668 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Oct. 



Bee Ben^^NY, 



OR, HONEY -PLANTS TO BE NAMED. 



fIND inclosed a specimen of a wild flower that 

 grows in the woods around hero. It g-rows in 

 the thickest part of the woods, and yields 

 large quantities of honey. 1 don't know the 

 name of it, and don't know anybody who 

 does, so give us the common name of it, if it has 

 one. John Dai.las. 



Sharpsville, Mercer Co., Pa., Sept. 10, 1884. 

 The above specimen of plant is tall white - lettuce 

 {Nahalus aJtissimus, var. ovntiis. Woods), of the Com- 

 posite, or Aster family, the members of which may, 

 as a general rule, be classed as "pollen-plants" 

 rather than "honey-plants." This species is a tall 

 plant (3 to 5 feet), bearing numerous cylindrical pen- 

 dulous heads of about 5 flowers each ; blooms in late 

 summer and autumn. It is plentiful in rich and 

 moist woods in Northern U. S. and Canada. 



W. S. Devol, Botanist. 

 Columbus, O., Sept. 18, 1884. 



GIANT HYSSOP. 



I send you herewith a honey-plant to name. I 

 found one bunch of it along my pasture fence— the 

 only specimen I have seen. The bunch is about 4 

 feet high, and has about 40 branches, with racemes 

 like the one inclosed, ranging from 3 to 7 inches in 

 length. When I saw it a few moments ago there 

 were about 3 bees to each raceme. I should like to 

 see bees on an acre of it. E. W. Pitzer. 



Hillsdale, Mills Co., la., Sept. 8, 1884. 



This is a specimen of giant hyssop {Lophanthus 

 !<crophularicvfolius, Benth.), belonging to the Mint 

 family. It is a tall perennial, 3 to 4 ft., with purplish 

 stem and large coarse leaves ; flowers purplish, 

 ci-owded in terminal interrupted spikes 4 to 15 inches 

 long. It bears some resemblance to catnip. It is 

 found throughout Northern and Central U. S. It is 

 not common. W. S. Devol. 



Columbus, Sept. 13, ]88t. 



COLOKAUO SAGE. 



AVork for the botanist. This is quite a honey- 

 plant here. What is it? Mrs. C. T. Stewart. 



Altona, Boulder Co., Col. 



This is a species of sage (Salvia) resembling most 

 S. aziirea, Lam. This species, however, is reported 

 as a Southern plant, with larger flowers and a great- 

 er number in the verticils than in the specimen 

 sent. The difference in latitude will account for 

 the variation in the species. It is a very pretty 

 little plant, with blue flowers blooming most of the 

 summei-. It belongs to the great honey-producing 

 family, and is probably one of the best of the native 

 honey-plants of Colorado. W. S. Devol. 



Columbus, O., Sept. 10, 1884. 



ferred a week ago, and found it full of bees and 

 brood, and got about 50 lbs. of flrst-rate honey. I 

 have all in S. hives, but one. 



Please inform any one who is thinking of raising 

 Bermuda grass, that it is next to impossible to kill 

 out when it once gets started, and that it will soon 

 spread over a whole farm. We have about 15-acres 

 of it that has had 3 or 4 years start. Dr. S. thought 

 to cultivate the land, and tried breaking it uj) with 

 a sulky plow and three mules. Two hours' plowing 

 broke the mules completely down, and almost 

 ruined them. Still, it is the best grazing grass, of 

 the South; will grow 18 to 30 in. deep, and give two 

 crops a year without any care or work at all; it 

 brings here as hay, *35.03 per ton. I have never 

 seen any bees at work on Bermuda, though they 

 work on weeds and clover right amongst it; but it 

 may be like the much-disi)uted red clover, and the 

 fault lie in our Port-Gibson bees. 



It is said here, that the only way to kill Bermuda 

 out is to turn in upon the obno.xious plat a number 

 of hogs of the scrub stock, " shingle-back " variety, 

 which will grub up and eat all the roots in six 

 months or so, for one of the roots a few inches long 

 will be a good start for another crop. 



In looking over April Gleanings I notice you ra- 

 ther doulit that shooting into swarms did any good: 

 I tried it through one swarming season, and never 

 had it fail when I used a shotgun, loaded with small 

 shot, and fired right into the swarm; but when us- 

 ing blank charges or a rifle, they invariably left, 

 seemingi.\ excited to frenzy by the noise. I suppose 

 it is thi' concussion of the shot which causes them to 

 cluster. But I prefer the Whitman pump, as bees 

 will swarm on Sunday, and, aside from the example, 

 it doesn't sound well to be shooting around when 

 church-bells are ringing. C. M. Hopkins. 



Port Gibson, Miss., Aug. in, 1884. 

 Sneezewoit seems this season to be quite a 

 honey-plant, as we have received more spec- 

 imens ot it llian ever before. Perhaps it 

 will be well to have it engraved, so it will be 

 more readily recognized.— I am glad to know 

 that JJermuda grass is of some vaUie, even if 

 it does not yield honey. The best timothy 

 or clover hay is not worth here any thing 

 like $25.00 a ton. Friend 11., why don't 

 your people make a business of raising and 

 selling hay from this same r.t'rimida giassV 

 It seems to me 1 shotild likeacliaiice myself, 

 at the price you mention. According to 

 I'rof. Cook, we have no liope of getting lion- 

 ey from it, uidess the ergot or smut gets into 

 it. This rcniiuds me that one of oiu- men 

 said ycstciday, if 1 saved any ears of seed- 

 corn having smut on them, it would perpet- 

 uate the sanu' another year. If this is so, I 

 suiipose we can have honey-yielding Hermn- 

 da grass excry season if we set al)out it. 



SNEEZEWORT; also something AUOUT BERMUDA 

 GRASS, ETC. 



I send j'ou the flower of a weed which is very 

 common around here, upon which the bees have 

 worked almost exclusively during July, and at pre- 

 sent date are getting a great deal of pollen from it. 

 Can you tell me whether it yields honey or not, and 

 what is its name? 



Honey is coming in fast enough to keep brood- 

 rearing booming. I had no more trouble in trans- 

 ferring from those barrels. The one in which the 

 two swarms went when they left the S.bive. I ti'ana- 



elephant's-foot. 



Herewith you find specimen of a weed, upon the 

 bloom of which the bees work with much vigor. 

 Will you kindly tell me its name? J. W. Jones. 



Coral Hill, Barren Co., Ky., Aug. 38, 1884. 



This is not a clover, but elephanfs-foot (Elrphan- 

 topus Car<iliniaints, Willd), of the Composite family 

 (Composita^). It grows 3 to 3 feet high, branching. 

 Flowers are violet purple, about 5 in a head; heads 

 aggregated in glomerules, about 30 in each. The 

 fruit (ciipsela) is ribbed and hairy, with a pappus of 

 5 bristles; leaves alternate, somewhat hairy, oval- 



