214 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



April, 1921 



had been burnt over tlie previous year, the 

 dead trees still standing and affording con- 

 siderable shade and protection from wind. 

 Scattered thru this stand were solitary 

 stalks of a white-flowered variety of fire- 

 weed, showing clearly that this stand had 

 developed from local seed and not from the 

 creeping rootstoeks. Much of the land, cov- 

 ering many miles along the railway north 

 and south of Montieth, that had been burnt 

 over at the same time, showed little or no 

 fireweed. Some of this land was dry or 

 sandy, and in parts of it there had sprung 

 up instead of the fireweed the annual flea- 

 bane, or horseweed (Erigeron canadensis), 

 which is the fireweed 's principal rival for 

 the occupation of newly burnt-over land. 

 This plant unfortunately gives no honey. 

 While fireweed prefers clay and particularly 

 soils rich in humus and even the rotting re- 

 mains of fallen trees, it will grow in the 

 north and spread for a while in soils that 

 are rather sandy, and often grows partcu- 

 larly well on rocky ground that has been 

 burnt over. 



Travelers to the Yukon and other parts 

 of the far north of Canada have often re- 

 marked the fireweed which is prevalent as 

 far as the forest extends, even to the delta 

 of the Mackenzie Eiver. 



Another Species in Far North. 



In the artic and in the glacial streams 

 high up in the mountains of British Colum- 

 bia there abounds another species of fire- 

 weed, Epilobium latifolium. This species 

 grows to a height of less than one foot and 

 has broader leaves and larger flowers than 

 E. angustifolium, and it blossoms profusely. 

 It is common on the low, often temporarily 

 submerged, sandy and gravelly islands and 

 the shoves of the arctic rivers. 



The writer has seen a good deal of fire- 



weed that would have made a good stand, 

 but for the fact that its blossoms were few 

 and puny or failed to develop from the flower 

 buds, and the plants had a weak and sickly 

 appearance. In some cases the leaves were 

 riddled with holes. These plants were in the 

 Eainy Eiver district, both on the Ontario 

 and Minnesota sides and in the Gatincau 

 Valley and near Lake Temiskaming. They 

 were mostly in stands that were known to 

 be old and fast deteriorating, and it was 

 noticed that the roots were brown and rot- 

 ting at the heart. The plants in the more 

 northern and mountain regions were always 

 vigorous and had large flowers. 



So far, our knowledge of the commercial 

 possibilities of fireweed as a honey plant is 

 practically confined to the southern part of 

 its range where it lasts only a few years 

 after a fire. For the higher and more north- 

 ern places where it lasts permanently, we 

 have hardly any information, but rather 

 high yields reported annually by a bee- 

 keeper near Melfort in northern Saskatche- 

 wan are probably mainly from this plant, 

 which the writer has seen in abundance 

 there. 



Fireweed honey is almost water-white 

 and has good density and a very mild flavor. 

 It granulates aftfer extraction. 



The seed of the fireweed is very small 

 and has long down attached to it. It is borne 

 in long narrow reddish pods which burst 

 and liberate the downy seeds in great quan- 

 tity. These are blown thru the forests in 

 the fall, sometimes in such quantity as to 

 make the eyes of the moose-hunters sore. 



Possibly on account of the absence of a 

 strong scent, it sometimes takes the bees a 

 few days to discover the fireweed when they 

 have been working on other plants. 



Ottawa, Canada. 



COMB HONEY PRODUCTION 



Importance of Heavy ^rood-Rear- 

 ing at Just the Right Time 



By Geo. S. Demuth 



THE state- 

 ment has 

 often been 

 made that suc- 

 cessful c m b - 

 honey produc- 

 tioney requires 

 that the colonies 

 be rousing 

 strong at the 



beginning of the honey flow. Quite true, but 

 the same thing is also true for best results 

 in extracted-honey production. While it is 

 possible to secure some surplus honey from 

 weak colonies by supplying them with ex- 

 tracting combs instead of with comb-honey 

 supers, it certainly is no less desirable to 

 have powerful colonies at the beginning of 

 the honey flow when producing extracted 

 honey than when producing comb honey. 

 The difference, if any, between the condi- 

 tion desired by the beekeeper when colonies 

 are to produce comb honey is in the com- 



pactness of the 

 brood, which is 

 so desirable for 

 comb-honey pro- 

 d u c t i o n. The 

 brood may be 

 more scattered 

 when producing 

 extracted honey, 

 tho even then 

 most beekeepers prefer to have the brood in 

 compact form. The problem of the comb- 

 honey producer previous to the honey flow 

 is therefore not materially different from 

 that of the producer of extracted honey. 



In most of the territory where comb honey 

 is i)roducod commercially in this country 

 the main honey flow begins some time in 

 June and is often so short that the eggs 

 that are laid after the honey flow begins, re- 

 sult in bees wliich mature too late to take 

 part in gathering and storing the crop of 

 honey. Wherever, therefore, the honey flow 



