590 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



Reservoir surrounded by buckwheat at Frank Harlan's berry-garden, Revere, Mo. 



the secretion of the wax and the comb- 

 building, the handling of the propolis, the 

 storing of the pollen, the feeding of the 

 queen and the drones by nurse-bees, the 

 depositing of eggs by the queen, and many 

 other things. He may thus obtain a better 

 understanding of what is going on within 



the hive. The pleasure and delight which 

 such study affords, and the value thereof, 

 cannot be measured with and expressed in 

 dollars and cents. In a few years his note- 

 book will become a most valuable document, 

 a record for future reference. 

 Naples, N. Y. 



^ILD THYME, OR SUMMER SAVORY 



g m 



the HaiMittg of '' R!p Van Winkle." 



BY J. B. MERWIN 



I have been reading Gleanings for sev- 

 eral years, and little if any thing have I 

 noticed in its columns of the plant known 

 as wild thyme. A good many know the gar- 

 den thyme, gi'own for the purpose of season- 

 ing meats, soups, etc. ; but I dare say few 

 of the readers of Gleanings have had the 

 pleasure of seeing the wild thyme growing 

 in its natural seed-bed and in full bloom. 

 To pass through a field of wild thyme and 

 get the fragrance, and see the millions of 

 purple blossoms, is certainly a treat to any 

 one who cares for flowers. 



For several miles in each direction from 

 my home in the eastern part of Delaware 

 County, Catskill Mountains, New York, this 

 plant has its seed-bed. Here can be found 

 several thousand acres of hills and valleys 

 completely carpeted by this plant. I have 



never found it outside of this circle or com- 

 munity. A stranger riding along the high- 

 way in July or August, and observing the 

 fields at a distance, would say they were 

 plowed, and that the soil was red slate ; but 

 on closer observation he would find the fields 

 covered with thyme in bloom. This plant is 

 not as plentiful in the meadow lands that 

 are cultivated year after year, but along the 

 roadside for miles, and in i^asture land, is 

 where the thyme predominates ; and it gxows 

 in such a mass over the ground that walking 

 over it is like walking on a brussels carpet. 

 As an ideal honey-plant it is considered 

 by some to be second to none. It begins to 

 bloom about the 15th of July or about the 

 time that basswood is through blooming, 

 and continues to bloom until killed by the 

 frost; and in some sheltered places this 



