



ESTABLISHED -1661 

 'theOlde5T bee-paper -AMERT 



PabHshed 'Weekly, at Sl.OO per annum. 





Sample Copy sent on Azypllcatioii, 



36tli Year. 



CHICAGO, ILL., MARCH 19, 1896. 



No. 12. 



Bee-Forage — Some Important Suggestious. 



BY PROF. A. J. COOK. 



The general failure of the honey crop for so many seasons 

 during the last decade in nearly all portions of the country, 

 and the absolute failure in arid regions like Southern Cal- 

 ifornia, whenever the rainfall comes short of a certain limit, 

 gives to this subject of honey-plants, more than merely a pass- 

 ing interest. 



In the great North East of our country, before the great 

 forests of basswood and tulip were cleared away, and the 

 great marshes with their profusion of boneset, golden-rods, as- 

 ters, ete., were drained — and possibly, we may add, before the 

 extreme seasonal drouths, consequent upon the removal of the 

 forests and draining of swamps — each and every season was a 

 honey season, and the expression of " honey-years " had no sig- 

 nificance, and so was unheard among bee-keepers. In Cali- 

 fornia, if the rainfall is less than 15 inches, experience proves 

 that the honey-production will range from nothing to less than 

 half the maximum crop. 



These facts make it desirable that the bee-keeper should 

 study thoroughly the bee-forage of the country, should know 

 the honey-plants, the quality and quantity of honey which each 

 is likely to produce, and the effect of drouth and other season- 

 al peculiarities upon the nectar-secretion of each species. 



This subject suggests two practical considerations, both of 

 which will engage the thoughtful attention of every wise bee- 

 keeper : In securing a location, he will give earnest heed to 

 the native bee-plants, hoping to secure a rich bee-pasturage, 

 without any extra labor, in the natural resources of his neigh- 

 borhood. Many a Michigan and Wisconsin bee-keeper has 

 been led to rejoice in by-gone years, because of the near prox- 

 imity to his bee-yard of a grand forest of basswood, or of a 

 broad expanse of marsh-land. Even today, the great bass- 

 wood forests of Wisconsin make that, perhaps, the leading 

 honey-state of the great North East. Year after year the wil- 

 low-herb of the pine-clearings of Northern Michigan, supple- 

 mented by the berry-bushes of the same treeless tracts, has 

 given a rich honey crop of finest quality to the bee-keepers of 

 that region. If the apiary is along a stream, so. that variation 

 in moisture will prolong the season of bloom, then the bee- 

 keeper will rejoice in greater prosperity. Mr. Doolittle and 

 others along the Mohawk River in New York have felt th(^ 

 benefit of such location. In Southern California a good range 

 of white and ball sage in both valley and canyon, hard by the 

 apiary, followed by generous acres of wild buckwheat, will 

 give a wondrous crop in seasons of bounteous rainfall. If eu- 

 calyptus and alfalfa are found in quantity, then he may be 

 more independent of the rainfall. 



After the location is decided, then the enterprising bee- 

 keeper will anticipate drouths, winds, cool seasons, and en- 

 deavor to add to the native recources of his section, which he 



will almost always be able to do, so that if possible he may re- 

 joice in a bountiful honey harvest each season. Let us con- 

 sider what may be wisely attempted in this direction. 



It is well if the bee-keeper has so wisely located that he 

 will be content to make his location his permanent home. 

 Then he can fix up his apiary so that it will be his pride, and 

 the pride of his section. This will make his bee-keeping more 

 than a mere business, it will become his pleasure, and he will 

 mingle poetry with the prose of life. Once permanently located, 

 and the bee-keeper may well set to work to make his locality 

 all that it is possible to make it. By proper thought and wise 

 management this may be easily and cheaply done. 



In the first place, let me urge, that it will not pay to plant 

 good land with bee-plants exclusively for honey. My own ex- 

 periments, extensively carried on for a series of years, at the 

 Michigan Experiment Station, as also private experiments by 

 others, make this more than mere opinion — make it really dem- 

 onstrated fact. But it will pay oftentimes to scatter seed of 

 the mints, sweet clover, viper's bugloss, great willow-herb, 

 etc., on all waste places near by the apiary. It will pay to line 

 the roadside with tulip, linden and other nectar-producing 

 trees, and get our neighbors to do the same, even if we have to 

 pay something towards the purchase of these trees. Mr. D. 

 A. Jones did very much of such work about his home at Bee- 

 ton, Ont. Mr. Root planted out many basswoods at Medina, 

 and now is reaping the advantage which must swell with the 

 years. To raise buckwheat and Alsike, and induce one's 

 neighbors to do so, may be very wise. All this, the tree-plant- 

 ing, and buckwheat and Alsike growing pays, aside from the 

 bees and honey, and should receive most thoughtful attention 

 by all our bee-keepers. I believe that bee-keepers of the East 

 may well adopt these suggestions. With little expense, they 

 may add materially to their income by just such planting or 

 tree-setting. 



Sometimes by moving bees the bee-keeper can keep in the 

 range of bee-forage. Many bee-keepers have added greatly to 

 their incomes by moving bees to regions of basswood bloom or 

 fall flowers. 



Mr. Harbison told at a recent Farmers' Institute at Sao 

 Diego, Calif., how he secured a large growth of ball-sage, by 

 planting, and how it increased the value of his location very 

 materially. This was on waste hill land, and so all clear gain. 

 There are great areas of such tracts along the mountains and 

 in the canyons of this favored region, and Mr. Harbison's sug- 

 gestion may well receive thoughtful attention. 



Another bee-tree — or bee-trees, for there are, it is said, 

 more than one hundred species — which Californians should ob- 

 serve and study with the greatest care, is the eucalyptus. It 

 is destined to become the great shade-tree of this State. It blos- 

 soms from September to April, depending upon the species; 

 is a favorite with the bees whenever in bloom, and seems to 

 furnish much and excellent honey. Some of the trees are 

 wondrously beautiful, and the tassel-like bloom, white, buff, 

 or crimson, with the curious caps to the flower-buds is notouly 

 wondrously beautiful, but exceedingly interesting. Eucalyp- 

 tus globulus, or blue-gum, is the common one. This tree has 

 an entirely different foliage when young from that of later 

 growth and years. The white blossoms are showy, and 

 are freely visited by the bees. But it blossoms in winter when 

 the bees are not numerous and when they are mostly shut in 

 the hives, so that the amount of honey is not great, though I 

 knew bees to get not a little blue-gum honey during the last 

 winter. I have some of this houey now, and have just sam- 

 pled it. It is amber-colored, very sweet, and has a very pecul- 



