1901 



THE AMERICAN BEE-KEEPER 



189 



he does not expect the bees to store 

 honey In (]uantity in late Autumn, still 

 tinds many plants which will piece out 

 the bill of fare from day to day and save 

 necessity of drawing upon stored food. 

 Formerly the buckwheat honey was 

 about the last crop of the seasou; but of 

 late years goldenrod, which has sprung 

 up in eveiy fence row and waste place, 

 is really an important factor. The 

 honey is of a clear, amber hue, and of a 

 flavor peculiarly its own, much preferr- 

 ed by some to the dark buckwheat honey. 

 The importance of the goldenrods to 

 the apiarist may be approximated when 

 we consider that there are about eighty 

 North American species of this plant,' 

 forty-seven of which are included in the 

 territory covered by Britton and Brown 

 in their Illustrated Flora. As all save 

 one are yellow and the points of simi- 

 larity are so striking that even amateur 

 botanists frequently experience diiBculty 

 in identifying the various species, those 

 not versed in the science will have little 

 trouble in placing kindred species, one 

 or two leading forms having been learn- 

 ed. As a rule they are tall growing 

 plants. The conspicuous yellow flowers, 

 small heads congregated in clusters, 

 make up the prominent characteristics 

 of the genus. Each little head, when 

 examined closely, will be found to con- 

 sist of tiny tubular or rayed flowers, a 

 trait which marks it as a composite. 

 And then you can notice that most 

 of the Autumn flowers, asters, boneset 

 etc., are also composites; but those in 

 which yellow is the prevailing color, 

 have as a rule a row of large rayed 

 flowers around the margin, like the sun- 

 flower and coreopsis, which the golden- 

 rods have not; so there is little trouble 

 in identification. 



It is well to add, however, that almost 

 all of the late flowering composites pro- 

 duce honey or pollen, or both, in quan- 

 tities which lure the bees. The tall 

 growing iron-weed, with large heads of 

 purple blossoms, is common in pastures 

 and waste places. There are multitudes 



of asters; Britton describes over seventy, 

 each of more or less honey value. These 

 vary greatly in form, size and appear- 

 ance, the rays being white, pink, purple 

 or blue. Frost-weed and bee-weed 

 are familiar names for some of the 

 more common species. The pretty 

 little coreopsis or tickseed sunflower of 

 swampy places, the daiidelion, succory 

 or chicory, resembling a dandelion but 

 with blue flowers, each have their at- 

 tractions for the bees. The Spanish 

 needles, the two-tined pitchforked seeds 

 of which cling to the clothing of every 

 one passing, is an excellent bee-plant. 

 Even the vile ragweed ofi'ers pollen in 

 liberal quantities. These and many 

 more composites swell the material for 

 making a living into late autumn days. 

 Vervain, common by the roadsides, cat- 

 nip, lady thumb and the various knot- 

 weeds each furnish their quota; the 

 narrow-leaved plantain, a dooryard pest, 

 is prolific of pollen. And the list might 

 be greatly prolonged. We can rest 

 assured that nature, if not thwarted, 

 will furnish food for the bees until the 

 air is too chill for them to garner it. 

 Harmonsburg, Pa. 



AN AID IN SETTING FOUNDATION. 



BY M. F. REEVE. 



IN placing foundation on the wires in 

 brood or half-depth frames, I find 

 that the embedding can be done 

 much better with the small toothed 

 wheel, used for the purpose, by doing 

 the rolling over a block or board covered 

 with burlap. A piece of tapestry carpet 

 reverse side up, would answer. This is 

 much better than rolling on a board. I 

 cut a board just big enough to fit in the 

 inside dimensions of an empty frame 

 and stretch the burlap over it, tacking 

 around the edges with 3 or 4 oz. tacks; 

 nail this board on a wider piece. After 

 the foundation is secured in the slotted 

 top-bar of the frame, the latter is placed 

 over the "form" or block and the rolling 

 done as usual. 



