Gleanings in Bee Culture 



Fig. 1.— Tobacco farm of Fred M. Colton. ( iranby, Conn. 



THE TOBACCO INDUSTRY IN THE CONNECTI- 

 CUT VALLEY 



BY E. H. SHATTUCK 



The subject of tobacco honey may sound 

 a little odd, and the average beekeeper in 

 Connecticut who has not investigated the 

 matter thoroughly is a trifle alarmed on 

 finding out that the tobacco plant is being 

 allowed to blossom, and, as a consequence, 

 yield nectar; and many of them feel that it 

 will spoil the flavor of the late summer and 

 fall honey to a certain extent. 



It is because of this feeling of unrest 

 among the beekeepers of the Connecticut 

 Valley that this article is penned, in the 

 hope that it will reach, through Gleanings, 

 a great number of the fraternity who live in 

 the tobacco section. 



During the past few years "syndicates" 

 and well-to-do farmers have begun raising 

 under cloth what is called "shade-grown" 

 tobacco, and also have commenced "pick- 

 ing" the leaves from the outdoor tobacco, 

 so called, in both instances allowing the 

 plant to blossom and mature seed. LTntil 

 these new methods were adopted all tobacco 

 in the Connecticut Valley was topped, and 

 the "suckers" picked off as they presented 

 themselves, all blossoms thereby being 

 headed off except, perhaps, a few plants in 

 the field which were left to produce seed. 



The tobacco plant is self-fertilizing, a large 

 part of the pollen being used by each indi- 

 vidual flower. When the grower wishes to 

 have "pure" seed true to name he ties a 

 large paper bag over the young blossoms; 

 and as the stem lengthens out he passes 

 along and pushes the bag upward to give 



the flowers room to expand. In this wiiy 

 all insects are kept out, and the result is 

 seed that is an exact counterpart of the par- 

 ent plant — that is, the offspring is such. 

 One might think that, so long as no insect 

 is needed to fertilize the blossom, the chances 

 of a secretion of nectar would be slim, as 

 nature supplies it abundantly only to those 

 plants that need the help of the bee to car- 

 ry the pollen from one flower to another; 

 but, as a matter ot fact, a great deal of nec- 

 tar is supplied in right seasons, and it is a 

 help to have the bee visit the flowers to 

 help disseminate the pollen grains; and it 

 doubtless makes stronger and more fertile 

 seed, as that is one of nature's strongest 

 laws. I think the groM ers will find to their 

 sorrow that the practice of raising seed un- 

 der the paper bags, if long continued, will 

 tend towartl weaker and therefore less hardy 

 and sturdy plants. Does it not sound rea- 

 sonable? The tobacco expert, who raises 

 "Shade Grown " for the leaf only, does not 

 leave openings for the bees, as it does not 

 matter materially to him. But in spite of 

 all he can do, the fields are so large that 

 numerous openings present themselves to 

 the industrious little insects, so that more 

 or less of the nectar is saved. 



Remember the seed from these immense 

 fields of tobacco is not saved. A small piece 

 is arranged for, to cover the needs in this 

 line. 



The year 1912 will see hundreds of addi- 

 tional acres devoted to the raising of tobac- 

 co by these new methods, in Hartford ( 'oun ty 

 alone, as it has proved a very profitable 

 crop, the leaf thus produced selling readily 

 at advancing prices. This gives the bee- 

 keeper a new and increasing source of hon- 



