412 



December, 1914. 



American ;Bae Journal 



northwest as elk's weed. It is a well- 

 known plant in the northern States, 

 from the Atlantic to the Pacific, appear- 

 ing in clearings, especially where a fire 

 has been through the timber. Thou- 

 sands of acres are covered with it in 

 the Rockies, also in Washington, Ore- 

 gon, Wisconsin and Minnesota. It is 

 not, however, common in southern 

 Wisconsin or northern Illinois, rare in 

 Iowa. It is a leafy plant from 2 to 4 

 feet tall bearing numerous magenta 

 colored flowers, followed later by slen- 

 der pods with numerous seeds, each 

 seed bearing a tuft of hairs. There is 

 a common belief that the seeds of this 

 plant remain buried in the soil for 

 many years and after a fire spring up. 

 The seeds are, however, carried by the 

 wind to charred humus, where the 

 plant delights to grow. 



"A beekeeper in Washington a few 

 years ago told me that it was one of 

 the best honey plants in Washington. 

 Where the plant grows should be a 

 paradise for the beekeepers." 



noticed, however, that the eucalyptus 

 seems to secrete large quantities of 

 nectar whenever in bloom. 



The honey is light amber of heavy 

 body, and has a decided but not un- 

 pleasant flavor. 



Eucalyptus Honey 



As wepromisedto make some further 

 observations on eucalyptus honey later 

 in the season, we will give the Bee 

 Journal the results, although they are 

 quite meager. The sample sent was 

 stored in empty combs placed in a col- 

 ony in September when the sugar gum 

 and iron bark were in bloom, and the 

 bees were working very heavily on 

 these two species. At this time there 

 were only two species of wild plants 

 in bloom — the dodder and the drouth 

 weed. And as far as we could see the 

 bees were not working on either of 

 these to amount to anything, while 

 they were like a swarm on the euca- 

 lyptus bl )om So it would look like 

 the honey stored at that time was 

 mostly eucalyptus at any rate. The 

 only trouble was that we have not a 

 large number of these trees — about 150 

 — not a large grove. I have always 



FRAMES-AFTER WILDER 



Conducted by J. L. Byer, Ml. Joy. Ontario. 



Ontario Convention 



The Ontario convention is again a 

 thing of the past. I have just arrived 

 home irom attending it, and these 

 notes are being hurriedly written, as 

 the date is later than the copy is sup- 

 posed to start. The attendance was 

 not as large as last year, but up to ex- 

 pectations, as the poor season and 

 other causes were expected to have an 

 effect. It was commented on by all, 

 that none of our friends from "over 

 the line "were with us — the first time 

 for a number of years. We are con- 

 soling ourselves with the thought that 

 the convention of UU.5 will have 

 double the attendance from there com- 

 pared with other years, and thus help 

 ev'n up. 



Editor Dadantandhis estimable wife 

 passed through Toronto early Friday 



morning on their way home from Mon- 

 treal, but arrangements forbade them 

 stopping. Fortunately, Mr. Hopper 

 and myself learned of their coming, 

 and had the pleasure of a few moments 

 conversation and a hearty hand shake 

 before the train pulled out for the 

 West. 



At a later date I hope to give notes 

 of th-' convention proceedings. We 

 had a good convention, although the 

 season had been poor — very poor in 

 most cases, yet nearly all the beekeep- 

 ers seemed cheerful and happy, placing 

 great expectations on the prospects for 

 " next year." 



Bees Generally in Good Shape 



Up to date (Nov. 14) we have had a 

 continuation of the fine weather spoken 



of in our last notes. There has been a 

 gradual cooling of the temperature, 

 and from now on we can expect but a 

 few days, if any, before flights are 

 stopped for three or tour months. 

 Reports at the convention seemed to 

 show that most colonies go into win- 

 ter with plenty of stores, even if sugar 

 was hard to obtain; this is especially 

 true among beekeepers who make a 

 specialty of the business. Wherever 

 bees are fit to "take their chance," 

 heavy losses may be expected in locali- 

 ties where the fall honey flow was a 

 failure. 



Every Farmer a Beekeeper? 



Louis Scholl says in a recent issue 

 of Gleanings in Bee Culture: " I have 

 never called a farm complete without 

 a few colonies of bees carefully kept in 

 modern hives." Dr. Miller comment- 

 ing on the same says : "I sympathize 

 with that view, and yet it is more poeti- 

 cal than practical." After a number of 

 years advocating as does Mr. Scholl, I 

 am now thoroughly in accord with Dr. 

 Miller's views. I might go a good deal 

 further than he does. Why ? Because 

 I have found that it is an impossibility; 

 it certainly is not a probability to have 



