1884 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTUEE. 



161 



should enable us to ascertain in time to move, or 

 not." The fruit-buds and leaflets to all trees with 

 which lam familiar are formed In June and July of 

 the preceding year, so the results of next season's 

 honey-yield, as far as buds and flowers are concern- 

 ed, are already formed in embryo, on the apparent- 

 ly bare and lifeless branches of the basswood-trecs, 

 as we behold them these zero days of winter. They 

 wait only for the warmth of spring, to bring this 

 dormant life into growth. As soon as these buds un- 

 fold, the latter part of May, then we can see and 

 know, as Mr. Stehle says, whether to " move or not." 

 By examining closely we can find the buach of buds 

 at the base of each leaf, curled up, looking like the 

 half of a very small pea, or perhaps a little fuzzy 

 caterpillar would explain it better. With each week 

 this bunch of buds grows, till at the end of the T 

 weeks from the time the trees put on their green in 

 the spring, they open their flowers, filled with nectar 

 to invite the bees to a sumptuous feast. Of course, 

 a cool season will retard the time of blossoming a lit- 

 tle, and a hot season advance it; but the above is the 

 rule. Thus the practiced eye can tell nearly two 

 months in advance, as to the promise of a yield of 

 basswood honey. 



I now come lo friend Root's question, asked on 

 page 81 of Feb. Gleanings, where he says, " Perhaps 

 friend Doolittle can tell us if they ever have seasons 

 where basswocd is the thickest, when it yields abso- 

 lutely no honey." 1 have never known such a sea- 

 son. The shortest yield I ever knew gave a S-days' 

 yield, in which honey was so plentiful that the bees 

 could not prepare room fast enough to store it, with 

 a gradual tapering off of two days more, making 5 

 days in all. The longest season I ever knew was the 

 one just passed, which gave a good yield for 20 days, 

 with 3 days in the center so cold the bees could do 

 nothing, and two days tapering off, making 25 days 

 In all. 



The state of the atmosphere has very much to do 

 with the secretiou of honey la the basswood-flower. 

 The most unfavorable weather is a cold, rainy, cloudy 

 spell, with the wind in the northwest. If basswood 

 came at a time of year when we were liable to have 

 much such weather, there might be such a thing as 

 an entire failure of honey from it. But as a rule we 

 have but little such weather at this season of the 

 year. The condition most favorable to a large yield 

 is when the weather is very warm, and the air filled 

 with electricity. At times when showers pass all 

 around, with sharp lightning and heavy thunder, the 

 honey will almost drop from the blossoms, providing 

 no rain chances to come within a mile or two of us. 

 At such times as this I have seen honey in the blos- 

 soms after they had fallen off on the ground, so that 

 it sparljled in the morning sunshine. Then this nec- 

 tar is honey, and not sweetened water, which makes 

 basswood doubly valuable over most of the other 

 honey-secreting plants and trees. One bee-load of 

 nectar from the basswood, in a dry warm time, is 

 equal to o from the teasel, or 3 from white clover. In 

 a rainy time there is not so great a difference. At 

 times when basswood was yielding its best, I have 

 seen more than a bee-load of honey In a single flow- 

 er. Each little flower has 5 concave or convex out- 

 side leaves, on the inside of which, near the base, the 

 honey is secreted. By holding these up so the sun 

 will shine into them, you can see the honey, or sec 

 where it is, by looking through from the buck side. 

 At times when all is favorable, the drop of honey in 

 «aob Qt fteap pups will p§ as Iarg§ pg medium-eized 



shot, while when not favorable they can scarcely be 

 seen. I have taken one stem of blossoms, when the 

 yield was great, and passed it over my hand, when I 

 would have several drops of nice thick honey in my 

 hand. One peculiarity I have often noticed is, that 

 at such times not more than half of the trees would 

 be visited by the bees. There are two quite largo 

 trees standing about 5 rods apart, in an open field, 

 not far from my apiary, which are both visited by 

 the bees in times woen but little honey is secreted; 

 hut when the secretion is profusi", one tree only will 

 be visited by the bees, while, as far as I can see, both 

 yield honey alike. So I have often noticed along the 

 edge of the woods, trees all sparkling with honey, 

 with not a bee near them, while others will resound 

 with the merry hum of the bees. Why this is, T do 

 not know, unless they get started at work on a cer- 

 tain tree, and finding all the honey they can taKe, 

 and more too, keep going to the same spot. At such 

 times as this, 1000 colonics of bees could find all the 

 honey they could carry, if all were left at one place; 

 but at all other times, I think from 100 to 200 would 

 be ample for any locality. 



In conclusion I would say. that, were it not for 

 basswood, I do not believe there would be honey 

 enough in this locality to make it pay to keep bees, 

 unless it were a few so as to get a little honey for 

 family use. G. M. Doolittle. 



Borodino, N. Y., Feb. 16, 1P84. 



Friend D., I am prepared to indorse every 

 word you say in regard to basswood, unless 

 it is to ask if you have not made a mistake 

 in saying that Gallup had a colony that gave 

 110 lbs. per day for ,"U days in succession. It 

 may be so. and that I have forgotten it; but 

 it seems almost incredible. That is hOO lbs. 

 from a single colony in one season, and I can 

 not remember that I ever knew 30 good hon- 

 ey days in succession in all my experience in 

 bee-keeping. I wonder if friend Gallup was 

 not a little excited when he made the state- 

 ment. I am very glad indeed to get such an 

 article from you at just this crisis ; for if 

 bee-keepers don't go to planting basswood 

 forests, and that, too, right quick, their oc- 

 cupation, like Othello's, will soon be gone, 

 or, at least, a great part of it. Your article 

 has stirred me up to the importance of put- 

 ting out 50,000 or 100,000 little trees on our 

 honey-farm. Of course, these will be used 

 to fill orders, rather than to let them grow up 

 for honey. I, too, have seen honey sparkling 

 from the blossoms, and the sight of it in our 

 young basswood orchard, at its present stage 

 of growth, is enough to make anybody en- 

 thusiastic, even if he is not more than half a 

 bee-keeper. Remember, dear friends, how- 

 ever, that it is an expensive undertaking, 

 and one has got to wait many long years for 

 a crop. Our basswood orchard was planted 

 11' years ago this spring, and not more than 

 half the trees are yet in bearing ; but they 

 were put on a rather poor piece of land, and 

 were set too far apart. I would have them 

 not to exceed 12 feet each way ; and when 

 the trees get to be crowded, take out every 

 other one. If thev are small, half that dis- 

 tance might do, for the ground must be 

 prettv well shaded to get the best results. 

 The sun hurts them. The way they grow 

 in a dense thicket in woodland where no 

 stock is permitted, tells us pretty plainly 

 what k|ud of tfeatajepl; th,ey need. 



