774 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



December, 1922 



FROM THE FIELD OF EXPERIENCE 



NECTAR FROM VELVET BEAN 



Bees Do Not Gather It in All Parts of the South 



I notice an inquiry in August Gleanings 

 from J. M. Sturtevant in Alabama asking 

 about the velvet bean as a honey plant. My 

 observations of this plant in Mississippi 

 lead me to believe that it is not used by 

 bees. It does produce nectar in great quan- 

 tities, but this nectar has the most repulsive 

 taste of anything I have ever put in my 

 mouth. Perhaps this has something to do 

 with the unwillingness of bees to take it. I 

 have seen many acres planted to velvet 

 beans, and although I have seen them pro- 

 fusely in bloom I have never seen a bee at 

 work on them. 



Dogwood is often mentioned as a honey 

 plant in the South, but I am of the opinion 

 that it produces no more nectar there than 

 it does in the North. I have observed it 

 dozens of times but have yet to see a bee 

 taking nectar from the flowers. 



Ithaca, N. Y. R. B. Willson. 



Velvet bean blossom clusters, which are 

 made up of individuals each of which is 

 provided Avith a covering over the opening 

 of the flower, protecting it against rainy 

 weather, give us a peculiar opportunity to 

 study its relation to honeybees. 



Immediately following a rain the bees 

 will begin work on this flower before nec- 

 tar can be found in open blossoms. We 

 have seen bees in usual numbers working 

 on them from day to day and believe they 

 gather nectar from them. The Mexican 

 clover is also in bloom at the same time, 

 and of course the honey stored at this time 

 is a mixture of the two, and its acid taste 

 and color are decidedly different from those 

 of the honey stored immediately following 

 the close of the velvet bean season. Our 

 rainfall is very heavy, particularly at this 

 season of the year, which fact has caused 

 us to investigate the velvet bean with its 

 rain-proof nature roof. J. Clay Dickman. 



Bay Minette, Ala. 



The velvet bean does well on the "Tif- 

 ton" and "Norfolk" loam soils of south 

 Georgia, and on these soils may be counted 

 on for a surplus year after year. The in- 

 terplanting of the velvet bean with corn 

 enters largely into the farm practices of 

 south Georgia, and the velvet bean is usu- 

 ally present in most localities in sufficient 

 quantities to be of considerable value to the 

 beekeeper. In my locality I can usually 

 rely on at least one shallow super of chunk 

 honey from this source. On the low sandy, 

 swampy series of soils and on the higher 

 sandy soils of this region T do not think one 

 can depend so much on the velvet bean. T 

 understand that the velvet bean is also a 

 good honey plant in the red hills of middle 



and north Georgia, but I am not speaking 

 from experience as to those localities. I 

 doubt very much if the velvet bean would 

 be of any value to Florida beekeepers, ex- 

 cept north of Gainesville and west of Lake 

 City. 



The honey from velvet bean is inferior to 

 honey secured during the spring honey flow. 

 It has a peculiar acid flavor and is best sold 

 in the comb. In my locality it blooms with 

 Mexican clover and bitter-weed and is never 

 secured absolutely pure. Such a blend makes 

 a pretty article in the comb, but does not 

 bring repeat orders when sold in the extract- 

 ed form. 



Mexican clover is the most important 

 summer and fall plant to south Georgia bee- 

 keepers. It is a light-colored honey almost 

 water-white in the comb and of fair flavor 

 and quite superior to the velvet bean honey. 

 It blooms from May 15 until killing frost in 

 autumn, which usually occurs in this local- 

 ity about the middle of November. It is im- 

 possible to eradicate this weed from culti- 

 vated fields. It furnishes a living for the 

 bees all summer, and after cultivation stops 

 in the fields it takes possession and fur- 

 nishes a surplus during August, September 

 and October. The velvet bean augments the 

 surplus from this source during July and 

 August. 



Mexican clover honey can usually be se- 

 cured blended with cotton honey during the 

 month of July, but can only be secured in 

 its purity during the month of October. At 

 this season of the year it has almost ma- 

 tured its growth and blooms rather sparing- 

 ly. The blossoms are open for a few hours 

 in the forepart of the day, therefore no great 

 amount of surplus can be obtained late in 

 the season. The supers are usually removed 

 and this late honey goes into the brood-nest. 

 "Where it is the custom to winter bees with 

 all supers on the hive, many of which are 

 filled with the low-grade fall honey, much 

 velvet bean and Mexican clover honey find 

 their wav into the first spring extracting. I 

 find it best to try to stock a locality to the 

 limit so that very little if any of the velvet 

 bean honey will be left over from the win- 

 ter stores. I do not usually figure on mar- 

 keting any honey stored in this locality 

 after Julv 15, but leave it with the bees. 

 Glennville, Ga. W. C. Barnard. 



A HANDY SUPER LIFTER 



A Device to Avoid Heavy Lifting, Made From an 

 Old Wheelbarrow 



Did you ever feel, when you stood in 

 front of a hive of three or four stories, 

 heavy with honey, that you would be glad 

 of some plan by which these upper stories 

 might be lifted off without almost breaking 

 your back so that you could get at the 



