602 



AMERICAN BEE JOURMAU 



l^r Do not write anythlng^ for publication 

 on the same sheet of paper with businesB 

 matters, unless it can be torn apart withou 

 interfering with either part of the letter. 



Report for 1894. 



I had 13 colonies, spring count, with 

 no swarms during the season. I in- 

 creased by the nucleus plan, after Aug. 

 5, to 24. I bought 2 prime swarms on 

 June 25 at $2.50 each, and furnished 

 the hives. One gave about 90 pounds 

 of surplus, and the other nut one pound. 

 There is no basswood in this locality, so 

 I moved my bees about 6 miles on July 

 3, then on August 5 I moved them 15 

 miles for buckwheat, which lasted 36 

 days. Bees are all at home now and in 

 good condition for vi^inter. My crop is 

 as follows, all extracted honey : From 

 clover, 15 pounds; basswood 82 pounds; 

 buckwheat, 1283 pounds. I have sold 

 about 800 pounds of the buckwheat 

 honey at 10 cents per pound. 



George A. Forgerson. 



Rosemount, Minn., Oct. 22. 



One of the Asters. 



I enclose sample bloom of a kind of 

 plant we have in this pai-t of the world 

 that we call " wild aster." It comes in- 

 to bloom about Sept. 10, and continues 

 in bloom until freezing weather, and 

 furnishes more honey and pollen than 

 any other plant we have. If it had not 

 been for it, I don't believe that one col- 

 ony of bees in 50 would have had stores 

 enough for winter, unless they had been 

 fed. Sept. 1 the bees were about out of 

 honey, but now every frame is full of 

 honey, and some colonies are working 

 in the supers. I never saw boos work 

 stronger on clover than they have on 

 * the asters since Sept. 15. 



This plant came to this country in the 

 last few years. At first there were only 

 a few plants here and there, but now It 

 has about taken all the waste land In 

 the country. It seems to take on old 

 meadows and clover fields best, and dur- 

 ing the hot, dry weather the past sum- 



mer, when all other plants were dried 

 up, the asters were green and fresh as in 

 springtime. 



If any bee-keepers want seed of the 

 asters, if they will send me six cents in 

 stamps, to pay postage and putting up, 

 I will take pleasure in sending a small 

 package. I am confident that if the 

 plant does as well in other climates as It 

 does in this, it would save bee-keepers 

 hundreds of dollars, and solve the winter 

 stores problem. 



This has been a very dry season here, 

 and very little surplus honey. 



The "old reliable" "American Bee 

 Journal" is a welcome weekly visitor — 

 always on time, and something good in. 

 every number. W. S. Feeback. 



Carlisle, Ky., Oct. 13. 



[The plant is an aster, but the speci- 

 men sent was not complete enough to 

 tell what species. — Editor.] 



Varieties of Golden-Rod, Etc. 



I notice on page 538 G. W. N. de- 

 scribes the varieties of golden-rod from 

 which bees get most honey in this lo- 

 cality, viz.: SoUdago lanceolata — nar- 

 row leaved golden-rod -the edges of the 

 leaves not toothed, notched or divided, 

 the flowers in*flat-topped heads in little 

 clusters crowded. Grows 2 to 3 feet 

 high in moist soil. This variety yields 

 nectar during the latter part of August 

 and forepart of September, and when 

 abundant in the hives, gives off a very 

 disagreeable odor, while the bees are 

 evaporating it, so that a novice some- 

 times imagines that a bad case of foul 

 brood has developed in his apiary. 



Gray's "Manual of Botany of the 

 Northern United States," revised and 

 extended to the 100th meridian, gives 

 42 varieties of golden-rod, 20 of which 

 are found in our (Conn.) State. We 

 have had a fine honey-flow here from 

 this plant and the asters. Bees work 

 but little on either of these plants on dry 

 ground, but in moist and wet localities 

 they can be found from the time they 

 commence to bloom until killed by frost. 

 John K. Goodrich. 



Waterbury, Conn., Oct. 20. 



Called "American Colombo." 



Being a subscriber, and something of 

 .a bee-man myself, I deem it my duty to 

 do whatever lies in my power to assist 

 the fraternity. Having occasion to make 

 repeated trips into the mountains the 



