter element in this fall honey. 



This honey should be saved and fed 

 to the bees to hasten the breeding in 

 early spring. 



Helenium Tenuifolium 

 Better known as Bi'.terweed. (See page 410.) 



of the Iowa honey-producing weeds 

 and plants. He says : 



"This is the bitter weed or narrow- 

 leaved sneeze weed. This weed, a bad 

 weed in Texas, occurs now from Texas 

 to Virginia. It is the Ihlenium tcnui- 

 folium, 



" There are several other lleleniums 

 in the United States. In the Rocky 

 mountains a species occurs which is 

 carefully avoided by stock because of 

 the bitter taste of its leaves. I have 

 treated of the poisonous nature of this 

 plant in my ' Manual of Poisonous 

 Plants.' It is said to have been widely 

 scattered with hay after the Rebellion. 

 It is kni^wn to be the cause of bitter 

 milk and even death of animals. The 

 plant contains a narcotic poison just as 

 our northern sneeze weed does: 



"This fall I saw honey bees working 

 plentifully on the northern sneeze 

 weed, lletcnittm automnale, in Marshall 

 Co., Iowa." 



The name Tenuifolium is due to the 

 tenuity of the foliage of this weed. 



Death of James G. Smith — Through 

 our mutual friend, Dr. A. F. Bonney, 

 we have learned of the death of Mr. 

 Jam"s G. Smith, which occurred at 

 Medford, Oreg., on Sept. 12. Mr. Smith 

 kept bees in Iowa for more than 40 

 years, and though very old was still 

 a beekeeper at the time of his death. 



states that it is now well under control. 

 In commenting on the crop, he says: 



" The bee industry in the State of Min- 

 nesota has been nearly a total failure 

 this year, the spring havint< been un- 

 usually wet and cold. There are few 

 places showing surplus honey, but in 

 the majority of apiaries feeding has 

 been necessary. This state of affairs 

 makes it very unpleasant for both the 

 beekeeper and the inspectors. 



" I expect to see a better honey crop 

 next year, as conditions look very 

 promising all over the State at this 

 time." 



The Tarill on Bee Products. — The 



Protective Tariff Encyclopedia pub- 

 lished by the American Protective Tar- 

 iff League gives a comparison of the 

 rates of duty during the Payne-Aldrich 

 law and under the present Underwoi d 

 law. 



The duty on honey under the former 

 law was 20 cents a gallon. This has 

 been reduced to 10 cents a gallon un- 

 der the present law. 



Beeswax was formerly and still is 



admitted free of duty. 



^ 



Minnesota Inspector Report — The re- 

 port of J. Alf. Holmberg, Inspector of 

 Apiaries for Minnesota, is just out. 

 During the year '!74 apiaries were in- 

 spected, containing 097.") colonies. Of 

 these, 3.5 apiaries with a total of 197 

 colonies were found to contain disease. 

 Mr. Holmberg is very well pleased with 

 the small amount of disease found, and 



Chicago - Northwestern Beekeepers' 

 Convention. — The I8th annual meeting 

 of the Chicago-Northwestern Beekeep- 

 ers' Association will be held at the 

 Great Northern Hotel, Jackson Blvd. 

 and Dearborn St., Chicago, Thursday 

 and Friday, Dec. 17 and 18. An exten- 

 sive program has been arranged, and 

 as several large beekeepers, such as 

 N. E. France, E. S. Miller and others 

 have signified their intention of being 

 present, a good meeting is assured. 

 The program follows : 



Thursday. Dec. 17— Morning Session. 



9:00 A.M.— Social hour. 



10:00 A M —President's Address— C. F. Kan- 

 nenberii: 



10:30 A.M.— Reading of minutes and report 

 of Secretary-Treasurer. 



ii:ooA.M.— American Beekeeping— Past and 

 FuJ:ure— L, A. Aspinwall. 



Crop reports. 



Afternoon Session. 



1:00 I'M.— Shipping Bees North and South— 

 •H. C. Ahlers. 



2:00 1' M— Country Wide Advertising to In- 

 crease the Sale of Honey— G. E. Bacon. 



3:00 p. M— Report of Delegate to National 

 Convention— E. J. Baxter. 

 li 4:00 P.M.— Bee Cellar— E. S. Miller. 



Question Box. 



Thursday Evening Session. 



.Sweet Clover— Prof. J. G. Mosier. Univer- 

 sity of Illinois. 



Friday. Dec. 18. 



g;ou A.M.— Social hour. 



10:00 A.M.— The Price of Sugar and the 

 Honey Market-F. C. Pellett. 



ii:ooAM.— The Foulbrood Problem— N. E. 

 France. 



Afternoon Session. 



I ;oo P.M.— Stimulative Feeding— Kenneth 

 Hawkins. 



2:)o P.M.— Brood-Rearing for Crop Results 

 — E. L. Hofman. 



?:3o P.M.— Comb Honey -Preparing for the 

 Crop — A. L. Kildow. 



4:00 P.M.— Beekeeping as a Business— E. H. 

 Bruner. 



Second-Hand Cans in Australia. — In 



one of our recent numbers we stated 

 that a regulation has been passed in 

 Australia prohibiting the use of sec- 

 ond-hand cans for storing of honey. 

 In this we were not entirely correct. 

 A letter from Major Shallard, in New 

 South Wales, reads as follows : 



"The regulation as above was brought 

 into force in the State of Victoria only 

 on the recommendation of the pure 

 food commission who stated that old 

 cans picked up on the rubbish heaps 

 and not properly cleaned were being 

 used by the beekeepers. This was ob- 



