THE AMERICAN APICULTURIST. 



27 



as the ground is fit to be worked 

 (frost does not injure the young 

 phmts). 



jMelissa remains in bloom from 

 forty-five to sixty days. For a 

 late crop I sow in this locality the 

 latter part of May, and as late as 

 June 15. October 4 (this year) I 

 had plants in bloom, and there 

 were the bees " congregated to- 

 gether." INIr. E. A. Morgan, Col- 

 umbus, Wis., Oct. 3, 1887, says: 

 "• Tlie yield of honey was large and 

 quality and color as good as white 

 clover. Motherwort, catnip and 

 sweet clover were deserted for 

 this." My bees desert all flowers 

 for melissa and not a solitary plant 

 escapes their notice, no matter how 

 isolated. 



Noticing this fall when gather- 

 ing seeds shortly after a light 

 shower that they were highly glu- 

 tinous, I sent a packet of seeds 

 to the "Woodman Linseed oil works, 

 Omaha, to ascertain their value for 

 oil. The president wrote as fol- 

 lows and sent sample of oil : "The 

 sample of seed contains 24 % of 

 oil. Flax seed contains about 38 (fo • 

 In extracting oil from flax seed b}'^ 

 hydraulic pressure about 7 % of 

 oil is left in the cake." If, as Mr. 

 Newman says, melissa will pay for 

 cultivation for the lioney alone^ and 

 taking into consideration that the 

 seed is valuable for oil, who will 

 dispute mv oft-reiterated state- 

 ments that melissa is without doubt 

 the best honey plant in existence? 

 It is the " honey producer," in 

 every sense of the word. 

 Madison, Nebraska, Nov. 25, 1887. 



For the American ApicuUurist. 



ESSAY ON DRY SUGAR 

 FEEDING. 



Any Person who will send us the 

 names of three new subscribers and 

 three dollars will get one of our 

 best queens free by mail, at any time 

 during the queen-rearing season. Each 

 subscriber can also get one such queen 

 for fifty cents. One of the latest im- 

 ported Drone-and-Queen traps will be 

 sent free, by mail, to all who subscribe 

 or renew before March 1. 



Waltkr Ciiitty. 



Dear Apiculturist : 



The old fashioned method of 

 standing over the saucepan and 

 boiling the syrup for bees was 

 found very irksome in even a small 

 apiary, but when it comes to do- 

 ing it for a large number of colo- 

 nies it is next to impossible. This 

 has led many beekeepers to study 

 other ways of feeding bees, espec- 

 ially with dry sugar, and in our 

 opinion, no better method has been 

 discovered than that practised by 

 Mr. Samuel Simmins of Rotting- 

 dem, England. 



To commence with the spring. 

 If the colony is found to be very 

 short of food early in the spring, 

 it is perhaps best to give the bees 

 a little warm syrup, just to put 

 them in " good heart " and after- 

 wards to feed with dry sugar. The 

 best sugar to use for this purpose 

 is undoubtedly Porto Rico, as it is 

 nice and moist and can be pressed 

 nicely down into the feeders. Feed- 

 ers are of various kinds. The 

 original feeder made by Mr. Sim- 

 mins was simply a frame closed on 

 one side and the other side was 

 hinged so that it would open. The 

 hinged side reaches to within ^ 

 inch of the top rail. This side is 

 opened to allow the sugar to be 

 put in. It is firmly pressed down, 

 the side closed and then hung like 

 an ordinary frame, hinged side 

 toward the bees. The bees enter 

 at the I inch opening, and work 

 in a body there. While dry sugar 

 feeders like this are in use, keep 

 the bees crowded with a sheet of 

 American oil cloth, covered over 

 with a few layers of carpet to keep 

 all warm and to induce moisture. 



Besides dry sugar being used to 



