gathering honey, or attending to any 

 other usual business, they did not stop 

 to mark location on leaving the hive. 



Prof. Cook had neglected placing the 

 board in front of hive to induce a new 

 marking, and thought that might obvi- 

 ate the difficulty. 



The Secretary then read the follow- 

 ing paper relating to 



Bee Forage in the south. 



The extent and abundance of the honey- 

 producing flora of a country, other conditions 

 being equal, must determine whether apicul- 

 ture can be successfully and profitably prose- 

 cuted in that locality. 



In my remarks upon bee forage, I shall 

 confine myself to that portion of the .Southern 

 States lying south of a parallel of thirty-six 

 degrees north. Geographically considered, 

 this portion of the United States is more 

 varied and diversified in climate, soil and pro- 

 ductions, than any other. In the mountain- 

 ous regions of North Carolina, upper Georgia, 

 and Tennessee, the climate is cool and tem- 

 perate, and there nearly every plant and fruit 

 that is grown m the higher latitudes can be 

 cultivated to perfection. As we proceed 

 southward the climate becomes more mild and 

 genial, until we arrive near the Gulf-coast 

 where we approach the " home of the orange." 



Hence we perceive that the diversified 

 climate of the Southern States admits of an 

 immense variety of honey-producing plants. 



To form a correct estimate of the value of 

 many of our reputed nectariferous plants 

 would be a very difficult task. In order to 

 arrive at correct conclusions as to the worth of 

 a flower to secrete honey, it requires no little 

 intelligence and accuracy of observation. 

 Most of beginners are too prone to accept for 

 truth the nursery rhyme : 



" How doth the little busy bee 

 Improve each shining hour, 

 And gather honey all the day 

 From every opening liower." 



The simple fact of seeing a bee upon a 

 flower does not prove that it is gathering one 

 particle of honey. It is bee nature to hunt for 

 sweets ; and in times of scarcity it will visit 

 flowers that it would not touch under more 

 favorable circumstances. Hence many of the 

 favorable opinions of this or that plant for 

 honey are often based upon very hasty and 

 inaccurate conclusions. 



To calculate the value of a plant for honey, 

 we must have a sufficient quantity of the same 

 within the immediate range of our bees in 

 order to enable them to work to an advantage. 

 The seasons — the atmospheric conditions — 

 must not be lost sight of. Too much rain may 

 wash the saccharine secretion away ; a pro- 

 tracted drouth may cause its suspension ; 

 while a hot, dry atmosphere may evaporate 

 the secretion before the bees can gather it. 



When there are many forage plants in 



bloom at the same time, the bees are mostly 

 seen on the ones yielding the most honey; 

 while the rest, although secreting some nectar, 

 would be nearly neglected. 



Therefore the honey-value of some of the 

 trees, shrubs, and plants that I shall catalogue 

 as bee forage, must necessarily be more or less 

 conjectural. 



For the sake of system, as well as conveni- 

 ence, I shall divide the honey-flora into spring, 

 summer and autumn forage. The time and 

 duration of bloom are noted, in the most of 

 cases, for the latitude of Augusta, Ga. North 

 of this point the time will be later, and as we 

 go south the time Mill be earlier. 



The earliest-blooming of our spring forage 

 plants is the Alder (alnus), which commences 

 about the middle of January and lasts, some 

 seasons, till the middle of February. It yields 

 little or no honey, but during its time of 

 bloom, its pollen-laden catkins are covered 

 with bees. The amount of pollen that this 

 plant affords is immense ; and it comes in a 

 time when breeding should be most encour- 

 aged. If a slight digression is here allowable, 

 I will remark that pollen is the " staff of life " 

 to the brood, and if our hives are deficient in 

 it, and the bees cannot procure it, or a substi- 

 tute, brood-rearing cannot properly proceed. 



In some sections of the south, particularly 

 on light, sandy soils, there may be found some 

 Yellow Jasmine, (gelseminum sempervirens). 

 As its flowers possess very decided toxical 

 properties, it is not a very desirable plant to 

 have within the range of one's bees. It 

 blooms after the Alder. While our native 

 black bees are very seldom seen working upon 

 it, the Italians, in some seasons, will work 

 upon it quite briskly. I am inclined to think, 

 from close observation, that it is mostly pollen 

 they gather from it, though in some seasons it 

 does yield some honey. 



I have more particular)' named this plant 

 because of its poisonous effects upon young 

 Italian bees immediately after taking their 

 first meal. For the past nine years I have ob- 

 served, commencing with the opening of the 

 Yellow Jasmine flowers, a very fatal disease 

 attacking the young bees and continuing until 

 the cessation of the bloom. The malady 

 would then cease as quickly as it came. 

 The symptoms of the poisoning are : the abdo- 

 men becomes very much distended, and the 

 bee acts as though intoxicated. There is great 

 loss of muscular power. The bee, unless too 

 far gone, slowly crawls out of the hive and 

 very soon expires. When examined, the ab- 

 domen seems to be distended with a sort of 

 serous-looking fluid. The deaths in twenty- 

 four hours, in strong stocks with much hatch- 

 ing brood, may amount to one-half pint, often 

 much more. 



While my observations and conclusions have 

 been verified by dozens of intelligent bee- 

 keepers, breeding pure Italians in localities 



