GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



sources of information, gives us confidence 

 in flieiv iieneral accuracy. Tliere is one 

 thing that shows out; and that is, Avitli the 

 exce))tion of the production of clover honey, 

 this year will compare favorably with last. 

 The general impression has been that the 

 whole sea.son throughout the country was 

 poorer than last; but this is not correct. 



It is no little gi'atification to know that 

 the Govenrment has taken hold of this work 

 as thoroughly as it has; and we hope that 

 the beekeei^ers in the future will co-operate 

 more than they have in the past in helping 

 the Government, and that means filling out 

 the Government reports. 



file dejjartment ; for possibly by so doing 

 our subscribers would be enabled to recog- 

 nize some old fi'iends which have given tliem 

 dollars, and some new friends which, if 

 their acquaintance Avere cultivated by put- 

 ting the bees near them, would do likewise. 



During our spare moments we have been 

 deriving a great deal of pleasure in brush- 

 ing up on the botany of our old school days. 

 ^^'e have been out in the fields not a little 

 with Gray's large work on botany, studying 

 the great varieties of goldenrod, helianti, 

 and the asters. Asters ! my, oh my ! If they 

 drove Professor Asa Gray nearly distracted 

 in trying to differentiate the different spe- 

 cies, what can you think of the predica- 

 ment of a poor bee editor who has forgotten 

 almost all he ever knew, and who, after he 

 had " studied up " some of his old books 

 over and over again, found he was in almost 

 as big a maze of -^onfusiou as before? Said 

 our local botanist. Dr. C. D. Freeman, one 

 species of aster will seem to merge into an- 

 other; and it is very difficult, inasmuch as 

 they hybridize, to draw the line, and that is 

 true. 



However, the study of tliis fall bee flora is 

 exceedingly interesting, even if we can't call 

 them all by name, and there is a practical 

 bearing to it, because it means dollars as 

 well as an insight into the wonders of na- 

 ture. 



Most people, when they go into the fields, 

 forests, and swamp lands, see nothing but 

 a mass of weeds and tangled brush. But 

 there is something else there. There are 

 the wonders of creation if one will only 

 keep his eyes open. Ye editor in his "brush- 

 ing up " on botany is beginning to see some 

 things that he had either forgotten or else 

 had never .seen before. 



We are reminded of the old days when 

 A. I. Root, in his eager desire to find what 

 the bees wei'e working on, began to get the 

 botany fever. Our older readers will re- 

 member that he once had, in those early 

 days, a department called " Bee Botany ;" 

 of liow eagerly he had sought out and had 

 named every plant tliat the bees visited. 

 Perlia])s it would be worth while to revive 



By Frank Riclklter, Pottenistteiim, 

 Viemea, Auisttria 



A FEW months ago Gleanings received 

 an autograph copy of the above-mentioned 

 book (The Bees and the Deep-comb Hive). 

 The author of the book, Franz Richter, 

 Pottenstein, Vienna, Austria, is a beekeej^er 

 who used progressive methods with a most 

 decided leaning toward modern ways of bee- 

 keeping as practiced in America at the pres- 

 ent time. His book is up to date, and full 

 of interest for any beekeeper. There are 

 over a hundred illustrations, so that even 

 one who does not read German may glean 

 much information from the universal lan- 

 guage of the pictures. 



Mr. Richter feels that the hive of Laug- 

 stroth dimensions as commonly used in this 

 country is a trifle too long and also too 

 shallow. His hive, the hreitwabenstock, 

 therefore, has ten combs that are shorter 

 and also deeper than the ordinary combs 

 as used so extensively in this country. The 

 book, however, is not intended merely for 

 the user of the deeji-comb hive, for it is full 

 of valuable information for all who handle 

 bees. It starts with a chapter on the natu- 

 ral history of the bee, with diagrams, etc., 

 then follows a description of the deep-comb 

 hive, various parts illustrated, etc. The 

 rest of the work is taken up with descrip- 

 tions of various devices, tools, methods of 

 pi'ocedure, a discussion of robbing, swarm- 

 ing, increase, disease, etc. 



We understand that the book is sold at 

 the low jorice of 45 cts. Whether it could 

 be secured at this time, on account of the 

 war, is doubtful. 



Bkes are still doing nicely around the 

 swamps. The swamp-milkweed, boneset, 

 blue verbena, and other plants that have 

 been furnishing us honey liave now given 

 place to the asters, goldenrods, helianthi, 

 and what appears to be swamp-sunflower. 

 The particular aster, that furnishes the most 

 honey, has a small white flower. We have 

 not positively identified the species, but 

 think it is either A. vimineus or A. trades- 

 canti, more probably the latter species. It 

 seems to grow evervwheie, not on low Avet 



