95: 



"ffiS^jL^fclj^^ C 



Nov. IS, 1906 



American Ttee Journal 



and vice versa. He is wrong in thinkin - 

 that "nothing but a drone will batch out of a 

 drone-cell," for I have seen, and so have 

 others, perfect workers emerge from drone- 

 cells. Some make a practise, also, of using 

 drone cells in which to rear queens. Just as 

 wroDg is it to think that "only a worker can 

 come out of a worker-cell,'' as is testified by 

 the thousands of drones reared in worker- 

 cells where laying workers are present, or a 

 drone-laying queen; and even a good queen 

 sometimes lays drone-tggs in worker-cells. 



" W. V." is probably quite right that his 

 queen would not have laid drone-eggs with- 

 out the presence of drone-comb, but wrong in 

 being of the opinion that " the queen has to 



be properly mated before any of her eggs will 

 hatch." A queen that ba6 never mated at all 

 may lay eggs, and the eggs may hatch, but 

 only drones will proceed from such eggs, even 

 if laid in worker-cells. His doubt as to an 

 unfertilized egg bringing forth anything will 

 doubtless disappear as he becomes more fa- 

 miliar with what has been learned, and he 

 will find it not " contrary to all rules." 



Even admitting his quotation that very lit- 

 tle is known concerning the principle of 

 breeding, there is still enough known to make 

 a fairly good working basis, and in what I 

 have said in the foregoing, I have given only 

 what is well known to all well-informed bee- 

 keepers a6 actual fact. 



Joufhern 



' Beedom .r, 



Conducted by Lonis H. Scholl, New Braunsfels, Tex. 



November— Broomweed Honey 



And still we are having sunny days 

 in which our bees are working away on 

 " broomweed," and storing the golden- 

 colored honey for winter needs. The 

 flavor of this honey is somewhat 

 strong, and a little bitter, but the bees 

 do not seem to mind it; neither does 

 the bee-keeper, for it's a blessing to 

 have the hives "full and running over" 

 of " golden stores "—a " blessed assur- 

 ance " that the bees are well prepared 

 for the cold months, and until the next 

 season opens. 



Gutlierezia texana, Tor. & Gray, 

 commonly known as " broomweed," is 

 distributed very widely throughout 

 Texas, on open, sterile plains. The 

 Mexicans use a bunch of these weeds, 

 which grows about 2 feet high, as a 

 broom, simply tying together with 

 cords, made by tearing into strips the 

 long leaf spines or " daggers " of the 

 "yucca" plant, commonly called 

 "Spanish Daggers." This, with its 

 large spikes of white, bell-shaped flow- 

 ers is another honey and pollen yielder, 

 particularly of the Southwest, but not 

 of any great importance, as it is not 

 very plentiful. 



The Sumacs of Texas as Honey- 

 Yielders 



Several have asked me to write something 

 on the sumac, as I had mentioned it as our 

 best honey-plant of this locality a good many 

 times in my writings. There are several va- 

 rieties of sumac even in this State, all of 

 which are great honey and pollen producers, 

 and are closely related both as to habits of 

 growth, coior of pollen, etc. ; that is, all ex- 

 cept the variety known as " Spanish " sumac. 

 This has a different colored pollen from the 

 others, which I shall mention further on. I 

 shall not attempt to give the scientific names 

 of these plants, but simply the common or 

 picked-up names that are used among bee- 

 keepers and others. I shall mention them in 

 rotation, as they come in bloom. 



The first is what is known as "White" 

 sumac, It is of a scrubby growth (as are 



all other varieties), seldom growing to a 

 height of 6 feet. It comes into bloom the last 

 of April and first of May. the bloom lasting 2 

 to 3 weeks, and yielding a clear, well-flavored 

 honey, and a bright yellow pollen (almost 

 red), of which the bees seem very fond, as 

 they carry large loads at all times of the day 

 during its bloom. Like the other varieties of 

 sumac, it has 2 kinds of bloom ; that is, male 

 and female, but on separate bushes. But as 

 an All-Wise Creator intended, no doubt, the 

 bees visit freely from one bloom to the other 

 (the male and female) on the same trip, 

 which insures perfect fertilization of the 

 female blossoms. This variety of sumac is 

 confined to the eastern portion of the State, 

 none of it being found in the western coun- 

 ties, to my knowledge. 



The next is called " Black " sumac, and is 

 closely related to the first-mentioned, except 

 the leaves are smaller, the bark of a darker 

 color, and the blooms smaller; that is, they 

 do not grow in as large clusters, and it blooms 

 about a month later than the white sumac I 

 have thought the honey from this variety had 

 a little more of a yellow cast than that from 

 the white sumac. This variety is also con- 

 lined mostly to the eastern portion of the 

 State, and has the 2 kinds of bloom, the same 

 as the white, and bees work freely on the 

 bloom at all times of the day. 



The next— well, I don't know how to de- 

 fine it, unless we call it "Western " sumac, 

 as it grows in almost all of the western coun- 

 ties in Texas, where limestone rocks and 

 chalky hills are found, and is the best honey- 

 producer of the sumac family, according to 

 my views. This sumac grows larger than any 

 of the other varieties known to me — the 

 largest often growing to a height of 12 to 15 

 feet, and from 3 to 4 inches in diameter at 

 the ground. This, too, is closely related to 

 the other varieties mentioned. The leaves, 

 though, are larger than those of the black 

 sumac, but not quite as large as the leaves of 

 the white, and they are of a brighter green 

 than the leaves of the other two. The largest 

 would make a nice ornamental tree for the 

 front yard or lawn. It comes in bloom the 

 last of July and lasts through August, fur- 

 nishing a bountiful supply of both honey and 

 pollen at all hours of the day. It, too, has 

 the 2 kinds of bloum on separate trees. The 

 pollen is of the same color as that of the 

 other 2. The honey is of a light straw color, 

 of good body and flavor, and always brings 

 the highest price here in our Southern mar- 

 kets. 



The last I have uuy knowledge of is " Span- 

 ish " sumac. This grows in crevices of rocks 



in the most inaccessible places; is an ever- 

 green, and of a6crubby growth, seldom reach- 

 ing the height of 4 feet. The bloom is white, 

 and also the pollen gathered from it. The 

 honey is said to be of the finest quality 

 (I have no personal knowledge of the quality 

 of the honey). It blooms the last of Septem- 

 ber and first of October. 



This completes the list of sumacs so far as 

 my knowledge goes for this State. 



Rescue, Tex. L. B. Smith. 



Mr. Smith, your remarks about the 

 sumacs as honey-yielders are of much 

 interest to me, and I immediately went 

 through my herbarium of Texas honey- 

 plants to find out more about them. 



The most generally reported source 

 for fall honey over the entire State is. 

 from the sumac. In getting data on 

 the main honey-yielding plants of their 

 locality, from several hundred bee- 

 keepers in all parts of the State, very 

 few did not mention sumac as a fall 

 honey-plant. This shows that it is 

 distributed widely all over Texas, al- 

 though there may be different species 

 in different localities. The honey 

 seems to be of a good quality and of 

 light color in almost all localities, just 

 as you report it from North Texas. My 

 bees have stored surplus honey from 

 this source some seasons, and the 

 honey was also of good quality. 



Herewith I will give the several spe- 

 cies of sumacs of my collection, to- 

 gether with their distribution as. 

 labeled : 



The sumacs belong to the family Ana- 

 cardiacecz, or Cashew or Sumac family, 

 and to the genus Rhus. They are 

 shrubs or small trees, with simple or 

 pinnate leaves, and small white or yel- 

 lowish flowers in panicles, and some- 

 times in spikes. 



Rhus copallina L. (Dwarf sumac) is 

 a shrub growing only several feet high, 

 although I have seen it in good soil 

 attaining the height of small trees, or 

 8 or 12 feet. The branches are downy, 

 and the leaflets, 9 to 20 on a leaf- 

 branch, are also so underneath, but 

 shining above. The flowers are borne 

 in terminal spikes, and the red, ripe 

 fruit is covered with crimson acid h airs. 

 This sumac is the most important of 

 the family as a fall honey-yielder, in 

 August and September. This species 

 ranges through eastern, southern, and 

 western Texas, and is, I suppose, what 

 you call "Western sumac." 



Rhus canadensis, Marsh — a strag- 

 gling bush with whitish leaves when 

 young, and becoming smooth and 

 green later. The flowers are a pale 

 yellow. This is a common eastern 

 species, and extends into Texas ; prob- 

 ably your " White sumac." 



Rhus microphylla, Englem., is a. 

 large shrub with warty branches, leaf- 

 lets rather small, and flowers in scaly 

 spikes. Perhaps your " Black sumac." 



Rhus virens, Lindh. (Green sumac). 

 This is an evergreen, leaves thick and 

 coriaceous, pale below and shining, 

 dark green above ; the flowers in rather 

 open panicles are situated both in the 

 axis and apparently terminal portions 

 of the branchlets. This species is very 

 plentiful throughout the wooded areas 

 on limestone soils of Texas, and yields 

 both honey and white pollen in Octo- 

 ber, the bees roaring on it from early 

 dawn until late, when not prevented 

 by cold weather. A very common 

 name for this species is " Indian to- 



