42 



stxDp working, the honey-dew begins to 

 crystallize, and I have sometimes found 

 a couple of spoonfuls of fine sugar, on 

 a single twig twelve inches long, al- 

 ready crystallized, and refined without 

 any cai'e or labor at all. 



I am informed by reliable parties, 

 that in certain sections of Oregon, they 

 have immense crops of honey, some- 

 times — all gathered from honey-dew, 

 and the honey is all first-class, too. In 

 the valley counties of California, the 

 white-oaks furnish unlimited quantities 

 of honey-dew ; the honey is poor in 

 quality, of a slightly bitter taste, but 

 makes an excellent winter food for 

 bees in this climate. 



As there is an illimitable extent of 

 white-oaks in the central portion of 

 this (El Dorado) county, Mr. H. G. 

 Hubbard, of this city, conceived the 

 idea of transplanting some of the white- 

 oak aphides of the Sacramento Valley, 

 into this section of the country, so as to 

 give the bees something to work on in 

 the fall of the year, to keep them out 

 of mischief, and at the same time sup- 

 ply them with necessary winter stores. 

 He experimented considerably in this 

 direction, but was never successful in 

 getting them propagated on the white- 

 oaks of this vicinity. 



Climatic influences, I suppose, cause 

 them to live in certain sections, and 

 die in others. If we had severe winters 

 here,like there are in the Eastei'n States, 

 we would not try to propagate this 

 species of uphides. 



Placerville, Calif. 



BEE-KEEPING. 



Pushing the Bee-Bii8ines§— The 

 National Flower. 



Written, for the American Bee Journal 



BY REV. STEPHEN ROESE. 



The writer notices with pleasure, 

 from reports of bee-keepers, the boun- 

 tiful harvest which many expert bee- 

 keepers have gathered during the sea- 

 son of 1889 ; and judging from the 

 early appearance of price-lists for the 

 coming season, great eftbrts are being 

 made in all parts of our country to 

 push the art and industry of bee-keep- 

 ing the coming season, with energy 

 and enterprise. 



My efforts during the past season 

 have not been crowned with success, 

 for want of supplies in the time of 

 need ; many swarms of bees, and more 

 than one ton of honey was my loss, in 

 consequence. From 78 colonies, spring 

 count, I increased to 140, and took 

 only 900 pounds of comb honey, in 

 one-pound sections, and 1,600 pounds 

 of extracted honey — a report which I 

 have felt ashamed to give before but 



not discouraged, I look forward, if life 

 and time shall last, for better days to 

 come. 



LITTLE HONEY FROM GOLDEN-ROD. 



I have closely observed all the testi- 

 monies in the American Bee Journal 

 for and against golden-rod — that sweet 

 and lovely flower, which greets the 

 passer-by from every roadside, hedge 

 and fence-corner, with a sweet smile, 

 when all other flowers of early and 

 mid-summer have faded ; and wel- 

 comes, besides, the millions of nectar- 

 gatherers to feast on its sweets, which it 

 so bountifully unbosoms during favor- 

 able seasons. In my estimation, golden- 

 rod well deserves to be styled " Amer- 

 ica's National Hone3'-Flower," although 

 the past season it has furnished bee- 

 keepers very little, if any, honey. For 

 my part, I could not show one pound 

 of clear golden-rod honey, for in this 

 locality the season was too dry. Its 

 bloom proved of short duration, but 

 the honey-gatherers were not slow in 

 recognizing golden-rod as the " na- 

 tional honey-flower," by visits from 

 early morn till night. 



Maiden Rock, Wis. 



GOLDEN-ROD. 



This Plant Considered as a 

 Honey-Producer. 



Written Sor the American Bee Journal 



BY E. K. DEAN. 



I have read with considerable inter- 

 est the reports pro and co?i on this sub- 

 ject, from different parts of the coun- 

 try, as published in the American Bee 

 Journal during the last two or three 

 months — more particularly as I have 

 for a number of years heard its merits 

 as a honey-yielder highly extolled bj' 

 some who write for this valuable bee- 

 paper, and so I have been looking in 

 vain to see these reports verified to 

 much extent, till this year. 



Owing to the abundant summer 

 rains, the golden-rod had made an un- 

 usually vigorous growth, and was in 

 a good condition, with its luxurious 

 bloom, to produce a fine flow of honey, 

 if ever. Then Sept. 1st came with 

 two weeks of as fine weather for the 

 secretion of nectar as I ever saw. 

 Owing to the partial failure of a honey 

 crop in this section previous to this 

 time, a good many hives were still pro- 

 vided with cases of sections in difler- 

 ent stages of completion, many con- 

 taining no honey at all. 



During this period the bees were on 

 a "grand rush," and I never knew 

 honey to come in any faster during the 

 most prolific j-ield of white clover (our 

 principal source here) ; and to walk 

 through the apiary after sundown was 



anything but pleasant, for I never yet 

 met one who admired the odor of this 

 plant, or rather blossom ; and it seemed 

 as if the honey, by its strong smell, 

 must have a double or triple extract 

 of this perfume. In short, it was very 

 rank and unpleasant. I knew there 

 was to be inevitably a large crop of 

 golden-rod honey, and I feared that its 

 value, as a selling article, would be 

 slim. 



Well, every section was completed, 

 and every available place in the hives, 

 not yet occupied, was filled, and a 

 number of colonies, which had a space 

 back of the division-boards, built new 

 combs and filled them to the roof of 

 the hives. 



This is the first time in my experi- 

 ence, that I have comb honey to sell, 

 entirelj' of golden-rod, and I found 

 that the rank and disagreeable odor 

 soon disappeared, and although very 

 dark in color, it is fine in flavor, and 

 verj' thick and I'ich — so thick, in fact, 

 that it is next to impossible to extract 

 it clean from the combs. 



I supply my home market, and at 

 this season I sell considerable extracted 

 honey for buckwheat-cakes, going 

 from house to house, taking orders 

 from samples which I carry in ordinary 

 fruit-cans. At first sight, a good many 

 vi'ill saj% " Oh, I don't want any of that 

 dark honey !" I reply, "All right ; its 

 all the same price ; suit yourself." But 

 1 urge them to sample each variety, 

 after which some will say, " I declare, 

 I believe the dark is the best, after 

 all ;" and so the result is, I can sell 

 just about as much of the golden-rod 

 honey as of the white clover. 



One thing which, to me appears 

 strange, is that although this plant is 

 indigenous to such a large radius of 

 country, still it reports invariably a 

 scanty or barren crop in the Western 

 and Middle States ; while the "busy 

 little bee " revels with delight among 

 its golden plumes, under proper at- 

 mospheric conditions, along the hills 

 and valleys of New England. 

 Sharon, Conn. 



A Special dub Rate. 



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 " family circle." Its beautiful illustrations 

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 heartily welcomed at every " fireside " in 

 the laud. 



We desire that every one of our readers 

 should secure its regular visits during the 

 year 1890, aud in order to induce them to 

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 1890 for $il.50, if the order is received at 

 this office before January 31, 1890. 



