770 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Oct. 15. 



I noticed something last summer that was 

 interesting, and may prove to be of some prac- 

 tical value. A year" ago last June I went to the 

 woods to get some basswood bark to use in bud- 

 ding roses. The bark cut at this time, and 

 soaked for several weeks in water, splits into a 

 number of thin layers of very fine, strong fiber, 

 useful for budding as well as many other pnv- 

 poses. 



I went to a place where basswood -trees had 

 been cut eight or ten years before. The sprouts 

 around the stumps had grown up to a consider- 

 able height, and many of them were foui' or five 

 inches in diameter. Selecting a smooth sprout 

 I removed all the bark from it foi' a distance of 

 about three feet frpm the ground. Last June, 

 a year later, I went there again for the same 

 purpose. One would naturally suppose that the 

 sprout that had been girdled th(^ year before 

 would have been killed by the operation. The 

 bark, as I said before, had" been entirely remov- 

 ed for a space of three feet or more. There was 

 no new growth of bark over it, and the entire 

 surface that had been exposed seemed perfectly 

 dry and seasoned for half An inch or more from 

 the outside; yet the sprout seemed to be grow- 

 ing and thriving just as well as the others from 

 the same stump. What was particularly re- 

 markable, though, was. that thnt sprout nuts 

 covered ivith blossoms, while none of the other 

 sprouts from the same stump had any blossoms 

 on at all. 



It is said that apple-trees may be brought 

 into bearing much sooner by girdling, without 

 injury to the trees: and I know from my own 

 experience that girdling grapes causes them to 

 produce earlier, larger, and finer fruit. 



This opens up a way of great possibilities. It 

 might not pay to set out trees and girdle them 

 all; but it might pay to set out a double num- 

 ber and girdle half of them, with the expecta- 

 tion of removing those girdled in case the gird- 

 ling injured their growth. Where there are 

 sprouts from the stumps of trees that have 

 been cut for some years. I think it would cer- 

 tainly pay to girdle a part of them. If in this 

 way we can have our basswood -trees blooming 

 again, or if we can hasten the blooming of 

 young basswoods by several years, it will be a 

 great gain, and may be of great value in sonic- 

 oca I i tics. 



It is probable that the removal of half an inch 

 or so of bark would have the same elTect. and 

 that this would grow over again without any 

 more injury to the tree than the maple-tree 

 receives from the yearly tapping. I have gird- 

 led some more trees, and shall watch them with 

 interest next season. 



WHY don't the blossoms yiki.d honey? 



The season of 1892 has been to the bee-keeper 

 of this locality one of abundant promise, with a 

 most plentiful lack of fulfillment. White clover 

 abounded, and the copious rains of the spring 

 and parly summer seemed to be just what was 

 needed to get it into good condition to yield 

 honey when once we should have that hot 

 weather that seems to be essential to the secre- 

 tion of nectar. But the flow from this source 

 was at no time heavy: and when it closed its 

 brief career, but few colonies had done much 

 moi'e than to fill up the empty cells of the 

 brood-chamber. Basswood bloomed freely, and 

 I confidently looked for a good yield from that 

 source; but the blossoms were visited but little 

 by the bees. I think I never before knew it to 

 be so neglected when there was an abundance 

 of bloom. But although our hopes for a good 

 yield of early honey were thus dashed, we did 

 not by any means despair. Had not the super- 

 abundant rain left hundreds of acres unsown 

 and uncultivated? This was just what was 



needed for a good crop of heartsease. The 

 heartsease grew and thrived: and when its 

 blossoms began to give their rosy hue to stubble 

 and fallow land, and fringe the fields of half- 

 grown corn, it seemed that the prospects of the 

 bee-keeper were never brighter. Again the 

 scent of newly gathered honey filled the apiary. 

 The first set of extracting-snpers had been fill- 

 ed, and a start mane in the sections, when a 

 heavy rain, followed by cool weather, put an 

 end to honey-production. Heartsease usually 

 yields honey until it is killed by the frost, but 

 this year the blossoms do not seem to open, and 

 the. acres upon acres of it are yielding no honey 

 since the cool weather began. In other years I 

 have known the bees to gather considerable 

 honey from it at times when it was almost too 

 cold for tliem to leave the hive; but we have 

 had some quite warm days lately that seem to 

 have no effect in starting the secretion of nectar 

 again. 



The experience of this year shows so plainly 

 that the secretion of nectar does not depend 

 simply on the amount of bloom, but upon cli- 

 matic and atmospheric conditions that are en- 

 tirely beyond our control, that it seems to me 

 that any attempt to increase the yield of honey 

 by planting special crops rests on a very uncer- 

 tain foundation. The three principal sources 

 of honey in this locality have grown and bloom- 

 ed abundantly this year, yet have yielded little 

 oi' no honey. One might plant crops of honey- 

 producing plants for several years without 

 getting any return from them whatever in the 

 way of honey. Any attempt to increase the 

 yield of honey by planting a crop that will not 

 be profitable aside from the honey that is ex- 

 pected, is liable to result in failure. Of course, 

 there is no reason why waste places may not 

 be profitably planted to something like sweet 

 clover, that requires no cultivation, and will 

 seed itself and grow from year to year. Great 

 caution should be exercised in this, though. 

 People are apt to be very suspicious of any 

 thing planted in this way. even though it may 

 be harmless. The innocent sweet clover is 

 persf'cnted as a deadly enemy, when burrs and 

 other noxious weeds are allowed to go unmo- 

 lested and with scarcely a thought. 



Dayton. 111. J.A.Green. 



[Igthink that, in your case, friend tJreen, the 

 trees had been growing with too much vigor to 

 produce bloom. One remarkable featiue of the 

 basswood is. that, when you cut a tree down 

 for timber, the strong vigorous roots will at 

 once send up sprouts that will very speedily 

 take the place of the original tree. These 

 sprouts grow, of course, with great vigor, and 

 on this account they seldom blossom until of 

 considerable size. The matter has been referred 

 to in these pages. Your girdling, however, 

 proved to be just the proper sort of check on 

 their rampant growth, hence the blossoms. 

 Strong-growing trees often survive girdling, 

 just as you describe; and the ijractice of gird- 

 ling to i)roinote fruit-bearing has been in vogue 

 for many years. I agree with you. that the 

 basswood seems at present to furnish a larger 

 quantity of honey than any other one plant that 

 has been brought to our notice. I do believe 

 that the planting of basswoods for shade-trees, 

 and, very likely, for timber, will be the means 

 of keeping up our industry. Possibly our chil- 

 dren or grandchildren will be the ones, how- 

 ever, to reap the honey crops. Our own bass- 

 wood plantation has been out now 20 years. 

 The ground is some of the poorest in this part 

 of the State. Notwithstanding this, however, 

 many of the trees are a full foot in diameter. 

 They have not blossomed as profusely, as yet. 

 as some other basswood -trees planted about the 



