388 



then, by any means, secure a continuous 

 pastura;ie for our bees? This would seem 

 the most difficult in April and May. Yet, 

 who has failed to notice the K'ay, coquettish 

 dandelions, and their success in winning 

 bee-suitors, even at this dawn of the season ? 

 Might we not, tiien, secure a golden, if not 

 a " gold basis," by plantiug an acre of these 

 sprightly gen)S of the early year? From 

 the attention which the bees pay these 

 flowers, as also from the family to whicli 

 they belong— Compositse— we should bo led 

 to rank them higiias honey plants, till actual 

 experience proves the reverse. It was sug- 

 gested in a recent number of one of our 

 bee-journals that the roots of these plants 

 might be utilized, as, when properly pre- 

 pared, they furnished a not unpalatable sub- 

 stitute for coffee, though 1 must confess to a 

 personal prejudice in favor of No. 1 Java. 



The time of dearth l)etween white clover 

 and bassvvood can he canceled by constantly 

 cutting back the white clover. Our College 

 lawns were mown, the past season, once in 

 every three days. This kept the white 

 clover in bloom, and made the harvest from 

 this source lap on to that of basswood. Or 

 we may secure bloom from any of the fol- 

 lowing plants : Rape, mustard, mignonette 

 or motherwort. Rape and white mustard, 

 on light soil, with good cultivation, will 

 bloom in about four weeks from sowing ; 

 black mustard, about eight weeks. Migno- 

 nette, if sown early, will be in bloom before 

 the white clover is gone, and continue 

 through the season. Motherwort, in this 

 latitude, will fairly hum with bees from 

 June 2.5th to July 26th. Which of the above 

 plants can be grown with the greatest profit? 

 IS a question which experience alone will 

 answer. 



To bridge the chasm between basswood 

 and fall bloom, or to supply the absence of 

 native fall flowers, we have rape and mus- 

 tards—which can be made to bloom at will 

 after the middle «f June ; mignonette, moth- 

 erwort — whose bloom I think could be 

 deferred by cutting in May ; catnip, which 

 commences to bloom early in July, and is 

 covered with bees for about two months ; 

 cieome, which blooms from July to Septem- 

 ber, and in favorable weather is alive with 

 bees ; and borage. From reports in the bee 

 journals, I presume I might add tigwort to 

 the above list. Surely the above is, by no 

 means, a discouraging array. I wish I could 

 state tlie acreage of each of the above, which 

 would suffice to keep fifty or one hundred 

 colonies busy, as tiie season's average ; but 

 I know of no accurate data from which 

 to form an opinion. My friend, Mr. Fisk 

 Bangs, from an experiment with three acres 

 of black mustard the past season, feels sure 

 that this amount will keep eighty colonies 

 fully active. May I not suggest that each of 

 ■you who has or can command a few acres of 

 land, make one definite experiment each 

 year, and report the results at these annual 

 gatherings. Who can tell what practical 

 results mitrht flow from such a course? From 

 our experiments here, I am assured that we 

 may augment our profits by securing a con- 

 tinuous pasturage as suggested above. 

 Which plants are most desirable for honey, 

 and for added profits in market value of 

 seed, I am not able to state. 



QUALITY OF HONEY. 



Every person here has admired the 

 immaculate honey secured from the white 

 clover and basswood. Most of you have 

 tested its excellence with even more pleas- 

 ure. All have observed the less inviting 

 appearance of buckwheat honey ; most have 

 regarded the flavor of this with less tavor. 

 Many of us Iiave noted the rich brown color 

 of honey gathered from the bonesets and 

 golden rods, and have spoken its praise as 

 we tested its incomparable excellence. We 

 know from its European reputation, that 

 rape honey is l)pautiful and oi^ exquisite fla- 

 vor. Mr. Fisk Bangs, the past season, has 

 proved the same to be true of that from 

 mustard. The color is a rich golden yellow, 

 the taste delicious. The honey from migno- 

 nette, cleouH'. teasel and the mints, has been 

 commended for its fine quality and beautiful 

 ap()earance. Yet, notwithstanding all this, 

 we still have mucli to learn of the real char- 

 acter, physical and chemical, of the various 

 kinds of "nectar. Nor will any one question 

 the practical character of this knowledge, 

 who lias carried his light and dark honey to 

 market, exhibiting the same to the buyer, 

 side hy side. 



Prof. R. F. Kedzie, of the chemical de- 

 partment of this College, is now making 

 analyses of all the kinds of honey that he 

 can obtain, that are purely from the flowers 

 ot a single species of plants. May I not ask 

 each of yon, whenever you have any honey 

 that you loiow to be from the flowers of a 

 certain plant, that you note the color, the 

 flavor, and ask others to test the same with 

 yon, that error from tiie personal equation — 

 so to speak — may be removed, and then send 

 a generous sample to Prof. Kedzie for analy- 

 sis. The honey may be sent by mail, safely 

 and cheaply, if prepared as follows : Bore 

 an inch hole into the edge of a thoroughly 

 seasoned two-inch plank, to a depth of four 

 inches. Then trim off with a saw till the 

 piece is about two inches square and five 

 inches long. Now fill with honey, tightly 

 plug, and write on the wood. "Prof. R. F. 

 Kedzie, Lansing, Mich.." adding five or six 

 cents postage, as the postmaster shall direct, 

 when it is ready to mail. At the same time 

 send a postal which shall inform Prof. 

 Kedzie who you are, your address, the kind 

 of honey, also whether the flowers grew on 

 sand or clay, on high land or low, whether 

 the season was wet or dry when the honey 

 was gathered, and whether the yield was 

 abundant or light. Are not some of you 

 ready to do this at once? Such a course, 

 generally adopted, will give us very valuable 

 knowledge in a direction new, yet very 

 practical. 



HONEY PLANTS CAPRICIOUS. 



That plants have moods, no observing 

 apiarist can doubt. Let the weatlier be very 

 wet, and secretion of nectar stops. It is the 

 same if the weather is very dry. We have 

 all observed that, some seasons, the nectar 

 of whita clover, basswood and buckwheat 

 would fairly flood the hives. Yet, the next 

 season, tliough the flowers were no less 

 abundant, the nectar was almost wanting. 



Flowers, also, like people, seem to vary in 

 tlieir power to fortify against adversity. 

 We have noticed that the mustards, borage. 



