138 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Feb. 1.5. 



also be obtained by having a spring, or some 

 equivalent, to constantly pull the sections (and 

 wide frames if they are used) tight up against 

 each other.] 



THE SPIDER-PLANT. 



If we could give'the appropi'iate colors to the 

 blossom and stem. "weDshould have a well-nigh 

 perfect representation of our common red clo- 



NEW ENGKAVINGS FOU THE A B C OF BEK 

 CULTURE. 



By Ernest R. Root. 



While looking over the seed catalogue of one 

 of the prominent seedsmen, W. Atlee Burpee, we 

 ran across a very accurate engraving of the 

 spider-plant — the best representation that has 

 ever been made, so far as I know. As we arc 

 now revising the A B C of Bee Culture, making 

 new engravings and such other improvements 

 as will make the work more valuable, we con- 

 cluded to re-engrave it ; and for the benefit of 

 our journal readers I here submit it. 



The bees on the wing, going to and from the 

 blossom, is characteristic of their behavior 

 toward the plant. But there is just one thing 

 that the cut does not show, and that is the little 

 drop of honey sparkling in the blossom, but 

 which the reduced size makes it impossible to 

 show. 



Aside from being a honey-plant, spider-plant 

 is one of the most ornamental shrubs ever 

 placed in a flower-garden, and so advertised in 

 Burpee's catalogue. As we state in the ABC 

 book, it is not of sufficient value to a bee-keep- 

 er, however, to warrant planting them on a 



COMMON HEX) CLOVEK. 



ver. The stem has the usual characteristic 

 fringe of hairs, and the shape of the leaves is 

 also characteristic. It may seem to some of 

 our readers almost unnecessary to represent 

 any thing so common; but there are 

 >«t. places where even red clover does not 



^^ grow, and for the benefit of the bee- 

 i(if keepers who are unacquainted with it, 

 I am glad to show them what it looks 

 like. Perhaps I should remark that 

 peavine clover is just the same, only 

 the stems ai'e much longer. 



CLEOME PUNGENS, OR Sr]I)Ell-ri,AXT. 



large scale. But a few of them will adoni the 

 dooryard, and give you a chance to see liow 

 the bees fairly swarm upon the blossoms. Those 

 large crystal drops of nectar and the greed of 

 the bees'in the early morn, is a sight to behold. 



RED AND WHITE CEOVER. 



BF While I am about it, I might as well present 

 you with two engravings that we have adapted 

 for the A B C book. 



WHITE CLOVER. 



" f This engraving shows the most val- 

 uable of all honey-plants to the bee- 

 keeper. Without it, bee-keeping in the 

 United States and Canada would as- 

 sume hardly half its present propor- 

 tions ; and but for it we should be 

 without one of the finest honeys in the 

 world — the very finest, if we except the 

 alfalfa. Our artist, it seems, caught a 

 bee while in the act of appropriating the de- 

 licious nectar. 



BASSWOOD, OR LINDEN. 



By the by, we have also had another engrav- 

 ing of basswood made expressly for the A B C 

 book : and its importance as a honey-plant is 

 second only to the white clover as above. 



Our artist, who was looking over some beau- 

 tiful plates in a standard work in one of our 

 public libraiies, accidentally ran across a rep- 



