1S5JS) 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



807 



er, Capt. Hetherington, who has been getting 

 from one to two cents a pound above the mar- 

 ket price, knows a good thing when he sees 

 it; and it is the tall boxes he has been selling, 

 and it is that box his customers will have. 

 Alack the day when any one shall say that he 

 or any one else who sells these boxes is not 

 doing as he would be done by ! 



THE EXTERMINATION OF THE BASSWOOD ; 

 THE LARGEST LINDEN IN THE WORLD. 



The principal honey source of the northern 

 part of this country is usually said to be white 

 clover. The next in importance to that is 

 basswood. These two honeys from these 

 sources are so nearly alike in color and taste, 

 to the average consumer, that all white honey, 

 whether clover or basswood, is called white 

 clover. But that there is a distinct difference, 

 both in the flavor and color, to the producer 

 is equally true. 



These two sources, in the Northern States 

 at least, have contributed mainly to the in- 

 come of the bee-keeper. Take away both, 

 bee-keeping as a business would scarcely be 

 known in some of our Northern States. The 

 clover-fields have been yielding to the inroads 

 of civilization. Intensive agriculture now 

 takes the place of many localities where once 

 was white clover in the months of June and 

 July. True it is, that immense quantities of 

 clover honey are still produced annually in 

 the United States — probably more than was 

 produced in the earlier part of this decade — 

 not that each bee-keeper produces more clover 

 honey, but there are more who are utilizing 

 isolated fields of clover that heretofore have 

 wasted their " sweetness on the desert air." 



If the clover has been slowly disappearing 

 from certain sections of the country, much 

 more rapid is the cleaning-out of the basswood, 

 or linden, as it is called in some places — a 

 tree that is especially valuable — yes, almost 

 indispensable — to the bee keeper. Second in 

 the source of honey, its lumber goes to make 

 something like fifty millions of sections every 

 year. The supply-manufacturer has been 

 blamed for killing the goose that lays the 

 golden egg. But the goose-killing was com- 

 menced first and canied on far more exten- 

 sively by furniture-makers. Since there has 

 been such a sharp advance in the price of 

 lumber, especially of pine, basswood has been 

 used by planing-mills for regular house- 

 building purposes. It is still cheaper than 

 pine ; and contractors, in order to meet old 

 figures, have been compelled to take a cheaper 

 lumber, with the result that basswood has 

 been taken. Some of the most extensive 

 lumbermen say they can see in our northern 

 forests only about ten years' more supply of 

 this favorite timber. The basswood areas are 

 getting to be more and more scarce, with the 

 result that section-lumber will have in time to 

 be of some other less desirable timber. 



The problem is indeed a serious one. The 

 States of New York, Pennsylvania, Michigan, 

 Wisconsin, and Minnesota, that have produc- 

 ed such large quantities of basswood honey, 

 will possibly in the future have to depend 

 upon clover and other sources ; and instead 



of ranking among the leading States for honey, 

 they may possibly in time drop down to sec- 

 ond place. 



Already supply-manufacturers are beginning 

 to consider what material they will have to 

 use for sections when basswood is gone,* or at 

 least has advanced to such a price that it will 

 be out of the question for section-box making. 

 Mountain poplar has been suggested ; but the 

 trees are small, and very difficult to get. Pine 

 could not be used, because the timber would 

 hardly be tough enough to stand the V groove 

 right-angled bend in the one-piece section ; 

 and even if it would its price would place it 

 where it could not be used for the purpose. 

 There is a possibility that some time in the 

 future we may have to content ourselves with 

 the four-piece sections, for the timbers that 

 will stand the V-^roove bend are very limited; 

 indeed, I do not know of any other kind than 

 the basswood. 



But perhaps you may ask why supply-man- 

 ufacturers use this valuable timber when it is 

 so much needed for honey. For the simple 

 reason that the furniture-makers and planing- 

 mills will use it if we do not. What care they 

 for the bee-keeper who desires to produce 

 honey ? 



THE GIANT BASSWOOD AT LINWOOD PARK. 



Last summer a part of the " Rootville " 

 folks, together with some friends, camped 

 at Lin wood Park. The name " Lin wood " 

 is quite suggestive of the fact that the park or 

 grove must have quite a number of basswoods 

 in it ; but the name originated, not from 

 these but from one giant tree of that kind that 

 stands near one corner of the embankment of 

 the shore of Lake Erie. This tree is a mag- 

 nificent specimen - — the largest basswood I 

 have ever seen ; and I doubt if there is a 

 larger tree of its kind in the United States. I 

 secured a photo of the lower part or trunk of 

 the tree itself, and on page 785 will be found 

 a half-tone reproduction of it. In the open- 

 is a young man of about 18, with his bathing- 

 suit on. Inside of the tree there is a hollow 

 space or room sufficient to take in a whole 

 family of six or eight people. Indeed, the 

 tree is eight feet in diameter, and its lofty 

 branches tower above all other trees in the 

 grove. I tried in vain to secure a photo of 

 the tree as a whole. Although I used three 

 different cameras the light was so poor that 

 none of the pictures were entirely satisfactory ; 

 so I shall have to leave the reader to imagine 

 its magnificent proportions after examining 

 the engraving showing the trunk of the tree, 

 in this issue. 



Linwood Park, named after this particular 

 tree, is situated about half a mile from Ver- 

 million, on Lake Erie. If you will consult 

 your map you will see that Vermillion is about 

 30 miles directly west of Cleveland, and about 

 25 miles from Kelley's Island, celebrated for 

 its grapes. The park contains a large number 

 of other basswoods ; but none of them begin 

 to approach the majestic size of the one whose 

 trunk it is our pleasure to present in this issue. 



* If Canada should be annexed, or the tariff on lum- 

 ber abolished, the days of grace would be considerably 

 extended 



