244 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



I took a sample of it to the house ofa bee- 

 keeper, who also observed it for the first 

 time, this summer; he informs me that 

 there is another variety with a, deep pur- 

 ple bloom, you observe that this is yellow 

 bloom, alike productive of both honey and 

 pollen. Wm. S. Barclay. 



Beaver, Pa., Sept. 25, 1875. 



The specimen is a species of golden-rod, 

 and judging from the few small stem 

 leaves which accompanied the flowers, I 

 take it to be the Canadian golden-rod, {sol- 

 dago canadensis). All the golden-rods are 

 valuable honej^ plants, and might profita- 

 bly be grown for that purpose. They are 

 so readily killed by plowing, that they 

 are hardly to be considered as dangerous 

 weeds. 



The purple flowered plant referred to, 

 is as Mr. Barclay rightly conjectures, a 

 relative of the golden-rod. It is no doubt 

 an astor. All astors are good honey plants. 



Enclosed please find six specimens of 

 honey-producing wild flowers: will you 

 please give their names through the Amer- 

 ican Bee Journal, and oblige? 



No. 1 is a yellow flower; grows about 

 three feet high ; is found on the river bot- 

 tom, and also in most uncultivated spots 

 in fields, etc. 



No. 2 grows in similar places; is from 



3 to 41^ feet high. 



No. 3 is a thick branching plant, from 



4 to (5 feet high, with a great abundance of 

 small, while flowers. 



These are very fine honey-producing 

 plants ; they begin to bloom the first of 

 August, and continue until winter. 



No. 4 looks same as No. 3, except that 

 it has blue flowers and less profuse flow- 

 ering; but grows exclusively on upland. 



Nos. 5 and 6 are similar, diff'ering only 

 in form of flower head ; are about 3 feet 

 high, and grow almost anywhere. 



C. F. Lane. 



Rock Co., Wis., Sept. 15, 1875. 



No. 1 is a Bur Marigold, or a species of 

 spanish-needle (Bidens cJirysanthemoides). 

 I do nst think it desirable that the bees 

 should work much on this plant: it would 

 give the honej' an acrid taste. 



No. 2 is sneeze-weed {llelenium autuvi- 

 nale). May produce good honey, but it is 

 doubtful. 



Nos. 3 and 4 are a species of aster. 

 These two asters are, no doubt, valuable 

 for honey, as Mr. Lane says. In order to 

 determine the particular species of each, 

 more leaves are necessary. 



Nos. 5 and G are golden-rods {Solidago). 



The fragments are too small to enable me 

 to identify species. All golden-rods, how- 

 ever, are valuable honey-plants, — so it is 

 not necessary to distinguish between the 

 species. 



It makes determination much more 

 easy and certain if a good-sized piece of 

 the plant is sent. The leaves should, in 

 all cases, be present. 



Bees here did well in the swarming 

 line. The frost killing our buckwheat 

 cut the honey supply short. I send you 

 two specimens of flowers; would like to 

 know what the names of them are. Bees 

 work lively on No. 1. as it is now bloom- 

 ing nicely. I do not know as they would 

 work on No. 2, it is just coming on. My 

 stock last spring consisted of 57 ; I now 

 have 118 strong colonies, with hives well 

 filled with honey for winter. 



E. J. Newsom. 



Dunn Co., Wis., Aug 29, 1875. , 



The specimens are both golden-rods. 

 No. 1 is the large rigid-golden-rod (Soli- 

 dago rigida) — common in Iowa and all 

 the northern States. It is rough, has a 

 stout stem, with quite large heads of 

 flowers, and grows from 2 to 5 feet high. 



No. 2 is scarcely determinable on ac- 

 count of not having leaves, but it is prob- 

 ably Solidago missouriensis, the Missouri 

 golden-rod. It will probably furnish a 

 good amount of honey. 



Always in sending plants for name they 

 should have flower and leaf: this is es- 

 pecially the case with the golden-rods, 

 whose flowers alone are so nearly alike 

 as to render it difficult to identify species. 



Particular attention is requested to the 

 advertisement of Geo. H. Byrns, of Pratt's 

 Hollow, New York. He has some bees, 

 honey-boxes and an Extractor for sale 

 cheap, as he is going South. See the ad- 

 vertisement. It should have appeared in 

 the October number, but was overlooked. 



Among our callers since the last issue, 

 were: E. Gallop, Osage, Iowa; R. H. Q 

 Mellen, Amboy, 111.; and Miss Jennie 2 

 French. As we were absent from the 1 

 city on business, we did not see them, but 

 hope they will call again. 



We have received the Report of Pro- 

 ceedings of the Kentucky Bee-keepers' 

 Convention. It will appear in our next. 



