212 



G-leaNingr in bee culture 



Al-RIL, 1921 



FIREWOOD, 

 or great, wil- 

 low -herb 

 (Epilobium an- 

 gustifolium), be- 

 longs to the eve- 

 n i n g primrose 

 family. It is a 

 tall plant two to 

 seven feet high, 

 bearing long spikes of large rose-pink flow- 

 ers, which have only four petals. The plant 

 is a native of the northern parts of Euroi^e, 

 Asia, and America. It has a more northern 

 range than any of the other principal honey 

 plants, and is common in many parts of 

 Canada. Across the continent it is more 

 widespread and less subject to failure in 

 flowering two or three hundred miles north 

 of the international boundary than to the 

 south. In Canada, it is most abundant in 

 British Columbia, both in the mountains and 

 on the coast. It is common in central and 

 northern Alberta, northern Saskatchewan, 

 in Manitoba, particularly around Lake Win- 

 nipeg and in the low moist lands of eastern 

 Manitoba, in northern Ontario, particularly 

 in the Rainy River district and in the clay 

 regions, also around Lake Temiskaming, and 

 in burnt-over areas in Quebec and the mari- 

 irae provinces. In Canada, fircweed reaches 

 its greatest development, both in height of 

 the plant and in the number of flowers to 

 the head, in the Lower Fraser Valley of 

 British Columbia. It is most dwarfed and 

 the flowers are fewest at the highest alti- 

 tudes. 



Springs up After Forest Fires. 



The chief feature about fireweed is that it 

 is apt to spring up in great abundance on 

 newly burnt forest and bush lands. In the 

 more southern part of its range it dies away 

 after a few years, being crowded out by 

 other plants. In some places, for instance at 

 the lower end of the Gatineau Valley in Qiu^- 

 bec, wild raspberry, also a good honey plant, 

 is one of the first plants to replace it. Among 

 other honey plants that may follow it are 

 Canada thistle, goldenrods, asters, and wil- 

 lows. Near Maniwaki in the Gatineau Val- 

 ley, about 100 miles north of Ottawa, a fire- 

 weed location was practically exhausted 

 about six years after the fire that produced 

 it; but over 100 miles further north, near 

 the height of land about halfway between 

 the city of Quebec and Lake St. John, in a 

 place where the local inhabitants said a fire 

 had occurred 15 years before, a fair amount 

 was still flowering. Flowering plants are 

 scattered, but not very thickly, in clearings 

 all along the Canadian National Railway 

 that traverses northern Quebec and northern 

 Ontario, east and west of Cochrane, espe- 

 cially in low wet places. 



At Hector, B. C, 5200 feet altitude, and 

 Glacier, B. C, 4000 feet, the highest points 

 in the Rocky Mountains and Selkirk Range 

 on the Canadian Pacific Railway, numerous 

 large patches of abundant fireweed in flower 



FIREWEED, OR WILLOW-HERB 



cA Great Honey ^lant of the Far 

 North, Extending Into This Country 

 in a Few Places Only 



By F. W. L. Sladen, Dominion Apiarist 



remain year 

 after year and 

 show no signs of 

 diminishing, but 

 how far it would 

 be profitable to 

 keep bees in 

 these locations 

 has not been de- 

 t e r m i ned. Be- 

 tween Lacombe and Edmonton in Central 

 Alberta, fireweed will appear and flower 

 well in wheat fields in patches where the 

 grain has failed to grow, and it is fairly 

 common in the scrub lands. 



Heavy Yields of Nectar When Conditions 

 Are Favorable. 



In a good year in a good fireweed locality, 

 large yields of honey have been obtained. 

 W. H. Turnbull, who keeps a small apiary 

 on the Pacific Coast at Sullivan Station, 

 near New Westminster, B. C, writes: 



' ' Last year my two best colonies gave me 

 550 pounds each. I am satisfied that this was 

 mostly, if not all, from fireweed, which grows 

 around here in great profusion. I have my 



Fireweed on a mmintain side in British Columljiu. 



apiary on the edge of a swamp, and my bees 

 get nectar from the fireweed growing there 

 when the bees on the higher ground are loaf- 

 ing and robbing. This season, owing to dry, 

 hot, and smoky weather, the fireweed crop 

 was short. ' ' 



A colony on scales in a large apiary at 

 Montcerf, Quebec, about 100 miles north of 

 Ottawa, gained over 20 pounds a day from 

 fireweed for several days around August 12, 

 and the average annual yield for six years 

 was 144 pounds to the colony, of which, 

 probably about 100 pounds was from fire- 

 weed. 



The nectar is on the surface of the flower, 

 wholly and easily within reach of the honey- 

 bee. Under the most favorable conditions for 

 nectar secretion, the nectar in each of the 

 four nectaries is produced in such a large 

 (luniitity that the four drojjs coalesce, form- 



