390 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



Jum 2A, 



ornament or for hedges. Yield an abundance of white honey 

 of fine flavor. There are many species, both native and in- 

 troduced, but the majority are not hardy in the North. 



Sourwood or Sorrel Tree (OxydenArunx arhorcum.), a great 

 producer of excellent honey in Kentucky and Tennessee. 

 Might well be planted elsewhere — even much farther north. 

 It is a handsome tree. 



Magnolias {Mntjnolin QraiuWflora is half hardy in the Mid- 

 dle States; i[. acumindta, the Cucumber Magnolia, and .V. 

 cordata, the Yellow Cucumber Magnolia, are hardy species. 

 Beautiful, showy, the first species ever grown. 



European Horse-Chestnut {Aesculus liippocnstarmm) is a 

 stately shade tree whose flowers in May yield much honey and 

 some pollen. There is a variety with white and also one 

 with rose-colored blossoms. Both are to be highly recom- 

 mended being very ornamental and hardy everywhere. 



Yellow-wood {CtddrdsUs lute<i Koch) with its fragrant 

 creamy-white flowers hanging in panicles a foot or more long 

 in May or June, forms an attraction on the lawn. It yields 

 much nectar. 



Buckthorn (Lycium barhahim) is an excellent hedge-plant 

 whose blossoms vield honey and pollen for the bees. It may 

 not be hardy in all situations. Western bee-keepers would do 

 well to ascertain this before planting it extensively. 



Matrimony Vine (Lycimn -iiu/i/i/rc) belonging to the same 

 genus as Buckthorn is also highly appreciated by the bees. It 

 blossoms all summer long and is covered with bees from early 

 until late. Nothing can be more graceful than its lithe re- 

 curving stems which are easily trained over lattice-work. The 

 blossoms are small greenish-purple followed by red berries. 



Spanish Broom (Spartiuni junceum) a leguminous shrub 

 cultivated for ornament yields honey very abundantly. 



American Wistaria (Wistaria frutescens) and Chinese Wis- 

 taria (IF. .si?iC)isi.y) are highly ornamental climbers which are 

 favorites with the bees. Give them a protected sunny situa- 

 tion. 



Rosemary (Rosmarinus officinalis) of the Mint family is an 

 immense yielder of exceedingly fine honey. The honey of 

 Narbonne, so famous in the Parisian markets, is said to come 

 from rosemary. During two winters which I past in Tunis, 

 North Africa, the hills were blue with the fragrant rosemary, 

 and tho the bees were black as night and sometimes cross, 

 they reveled in this royal flower and weighted their hives with 

 its delicious nectar. Unfortunately it is not hardy in the 

 North, but I hope some of our Southern friends will try it, 

 and that it will not be overlookt in Northern flower gardens. 



White Alder (Clcthra alnifolia) presents its sweet-scented 

 spirals of fine white blossoms to the bees in August. It is a 

 shrub three to ten feet high which thrives best in low places. 



Alpine Heath (Krica carnen) blossoms in earliest spring 

 and yields much honey and pollen wherever abundant. It is 

 said that the Austrian province of Carniola took its name from 

 this plant. Be that as it may, it is certainly everywhere there, 

 and its bright pink blossoms appear in large areas on the suuny 

 sides of the valleys long before the snow has disappeared from 

 the opposing side or the clefts of the rocks near at hand. It 

 will therefore withstand the winters of our Northern States, 

 and, while worthy of cultivation in the flower-garden an effort 

 might be made to get it started wild over hill and mountain 

 sides, to greet the peaceful Carniolan bees that likewise hold 

 their own in our severe Northern winters. 



Heather or Ling (Calluna viikiaris) is common in the north 

 of Europe and is one of their great honey-plants. It has be- 

 come sparingly naturalized here in the extreme northeast. 

 Blossoms in summer and lasts through September. 



Alpine Rock Cress (Araiiis (dplmi). Before any other 

 plants show signs of growth in spring — even before the cro- 

 cuses, the stems of this beautiful hardy plant appear above its 

 light-green foliage, bearing numerous white and very fragrant 

 flowers which are eagerly visited by our bees. A small area 

 yields them much honey, tho little or no pollen. It re- 

 mains in bloom some weeks, or under favorable circumstances 

 even until autumn, and being a thoroughly hardy perennial it 

 Is well worth the little care which it takes to preserve it 

 through the summer. 



Crocus (Crocus vernus) so well known is one of the very 

 early spring flowers which our bees take advantage of. The 

 bulbs may be placed in the lawn or along the edges of beds, 

 anywhere, in the autumn, by making a hole three inches deep, 

 slipping them in and pressing the earth over them. They will 

 delight the eye for many scucessive seasons thereafter — not 

 only of tho bee-keeper but of his bees as well, since they fur- 

 nish much pollen and some honey. 



Black Hellebore or Christmas Rose (Helleborus niger) flow- 

 ers In winter in mild climates, hence its name. Tho not often 

 seen In gardens it might grace the bee-keeper's dooryard, and 

 yield his bees its aromatic honey and pollen. 



Stock or Gilliflower. — The Common Stock (irathiola inca- 

 na) tho not hardy in the North, maybe sown in pots indoors 

 early in the season and the latter set in beds for the summer. 



Wallflower (Chciranthus cheiri) in the milder portions of 

 our country will live outside and will bloom very early in the 

 spring ; elsewhere it may be grown in pots to be set out la 

 spring. Both pollen and honey. 



Common Periwinkle (T'bjca mijior). — Hardy, trailing, pro- 

 duces pretty, blue flowers in early spring and will thrive iu a 

 shady situation. Yields honey. 



Abutilon or Flowering Maple may be grown from the seed 

 started early, in the house, and set out when settled weather 

 comes, and will flower the first season continuously ; also dur- 

 ing winter if taken up. It furnishes the bees honey and pol- 

 len. 



Althea, Tree Hollyhock, or Rose of Sharon (AWiaea rosae), 

 a fine, majestic shrub bearing a profusion of showy white or 

 red blossoms the size of hollyhocks, and which are much fre- 

 quented by the bees for honey and pollen, both of which are 

 produced by it in great abundance. A bee often fills its honey- 

 sac from one blossom. Once establisht this plant will last 

 for many years. 



Bush Honeysuckle (Diervilla japonica) is not only a beau- 

 tiful ornament for the lawn, but is a favorite with the bees, 

 yielding them honey in July. 



European Pennyroyal (Mentha pulcgium) is quite different 

 from our common wild pennyroyal, blossoms during .Tuly, 

 August and September, yielding honey freely. Its mass of 

 bright green foliage, and the fact that it will grow in shady 

 places, make it very suitable for rock work or use under trees. 



Cohabit, soandens. — A rapid and very ornamental climber 

 often cultivated in the North as an annual, the seeds being 

 sown early indoors. Its large purple, bell-shaped flowers 

 yield honey and, with its dark green foliage, make it suitable 

 to use as a covering for arbors or trellises. 

 [Concluded next week ] 



CONDUCTED BY 



DR. O. O. MILLER, MARENGO, ILL. 



[Questions may be mailed to the Bee Journal, or to Dr. Miller direct.') 



What Ailed tlic Bees i 



What ails a colony of my bees ? It contains No. 1 Ital- 

 ians ; they are dying by the score every day and night. They 

 seem to be working strong, and many of these bees die with 

 their load of honey in them. They crawl out on the alight- 

 ing-board and die. They seem to be bloated. There is no 

 bloom now but white clover, which is very abundant. I have 

 7 other colonies, but nothing wrong with them. My bees were 

 poisoned on the fruit-bloom by a neighbor spraying his trees, 

 and I lost some theu. Would that poison still affect them ? I 

 have had a small apiary for 20 years, and never saw anything 

 like this before. Fulton Co., III. 



Answer. — I hardly think the poison they received during 

 fruit-bloom would affect the bees now, and I don't know 

 enough to make a safe guess as to the real trouble. Occa- 

 sionally some one reports a case much like yours, and the 

 cause remains a mystery. Possibly some one may give us 



light. 



m I » 



A Smoker Trouble — Uiilling^ Colonics. 



1. My Crane smoker is giving me trouble, while I have a 

 Clark always at hand, still for certain purposes I like the 

 Crane tho best. For instance, in driving bees out of supers I 

 can get a greater volume of smoke, and it burns longer with- 

 out replenishing. My trouble is this ; I burn rotten wood — 

 oak, gum, etc.; after it gets hot it begins to throw splotches 

 of creosote on the sections as black as ink. What is my 

 remedy ? 



2. My bees swarmed, and swarmed, and swarmed, so that 



