1921 



AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL 



397 



past season a number of beokeepers 

 reported surjilus honey from alfalfa. 

 Generally siieakinK, alfalfa seldom 

 yields nectar to any extent east of the 

 Missouri River. It probably is not 

 often important to the New York 

 honey producer. 



Basswood is still important i.i a few 

 places, although the cutting of the 

 trees is rapidly removing basswood 

 from this section, as elsewhere. The 

 large orchards provide immense areas 

 of fruit bloom and a few beekeeper.; 

 are sufficiently expert to get their 

 bees through the winter strong 

 enough to store surplus from fruit 

 bloom when the weather is favorable. 

 Forage from the fruit trees is suffi- 

 ciently plentiful to provide an abund- 

 ance of honey, but thei'e is nothing 

 the beekeeper can do to make the sun 

 shine during the fitful weather of 

 early spring. Too often there will be 

 only a few bright days in which the 

 bees can make the most of the avail- 

 able supply. In most cases fruit 

 bloom and dandelion are utilized to 

 build up the colonies for later flows. 



Sweet clover is becoming cf more 

 importance in the east every year 

 and, while it apparently does not yield 

 as heavily as in the west, it is valuable 

 wherever grown. 



Goldenrod and asters follow the 

 buckwheat flow and furnish id'.'al con- 

 ditions for late brood-rearing in prep- 

 aration for winter. At times, how- 

 ever, the quality of this late honey is 

 such that the beekeepers find it ad- 

 vantageous to feed some sugir syrup 

 for winter stores. 



Some Special Sources 



There are many plants important 

 in limited ai'eas of New York which 

 are little known outside that Stat^e. 

 Among these may be mentioned wild 

 thyme, which was mentioned in sev- 

 eral numbers of this Journal this year. 

 J. B. Merwin, at Prattville, lives in a 

 region where thyme is the principal 

 source of surplus. In 25 years he has 

 never had an entire failure from 



Left to right, A. E. Lundie. Otto Hupfel and G. H. Rea. 



thyme, and he has had as high as 12-5 

 pounds of surplus per colony from 

 this source. Thyme is mostly con- 

 fined to Delaware and surrounding 

 counties. 



Purple loosestrife is another plant 

 not often found outside of New York. 

 It is a vigorous plant, reaching a 

 height of 6 feet or more, and grows 

 only in wet places not suited for ag- 

 ricultural purposes. It is common up 

 and down the Hudson River and the 

 backwaters and inlets of that stream. 

 It is also common in parts of the Mo- 

 hawk Valley and westward across the 

 State. It blooms in midsummer and 



Prof, and Mrs. Rca. and their Ithaca home. 



the honey is dark and of inferior qual- 

 ity. It is commonly known as rebel- 

 weed. 



In the northern part of the State, in 

 the Adirondack region, there are 

 some fii'eweed locations. On Long 

 Island, Clethra is found in abund- 

 ance. 



The Conventions 



New York has numerous organiza- 

 tions of beekeepers and the writer 

 greatly enjoyed attending about a 

 dozen of these meetings. Entirely too 

 much space would be required to give 

 a detailed account of them. The at- 

 tendance was surprisingly good, con- 

 sidering the number held. Even the 

 local meetings which happened to fall 

 on i-ainy days had some lively discus- 

 sions and good turnouts. The writer 

 made the round with George H. Rea, 

 the beekeeping specialist for the col- 

 lege at Ithaca. Rea is a real bee- 

 keeper who has had years of practical 

 experience in the apiary as well as 

 years of experience in inspection work 

 in Pennsylvania. 



If one is to judge from the number 

 of complimentary things the writer 

 heard said of Rea behind his back and 

 the few criticisms that were spoken, 

 his services are appreciated by the 

 rank and file of the big honey pro- 

 ducers of his State. A picture of Mr. 

 and Mrs. Rea, at their home in Ithaca, 

 is shown herewith. 



After the first meeting wa were 

 joined by A. E. Lundie, whose home 

 is in far South Africa. Mr. Lundie 

 is making an investigation of bee- 

 keeping conditions in this country for 

 his government, and will be in this 

 country for several months. He is a 

 splendid traveling companion and we 

 were especially happy in his company. 

 How little conditions in South Africa 

 are understood in this country is best 

 illustrated by the fact that many peo- 



