144 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



[Deo. 



" But the object of the article is accomplish- 

 ed. It was to name and describe another of 

 the causes of death to bees, as I have named 

 " winter sweat" and bee moth. The reader 

 will be so good as to observe his own bees, and 

 draw his own conclusion. My object is to culti- 

 vate the disposition to examine into all causes 

 of ill health in bees." 



[For the American Bee Journal.] 



Bee Pasturage. 



Unless thei?p is an abundance of honey-pro- 

 ducing plants, it is impossible for the best ar- 

 ranged ajjiary to bring its owner any profit. 

 Bee forage is found, more or less, in all parts 

 of our country ; but while this is true, there is 

 no doubt but that some neighborhoods are much 

 better adapted to bee culture than others. In 

 our Soiithern country most of the honey comes 

 fn-m the resources of our forests, swamps and 

 hedges. And for years to come we will have to 

 look to the pasturage growing in these locali- 

 ties for our yield. 



Among the uncultivated trees, shrubs and 

 plants whose blooms seem to be particularly 

 rich in honey, I will name the poplar, black- 

 gum, hay-tree, persimmon, sour wood, holly, 

 sparkle-berry, button bush, sumac, golden rod, 

 catnip, asters, and many others that yield no 

 doubt more or less honey. The alder blooms in 

 February and yields pollen but no honey. Most 

 of the above bloom durrng the last of April, 

 May and June in our latitude. The button- 

 bu.--h, which grows in low places along water 

 courses, flowers in July, and yields some honey. 

 It usually remains in bloom for about one week. 

 Sumac comes in August, and lasts for several 

 weeks — it is rich in a dark colored houey. The 

 golden rod and the aster bloom in September 

 and are good honey plants. From these alone 

 in favorable seasons bees often gather enough 

 ior their winter supplies. Catnip I regard as 

 one of our best honey plants. It commences to 

 flower in spring and continues till frost. It will 

 thrive and grow well along fences, hedges, &c., 

 and might be planted to advantage in all waste 

 places that cannot be cultivated in anything 

 else. 



The magnolia, varnJih-tree, and privet af- 

 foid good pasturage. These are at the same 

 time tine ornamental trees. In planting trees 

 along our lawns and in our yards, it is advis 

 at)]e to have an eye to utility as well as beauty. 



I have experimented with Rocky Mountain 

 lee-plant, mignonette, borage, sweet alyssum 

 and many others highly recommended, and I 

 am satisfied that it will never pay in this 

 country to cultivate plants exclusively for the 

 honey. The above plants will not grow in 

 gra.«a. The ground must be kept worked, and 

 this labor will cost more than the honey they 

 yield will be worth. 



Our various fruit trees give the bees their 

 earliest honey forage in the spring. In some 

 seasons bees will work briskly on strawberry 

 blooms. The raspberry (particularly the red 

 variety,) and the blackberry are usually rich in 

 honey. Mustard, white clover, buckwheat, corn 

 and some others yield honey. White clover 

 should be cultivated wherever it will thrive, 

 and I believe it will grow in most any land 

 that is not too poor and sandy. Bees collect 

 pollen and probably some honey from corn-tas- 

 sels — particularly of white flint variety. Buck- 

 wheat is a good honey-plant, but as the secre- 

 tion of honey in this plant is so much influenced 

 by atmospheric conditions, it often fails. Bees 

 often gather pollen from the cotton-bloom, but 

 I do not think they get any honey. 



In this latitude our spring honey-harvest is 

 all over by the last of June, and then we have 

 none of any account until the fall flowers come 

 in September. In order to keep up the work- 

 ing force of our colonies, it would be very de- 

 sirable to have some forage to fill up this 

 vacancy. There is a great room here for bee- 

 keepers to observe and experiment. 



Because we see a bee on a flower it does not 

 prove that it is gathering any honey. In sea- 

 sons of scarcity, bees may be seen working' 

 vigorously on certain flowers, while the amount 

 of stores in the hives is growing less every day. 

 It is very diflBcult to dertimine the worth of a 

 plant for honey when there are only a few of 

 the plants within range of the bees. When 

 there are enough plants to afford constant em- 

 ployment for the bees, an approximate estimate 

 of the yield may be determined by placing the 

 hive on a pair of scales, and noticing the daily 

 increase or loss. Of course due allowance 

 must always be made for bad days. 



The number ot stocks of bees that can be 

 profitably kept in a neighborhood must always 

 be governed by the honey resources of the 

 locality. Hence it will be folly for the bee- 

 keeper to think of multiplying his colonies in 

 a poor section to the extent of one who lives 

 where there is an abundance of pasture. The 

 nearer the apiary is located to the pasture, the 

 better. It is supposed that the range of a bee 

 for forage does not usually extend over a radius 

 of two miles. The Italians will go much fur- 

 ther than the blacks. Some say they have 

 known them to go four miles. But this is 

 traveling too far to lay up much surplus honey. 

 With strong colonies, and properly constructed 

 movable comb hives well managed, we can 

 generally secure large yields of honey, if there 

 is any in the flowers together. 



Avoid an excess of drone comb by the pres- 

 ence of a qu'^en in swarms where combs are to 

 be constructed. As swarms having young 

 queens seldom swarm that year, less drone comb 

 is built in swarms having young queens. 



