572 



Jt is (luite remarkable, but nevertheless 

 true, I hat this Hudson swamj) land is not 

 wet or spongy at this time of the year. The 

 soil is of a black muck in character; and, 

 while soft under foot, it is not wet in the 

 summer or fall, although Mr. Halter says 

 that in the spring of the year this land is 

 covered with water. 



THE MENTOR SWAMPS. 



We visited some big swamps near Mentor 

 and Ashtabula, in the northeast part of the 

 State, in company with Dr. E. F. Phillips. 

 We told him what we had found near Akron, 

 or, more exactly, Hudson, 0., and he re- 

 marked that his parents lived in Ashtabula, 

 and he desired to look over this swamp with 

 us if we could spare the time. As we had 

 already gotten the swamp fever (or mania) 

 we were curious to know what we should 

 find at Mentor; but examination showed .an 

 entirely different condition. A large portion 

 of it is covered with about a foot of water 

 with a heavy gTowth of brush, but only a 

 few honey-plants, and these scattering. 



MILKWEED POLLEN MASSES; DO THEY KILL 

 BEES ? 



While we were studying the swamp milk- 

 weed we had a curiosity to know whether 

 the bees carried away any pollen masses 

 such as are found on common milkweeds. 

 Stories have been told at different times of 

 how bees have been killed by these mem- 

 branous disks sticking to the leg's; and the 

 late Dr. Riley, of the Bureau of Entomol- 

 ogy, once suggested that when bees beeoine 

 a nuisance to plant milkweed and thus kill 

 them off. A very close examination of some 

 of the bees working on this species {Ascle- 

 pias incarnata) showed that there were some 

 pollen appendages sticking to their legs; 

 but they were by no means as large or as 

 troublesome as those from the common milk- 

 weed, Asclepias syriaca. As these swamp 

 milkweeds have been growing in tliis vicin- 

 ity for years, and as Mr. Halter has been 

 able to make a good increase year after 

 year, the presumption is that this particular 

 species is in nowise troublesome. The fact 

 is, even the common milkweed pollen masses 

 are not as destructive as generally clairned. 



With the swamp-fever mania still cling- 

 ing to us we had a curiosity to know whetii- 

 er we should find the same set of hoiiey- 

 plants in the swamp lands adjoining a little 

 lake about five miles south of our home 

 apiaiy at Medina. We drove out this morn- 

 ing, July 28, and were gxatified to find 

 many of the same species, and a little yard 

 of bees belonging to Mr. S. A. Heavelin 

 were storing honey in the supers, while our 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



bees were gathering absolutely nothing. We 

 did not, however, find very much of the 

 swamp milkweed, but c(uantities and quan- 

 tities of blue verbena, and acres of boneset; 

 also a large amount of goldenrod and wild 

 sunflower. 



THE PRACTICAL SIDE OF MIGRATORY SWAMP 

 BEEKEEPING. 



The practical side of this whole proposi- 

 tion is that many of our readers, in this year 

 of partial or complete failure of clover, will 

 be able to find localities near them that will 

 furnish plenty of fall pasturage. It would 

 be well to make a trip through the country; 

 and if you know of certain swamps within 

 your reach you would do well to examine 

 them thoroughly; and if you find any of the 

 honey-plants we have named, and your bees 

 are doing absolutely nothing, it may pay 

 you well to move them, for there is nothing- 

 like a natural honey-flow to make bees breed 

 up and fill up for winter. We expect to try 

 out the pro^josition about Medina, and the 

 results will be given in these columns. 



We have not yet decided whether we shall 

 go south for more bees. If we can breed 

 them up in the fall within fifty miles of us, 

 or within reach of an automobile tiiicR, it 

 will certainly be cheaper than paying freight 

 of $1.00 a colony on bees from the south. 



OUR APALACHICOLA PROPOSITION NOT A GREAT 

 MONEY-MAKER. 



In this connection, perhaps it is only fair 

 to say that, after all the expense figures 

 were in, our Apalachicola bees cost us much 

 more than we had expected. Had it not 

 been for our general sale of bees and queens 

 we would have lost out on the proposition. 

 It is only fair for us to say that, had we 

 been running those bees for honey only, 

 with the poor season we had locally, we 

 should have been out of pocket. This is only 

 another way of saying that the average man 

 whose only source of income from the bees 

 is the honey would probably lose out if he 

 takes a carload south and then ships them 

 back again after making increase. If one can 

 make an increase in his own locality, he had 

 better do it and thus save freight. The 

 freight and risk are two big items that can 

 not be eliminated. 



We do not regret our Apalachicola expe- 

 perience, however, even if it was the kind 

 that Josh Billings says "comes pretty hi." 

 In any event it was worth all it cost for this 

 journal alone. Probably no bee enterprise 

 on a large scale has attracted wider atten- 

 tion than this did. We shall probably re- 

 peat the experiment this winter in a modi- 

 fied form. 



