1900 



GIvEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



309 



after they had learned their trade better, they 

 packed it all snugly in their baskets. But do 

 the bees get honey from skunk cabbage as 

 well as pollen? " 



" I saw somewhere, not long ago, the claim 

 made that skunk cabbage produces honey, and 

 one of our bee-papers said a few years ago 

 that it had been several times mentioned as a 

 honey-producing plant ; but I think there 

 must be a mistake somewhere, for, after a 

 careful examination during many years, I have 

 never been able to find a bee leaving this plant 

 having any honey in its sac. My observa- 

 tion substantiates what Cjuinby wrote nearly 

 half a century ago, when he said, in speaking 

 of skunk cabbage, ' These afford only pol- 

 len.' " 



" Does it grow on all kinds of land ? " 

 " No. It grows only on moist to almost wet 

 soils, or what is termed 'swampy places.' " 

 " How does it look later on in the season ^ " 

 "Soon after blossoming it puts out large 

 cabbage-like leaves which, if broken, smell 

 very much like the animal fr».m which it de- 

 rives its name." 



" Does it blossom about the same time each 

 year ? ' ' 



" Its time of blossoming is from March 25th 

 to April 20th, according to the earliness or 

 lateness of the season, and is always eagerly 

 sought after by the bees, as it is the first thing 

 from a natural source which gives a chance 

 for gathering." 



"Is there nothing else which gives early 

 pollen ? " 



" Yes, there are the pussy willows, but none 

 of these blossom as early as does the skunk 

 cabbage by about a week to ten days. There 

 are several kinds of these willows which put 

 out their blossoms quite irregularly. Some 

 are a month earlier than others, and some of 

 the buds on the same bush or small trees open 

 nearly a week later than the first." 

 ' ' How do the flowers look ? ' ' 

 "The flowers are of a rich orange color, and 

 consist of a center out of which spring hun- 

 dreds of little thread-like filaments, upon 

 which the pollen is supported. It is very in- 

 teresting to see the bees work on these flowers, 

 as we can see their motions so plainly, for the 

 tree or bush does not grow so high but that 

 some of the lower limbs are about on a level 

 with the eye. By having the bee between the 

 light sky and yourself you can see its motions 

 quite well, even while it is on the wing, as it 

 simply hovers in the air while brushing the 

 pollen into the baskets." 

 " Where does it grow?" 

 " Its natural home is about the same as the 

 skunk cabbage ; but with a little culture it will 

 readily grow on dry or up land. They grow 

 readily from cuttings put in the ground in ear- 

 ly spring, as does all of the willow tribe." 

 " Does the pussy willow yield any honey? " 

 " Some claim that they do ; but according 

 to Quinby and my own observation they pro- 

 duce no honey. As they grow very plentiful- 

 ly about here I have had much observation re- 

 garding them, but never yet was able to find 

 any bee at work on them having honey in its 

 honey-sac." 



" But is it not willow which gives the first 

 honey ? " 



"Yes, but the willows giving honey are dif- 

 ferent from those giving pollen. The golden 

 willow and the white willow are those which 

 give us our first honey." 



" But do not these yield pollen also? " 



"Neither of these last-mentioned willows 

 gives any pollen, so far as I can discover, for 

 I never yet found a bee at work on them which 

 had any pollen in its pollen-basket." 



' ' Do the bees work on them much ? ' ' 



" When these willows are in bloom and the 

 weather is warm, the bees rush out of their 

 hives at early dawn, and work on them all 

 day long as eagerly as they do on clover, bass- 

 wood, or buckwheat ; and the blossoms secrete 

 honey so profusely that it can many times be 

 seen glistening in the morning sun by holding 

 the blossoms between yourself and that orb, 

 and the trees resound with the busy hum of 

 bees from morning till night." 



" Do the bees secure much honey to store in 

 their hives? " 



"Yes, when the weather is right they often 

 store from ten to fifteen pounds from this 

 source ; but the great value of honey from 

 willow lies in its giving honey so early in the 

 season, thus stimulating the bees to early 

 brood-rearing beyond any thing else that could 

 be done. Where we have good •veather dur- 

 ing this bloom, and then during apple-bloom, 

 our bees will always be in the best shape pos- 

 sible to take advantage of the flow of nectar 

 coming from clover and basswood. Without 

 these, the bees can not be in as good condition 

 for the later flows, and that is why you read 

 about early honey and pollen laying the foun- 

 dation for success during the season." 



"I think I understand now, and shall be 

 more interested in these early - blossoming 

 plants and trees than I ever have been before. ' ' 



'pii&MM 



[I solicit questions for this department; but tliey must tie 

 put on ^epalate slips of paper, and mariied 'Gleanings De- 

 partment." If you desire an immediate answer, say so at 

 the time of writing, and a private reply will be sent "you in 

 advance before your question with answer appears in these 

 columns; but questions that are mi.Ked up with business mat- 

 ters will not only be subjuct to considerable delay, but pos- 

 sibly will receive no answer at all. — Editok.] 



MORE ABOUT W. I,. PORTER, THE BEE-KEEPER 

 OF COLORADO. 



Dear Mr. Root : — I wish to thank you per- 

 sonally for the article in the March 15th issue 

 of Gleanings regarding Mr. W. L. Porter, of 

 Denver. Mr. Porter was one of my old stu- 

 dents ; and if there is any thing that makes a 

 teacher's heart leap right up into his throat, 

 and even turn summersaults, it is to hear good 

 things of his old boys and girls. Mr. Porter 

 was one of three brothers who came to the 

 Michigan Agricultural College, and you have 

 not told the be.«t thing about Mr. P., which 

 was equally characteristic of his brothers. I 



