102 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



Feb. 15 



THE WILLOW-HERB AND RASPBERRY OF 

 NORTHERN MICHIGAN. 



On Account of the Leaf-mold being Burned by 

 the Great Fire of 1908, the Raspberry Lo- 

 cations are Not what they Used to Be. 



BY E. D. TOWNSEND. 



Willow-herb {Epilobium angustifolium) 

 is often called by the first half of its scien- 

 tific name, "Epilobium." It is also known 

 as hawk-bill, on account of the hooked-down 

 shape of the buds at the extreme top of the 

 stalk, while still another name is pine pink, 

 for it is of a reddish-pink color, and some- 

 times grows on pine cuttings mixed with 

 hard wood. It is a fireweed, and usually 

 produces honey for three seasons after a for- 

 est fire, and then it is crowded out by other 

 foliage, and not heard from again until aft- 

 er another fire, which is likely to follow in 

 two or three years more, when the fire-burn- 

 ed timber has fallen down, thus providing 

 material for subsequent conflagrations. 



Willow-herb is at its best the second sea- 

 son following the first fire after the timber 

 has been removed by the lumbermen. Each 

 subsequent fire burns off more of the leaf- 

 mold, and leaves less nourishment that 

 could produce growth, and, consequently, 

 willow-herb disappears almost entirely after 

 a few fires, or, at any rate, so little of it is 

 left that, from a honey-producer's stand- 

 point, nothing remains. The plant branch- 

 es out like buckwheat, and it is nothing 

 rare to see single stools with a dozen great 

 thrifty shoots making a plant three feet in 

 diameter. These are the ones that produce 

 "showers" of honey; but little may be ex- 



FIG. 4. — CHAYOTILLO VINE COVERING OLD WALL NEAR cn Y OF MEXICO. 



pected from the plant when not in this 

 thrifty condition. 



The name "willow-herb " is derived from 

 the shape of the leaves, which are almost 

 identical with those of the willow, which 

 furnishes the bees so much pollen and hon- 

 ey during the spring months. The blos- 

 soms are reddish pink in color, and very at- 

 tractive, and, when once seen, will always 

 be remembered. In Fig. 1 an enlarged view 

 of tlie blossoms is shown. Notice that, on 

 the extreme top of the upper view, there are 

 four or five buds not yet in bloom, while 

 further down there are some in full bloom, 

 and, still further down, the seed-buds. 



Figs. 2 and 3 are characteristic scenes of 

 the home of the willow-herb. In the latter 

 view some of the fire-killed timber has al- 

 ready fallen down, furnishing material for 

 another fire. 



Fig. 4 is our Springbrook yard in Charle- 

 voix Co., of which I shall have more to say 

 at a later time. 



Growing side by side with the willow-herb 

 is the famous wild red raspberry of North- 

 ern Michigan. While Figs. 1 and 2 show 

 willow-herb, most of the undergrowth in 

 Figs. 3 and 4 is the wild red raspberry, this 

 plant being to the bee-keepers of Northern 

 Michigan what clover is to those in the 

 southern part of the State — the main source 

 of surplus honey. The occasional years 

 when willow-herb or basswood yields honey 

 in sufficient quantities for commercial pur- 

 poses are so limited that bee-keeping would 

 be unprofitable without the raspberry. 



When we first moved our bees to the rasp- 

 berry district, the bee-keepers there told us 

 that it was customary for forest fires to burn 

 during the month of April, and that, later, 



the foliage 



would become 



so dense as to 

 shade the 

 ground to such 

 an extent that 

 the under- 

 growth would 

 be too damp 

 for forest fires 

 that year. 

 These fires 

 burn only the 

 dry leaves and 

 limbs, and 

 leave the 

 ground in an 

 ideal condition 

 for raspberry 

 and willow- 

 herb. Of 

 course, forest 

 fires are espe- 

 cially necessa- 

 ry for willow- 

 herb growth, as 

 this plant is a 

 species of fire- 

 weed. 



During the 

 summer and 



