1881 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



4.>5 



want you to give him a show in youi- Humbug col- 

 umn. H. Dickson. 

 West Lima, Richland Co., Wis., July IS, 1881. 



Why. friend I)., if you got fifteen liybrid 

 queens tor tlie SlH.oo, I should say you had 

 done "amazing" well compared with what 

 others have had. I really can not under- 

 stand why ^Mitchell should single you from 

 all the rest and send you any thing. .Vny 

 way, I am very glad indeed to" know that he 

 has some especial friends to whom he some- 

 times sends even hybrid ([ueens for their 

 money. If yours were the only complaint. I 

 should by no means think of putting him in 

 Ilumlnigs and Swindles at all. 



^k "imtm 



This depai'tnient ^^as sugprested by one of the clerks, as an op- 

 position to the Urowlery. I think I shall ventnre to give names 

 in full here. 



f||HREE swarms on a limb all at once, and more 

 coming-. Boos are doing- finely now; I have 

 !•' strong (breech-loaders;) don't get time to 

 eat my dinner in erood shapp. The cry is, more sec- 

 tions; foundation and chafl' hives almost all gone, 

 and bees just piling in the clover honey. It makes 

 me almost feel ashamed to take off 21 nice sections 

 all capped, and so nic?, from one hive; but I will try 

 to endure it. D. G. Webster. 



Blaine, Bjonc Co., III., July, 1881. 



This is Pijrncoithe mum pilosiun, & species of basil, 

 or mountain mint, of which there are over a dozen 

 east of the Mississippi Kiver, and all good bee- 

 plants. Several others have been sent me at differ- 

 ent times by bee-men. Prof. W. J. Be.vl,. 



Lansing, Mich., July, 1881. 



I mail you some honey-plants. Please give the 

 name of each, and oblige. The honey-harvest is 

 over with us, and I am ready to ship bees at 7.5 cts. 

 per lb. The little fellows have done me good service 

 this season -120 sections from one hive ; the others 

 averaged 80 each. Chas. Kinosley. 



Greeneville, Tenn., July 7, 1S81. 



Answer by Prof. Beal: 



No. 1 Is Axclriiia!^ tuh'^nisa, a beautiful species, 

 with Howers varying from dark orange to light lem- 

 on color. It is well worth cultivating for ornament. 

 No. 2 is Plantaijii lanccolata, ribbed grass, a common 

 weed introduced into l-:iwn3 with grass seed from 

 the east. w. J. Beai,. 



Agricultural College, Lansing, Mich. 



I went into Avinter-quarters with 20 swarms only; 

 lost one, dysentery; flying colors, heads up, tails 

 sharp, honey flowing. Likely to get 4000 lbs., spe- 

 ciflc gravitv HO degrees by hydrometer, rain water 

 being 100. Thus it is tO percent heavier than water. 

 Queen business brisk. A new shop, engine, and 2 

 acres of Early Amber cane, " heads up." 



New Hamburg, Ont., Can., July 25, 1881. 



H. Smith. 



■^5' 



OR HONEY PUNTS TO BE NAMED. 



FjLEASE name the inclosed plant. It would not 

 be of any special importance if it were not 

 ' for the fact, that it yields honey during July, 

 when there is almost nothing else. It furnishes 

 honey all day, wet or drj-. It grow.s from 12 to 18 

 inches high, and is found mostly on the unbroken 

 praiiies. C. B. Thwixg. 



Hamilton. Mo., July U, 1881. 



Answer by Prof. Beal:— 



The plant is Pijcnantliemuin Lini'olUuii. It is a 

 sort of will basil. They belong to the mint family. 

 Michigan Agricultural College. W. J. Beal. 



Inclosed is the specimen spoken of in my letter of 

 yesterday, and which I forgot to put into said letter. 



M. J. Harris. 

 Calhoun, Richland Co., IlL, July 23, 1881. 



The plant looks to us very much like pen- 

 nyroyal, and it also tastes very much like it, 

 only it has a little more of a sort of camphor 

 flavor. Friend J3eal, however, doesn't call 

 it pennyroyal at all, as you see above : — 



HERCULES' CLUIi. 



Find inclosed blossom and leaves of a honey-pro- 

 ducing shrub Avhich I saw for the first time yester- 

 day. The gentleman at whose place I found it, Mr. 

 Chris. ]{uggles, Ashland Co., O., knew no name for 

 it ; says it remains some time in bloom, and is " alive 

 with bees all day long." It puts out one stem of 

 blossoms the first j'car, and increases each year un- 

 til it reaches 20 or ;J0 feet in height, when it dies and 

 others take its place from the root; does not sprout 

 badly from root, but is reproduced in that way very 

 easilj-. The.se blossoms bear berries, which he says 

 resemble "spignet;" also resemble comfrey ber- 

 ries. It smells very sweetly, and when I saw it 

 (about noon) was covered with bees, which he said 

 were kept a mile from the place. Do you know the 

 name, and is it of value as a honey-producerV Please 

 answer through Gleanings. These blossoms are 

 all grown upon this year's growth of stalk, which 

 looks like the stsilk of cotiunon elder. 



H. W. MliNNS. 



New London, Ohio, Aug. 1, 1881. 



I thought the plant seemed familiar, but 

 could not locate it, until friend I^eal named 

 it as below. 



This is Hercules' Club, Angelica-tree (Amlia npi- 

 noga), a shrub found from Ohio to Florida, also in 

 cultivation. Phof. W. J. Beal. 



We have a few of the trees growing in our 

 town, and every year they call forth ex- 

 clamations, when in bloom, from the great 

 swarm of bees constantly hovering over 

 them. I will at once take steps to have 

 some of the trees on our grounds. 



Or Enemies'of Bees Among JInsect Tribes. 



SEND you to-day by mail an insect that destroys 

 bees. They catch the bee and insert their bill 

 in his body. I caught this one with a bee, and 

 "waxed" it. What is it? E.M.Wallace. 



Wheatland, Ind., Aug. 2, 1881. 



It is the celebrated Asilus Missouriensis, 

 mentioned in A B C and Cook's Manual. 



