THE AMERICAN APICULTURIST. 



91 



ident Willets, who was to visit 

 Wjishiiigton, and asked him to 

 press tlie matter personal I3', wiiich 

 he kindly consented to do. lie 

 wrote me from Washington that the 

 head of the Department promised 

 all possi!)le aid, and asked that we 

 shonld snggest how he could best 

 serve us. 



The commissioner has also com- 

 inunicated with Dr. A. B. Mason — 

 see last number "American Bee 

 Journal" — and again asks for aid. 



The committee, consisting of Dr. 

 A. B. Mason, Mr. T. G. Newman 

 and m3'self, suggest that beekeepers 

 all throiigii the United States, write 

 at once to Mr. T. G. Newman, and 

 offer service as reporters of statis- 

 tics. The commissioner wishes two 

 for each county. Wiiile we can 

 Iiardly hope for so much at first, the 

 nearer we approximate to it, the 

 more value we shall receive. Let 

 every beekeeper, then, proffer service 

 at once. Then the committee can 

 select by lot or otherwise from 

 counties where more than two offer. 

 Surely beekeepers will be promi)tand 

 generous. We ought to have a good 

 corps of corres[)ondenls, from each 

 state, and one at least from each 

 count}', in those states where bee- 

 keeping is an important industry. 



The commissioner will send out 

 blanks to fill out. The nature of 

 these as to "How bees wintered ? 

 What per cent of a full crop of light 

 honey in June and July was secured 

 in four sections? What per cent of 

 a full crop of autumn honey did four 

 secure? What honey plants are 

 valuable in four sections?" etc., 

 etc., will be considered later by the 

 committee. Now for volunteer re- 

 porters. By order of committee. 

 A. J. Cook. 

 Will 'other bee-papers please copy. 



[We hope the parties iiitcre^^ted in tlie above 

 most exi-ellent scheme, will be more Ruc(;ess- 

 I'ul in obt.iiniiii? staristicn than the manager of 

 the Ai'i lias been. We have sent out iipwarils 

 01' tlir e thoustitid blanks enibodyinfj virtually 

 the same <|iie.Ht:ons ;i9 the above. Op to <late 

 very lew ol' those blanks have been returned. 



Are beekeepers aa a rule more ehiltless and 

 eai'eloss tlmn other people? Ceitainly they 

 take very little interest in bee niatlcr.s. Each 

 one was furnished with an addiesscnl en- 

 velopcs but that was no imUu^enient (or them 

 to semi the desired information. We will 

 bet two to one that if lO.uOl) Itlanks are mailed 

 to as many bi'ckeepers, not ton per cent of 

 those who receive them will take the tiouble 

 to (ill tli(!ni out. That is our experience. 

 Wonder if Uiis lackof interest does not account 

 for the lailure of many of those who under- 

 take beekeeping?] 



THE OTHER SIDE. 



To THE ?:Drrou of the Weekly Suy— 

 Sir: Please (ell me about the; '-new bee plant" 

 pleurisy root (Asclepias tuberotia). 1 shall 

 soon import some seed of it for (dantiiiff. I 

 would like to know when to plant it, how to 

 cultivate it, and its time of ^owerinJ,^ Are 

 the flowers pretty ? Flokist, Paris, Maine. 



The so-called new bee-plant— ylsde- 

 pias tHber(mi~\i>. a very coinnioii wet-el 

 in dry soils, aloii<>; road.sides, and in 

 ail pastures throiijiiiout the eastern 

 states. It is known by several local 

 names, sncli as pleurisy root, butterfly 

 weed, and tuberous rooted milkweed. 

 The roots at one time had the reputa- 

 tion of possessing medicinal proper- 

 ties, but it is now .ijenerally discarded. 

 This species of milk weed has very 

 lir-ic, tuberous I'oots, which live to a 

 great age, and on account of their size 

 are somewhat dilflcult^ to eradicate by 

 ploughing out. The flowers are quite 

 showy, and of a bright oi-aiige color, 

 usually appearing in July, and the 

 plants continue in bloom until autumn. 

 Whether the flowers will yield sufli- 

 cieiit honey to pay for cultivating the 

 phiiits in any great numbers is exceed- 

 ingly doubtful,jaltliougli some apiarists 

 claim that a large quantity of honey is 

 gathered from the flower of this species 

 of milkweed. Tlie late Mr. Quiuby, in 

 his '-Mysteries of Heekeeepiiig," ex- 

 plained "that a siuLMilar fatality be- 

 falls many bees while gathering honey" 

 from the common milkweed (^. cor- 

 miti). The cause of this fatality was 

 the accumulation of scales of "milk- 

 weed pollen on the feet of the bees, 

 which prevent their asceiuling the 

 sides of the hives The flowers of 

 other species of milkweed have the 

 same or very similar pollen masses, 

 and for this reason are dangerous and 

 likely to be more destructive than ben- 

 edcial to the honey bee. Any co, lector 

 of native plants, however, will supply 

 you with roots or seed of the so-called 

 "new bee plant" if you still desire to 

 try it. It is an ornamental plant, and 

 often cultivated in gardens in this 

 country as well as in Europe. 



