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Those sections that are perfect in every 

 respect, and very white, should be 

 graded as " No. 1 ;" those as perfect, 

 but not so light, as " No. 2 ;" and dark 

 honey as "No. 3." All houey that is 

 not perfectly sealed, should be sold in 

 a home market, as knocking around in 

 transit will not improve its appear- 

 ance. 



I do not think, as a rule, that double 

 the amount of extracted honey can be 

 obtained over comb honey. In some 

 instances, perhaps, there may ; but I 

 am a " doubting Thomas." 



Peoria, Ills. 



GOLDEN-ROD 



CoiiiKidered as a Honey-Plaiit- 

 Sliidyiiig Honey Flora. 



Written for the American Bee Journal 



By EDWARD TARE. 



I was interested in reading what E. 

 W. Councilman sa^-s on page 71, About 

 golden-rod and white asters producing 

 honey. I have kept bees here for 

 nearly 20 years, and I do not think 

 that my bees have ever obtained a sin- 

 gle ounce of honey from golden-rod, 

 while some bee-keepers here call all 

 yellow fall honey " golden-rod honey." 

 I have yet to see the first honey-bee at 

 woi'k on golden-i'od in this county, 

 although in the west part of this State 

 I have seen them working lively on it. 



Some eight or ten years ago, there 

 was a heavy forest fire near here. The 

 next year the purple fire-weed {Epilo- 

 biuni Aiigustifoliuvi) came up all over 

 the burnt territory, and the bees gath- 

 ered large quantities of splendid white 

 honey therefrom, for three years. The 

 third year all of the low swales and 

 swamps came up to seleudine, from 

 which, in the fall, the bees gathered 

 lots of a heavy, thick, rank yellow 

 honey. Some of the small bee-ke&pers 

 called that honey "golden-rod," and 

 one told me that he knew that it was 

 all gathered from pumpkin blossoms ! 



The next year the fire-weed began 

 to die out, and the selendiue soon" fol- 

 lowed, and all of the drier parts of the 

 burnt tract was covered with a weed 

 called here, "poverty-weed," which I 

 suppose must be the same plant that 

 Mr. Councilman calls " white daisy." 

 Now, while I have noticed the same 

 plant In the western part of the State, 

 •observant bee-keepers there tell me 

 that their bees do not work on it at 

 all, while her^ they gather "large 

 quantities of a lemon-colored honey 

 from it, but not as good as the golden- 

 rod honej'. ' 



Now, as I understand it, there are 

 many varieties of golden-rod, some of 



which (and p(M-liaps all of them) in 

 some localities yield honey in souk; 

 years. Since I began keeping bees 

 liere, I have seen more than 100 per- 

 sons go out of the business disgusted, 

 and I will venlure to say that at least 

 90 per cent, of thetti, never went a 

 single mile to ascertain from what 

 source their bees were getting honey. 

 It seems to me that to understand the 

 flora of our vicinity, is one of the first 

 essentials of successful bee-keeping. I 

 began keeping bees at first to get a 

 little honey for family use, and after- 

 wards I kept them for the profit of the 

 business, and I have been successful. 

 Castle Hill, Maine.. 



NORTH CAROLINA. 



Organization of the Carolina 

 Bee-Association. 



A number interested in apiculture 

 met on Feb. lo, 1890, at the Chamber 

 of Commerce, for the purpose of or- 

 ganizing a bee-keepers' association. 



A. L. Beach called the meeting to 

 order, and prayer was oflered by B. C. 

 Griffin. 



Temporary organization was effected 

 by calling Mr. E. W. Lyles to the chair, 

 and making Mr. N. P. Lyles secretary. 



In taking the chair, Mr. Lyles stated 

 that the object of the jji'oposed associa- 

 tion was to encourage apiculture ; that 

 bee-keeping is neglected, and that, with 

 proper attention, it would become one 

 of the arts and industries of this sec- 

 tion of the country. He spoke of the 

 importance of organization, and of 

 meeting together for the information 

 of each other ; that apiculture is a 

 pleasant and profitable occupation, and 

 the object of the association was to 

 make it more profitable. 



The meeting then proceeds to ascer- 

 tain who would become membei's of 

 the proposed associtaion, and 20 names 

 were enrolled. 



A permanent organization was ef- 

 fected by the election of the following 

 officers : President, A. L. Beach, of 

 Pineville ; 1st Vice-President, C. E. 

 Bost, of Davidson College ; 2nd Vice- 

 President, S. L. Klutts, of Clear Creek; 

 Secretary, N. P. Lyles, of Derita ; 

 Treasurer, E. W. LyieSi of Charlotte. 



It was. decided that the association 

 is to be known as "The Carolina Bee- 

 Keepers' Association." A Constitution 

 and By-Laws, similar to those govern- 

 ing similar organizations, wei'e 

 adopted. 



At the afternoon session, subjects of 

 interest wei\e discussed. , 



The convention adjourned to meet 

 in Charlotte on the third Thursday 

 forenoon in March, 1890. 



PASTURAGE. 



Select I'lantN for Other Uses a» 

 Well lis Honey. 



Written for fhe Wisconsin Agriculturist 



BY S. W. CHAMBERS. 



The idea of planting for hone^- has 

 been gaining ground in this country, 

 and quit(! a nuniberof bee-keepers nyw 

 sow Alsike clover, buckwheat, sweet 

 clover, and Chaiiman hone3-plant for 

 their bees. Even the Government has 

 taken up the question, and sent out a 

 great many pounds of seeds of hone)'- 

 plants, and the inference is that bee- 

 keepers will plant for honey in the 

 future more than they have in the 

 past. 



But planting for honey alone will 

 not pay, in my estimation, but when 

 the clover or plants sown can be used 

 for hay or some other purpose, there 

 is indirectly a double profit obtained. 

 The average colony of bees forage over 

 thousands of acres of land in search of 

 their sweets, and the bee-keeper could 

 not calculate on more than 10 pounds 

 of honey per aci-te from honey-prodjic- 

 ing plants. This would not pay any 

 one for the trouble, unless such plants 

 were grown that could be utilized for 

 other purposes. 



A man must expect at least |15 per 

 acre for the use of his land, otherwise 

 it would not pay him to stay in the 

 farming business very long. Alsike 

 clover and buckwheat are good honey- 

 px'oducers, and it would probably pay 

 the farmer who keeps many colonies 

 of bees to raise as much of this crop as 

 convenient. Whole fields of such 

 plants would give the bees quite a 

 I'ange, and plenty of sweets. This 

 would be planting for honey indirectl}-, 

 and it is probably the onlj' way it can 

 be done profitably. 



Alsike clover is probably the best 

 plant that can be sown for this double 

 object. In soils adapted to its growth, 

 such as moist land or gravelly loams, 

 it is a profitable crop for farmers to 

 grow. In manj' places it is grown to 

 the exclusion of red clover. The 

 Alsike is not " heaved " bj^'the action 

 of the frost in spring, as is red clover, 

 and it is'consequently good for pasture. 

 It produces a profusion of blossoms of 

 great value to the bees throughout the 

 whole season. Alsike clover furnishes 

 an aftermath iii* wet seasons. When 

 cut for seed, if .not allowed to stand 

 too'.. long, . the clover, after being 

 threshed, is equal to timothy for haj'. 

 As it will spread and take care of it- 

 self, there is probablj' no crop so val- 

 uable for waste "Jjlaces. 



The idea of sowing honej'-plants in 

 small places, simply for the bees, does 

 not seem to me to be a profitable under- 



