19S 



THE AMERICAN BEE-KEEPER. 



October. 



was in almost exact proportion to the 

 amount of bloom on that day and one 

 could tell each morning with almost 

 absolute certainty what would be the 

 record of the scale hive at night. Any 

 close observing bee-keeper will readi- 

 ly see what an advantage this irregular 

 daily blooming was in certain lines of 

 observation. 



I practiced taking record of weight 

 of tlie hive on scales after work 

 had ceased each day and again before 

 woi-k commenced in the morning. This 

 gave me the actual amount of shrink- 

 age or evaporation occuring in the 

 hive from close of .gathering one day 

 to commencement of gathering 

 next day. The percentage of shrink- 

 age to amount l)rou,ght in was quite 

 regular during the entire season. It 

 was about 25 or 30 per cent. When- 

 ever there was a flowerless day and no 

 honey gathered the shi'inkage during 

 the 24 hours until next morning would 

 seldom exceed 10 per cent, of the 

 nmount of shrinkage of the first 12 or 

 14 hours. Thus if the scales showed at 

 ni.ght that 10 lbs of nectar had been 

 gathered that day. they would in the 

 morning show a loss during the night 

 of 2 1-2 to 3 pounds, but if that 

 day should happen to be a flowerless 

 one the following morning would re- 

 veal a loss during the 24 hours of not 

 to exceed from one-quarter tO' one- 

 half pound. This shows almost con- 

 clusively that nearly or quite nine- 

 tenths of all loss of weight caused by 

 curing of newly gathered honey in the 

 hive occurs during the fiu-st 12 or 15 

 hours after it is first deposited in the 

 hives. 



As soon as these observations had 

 been repeated enough times to convince 

 me of their accuracy the question sug- 

 gested itself to me: "From where 

 comes the large gain in weight of 

 honey supposed to be obtained by ex- 

 tracting every few days before being 

 sealed over?" and that question is yet 

 unanswered. ^lany other observations 

 made while in Cuba and since return- 

 ing to Florida seem to strongly cor- 

 roborate th<> idea that little or nothing 

 is gained by extracting unsealed honey. 

 I will not give these points but may 

 do so some other time. 



If the conclusions I have come to are 

 correct isn't it a serious mistake to 

 teach that much more weight of honey 

 can be obtained by taking out unsealed 

 honey than by waiting until honey is 

 in right condition to take? Some un- 



scrupulous person will be sure to try 

 taking advantage of that supposed 

 fact. 



Fort Pierce, Fla., Aug. 11, 1904. 



AUTUMN HONEY PLANTS. 



By Bessie L. Putnam. 



WHILE these are not, with one oi 

 two exceptions, sufficient to 

 make any perceptible dif-i 

 erence in either quantity or (luality oif 

 lioney stored, they have an important 

 mission in that they keep the bees in 

 good shape during the fall without 

 drawing upon the honey stored. The 

 board of a family for two or i^ossibly 

 three months as a free ol¥ering for the 

 taking is certainlj' Avell worth looking' 

 after. 



Amon,g the half century of golden- 

 rods there are, perhaps, a dozen whict' 

 abound everywhere in fence-rows ant' 

 waste places, rapidly increasing ir 

 strength and floriferousness and yield- 

 ing honey in sufficient quantity to giv( 

 a distinctive flavor to the nectar ir 

 store. It is of a rich amber color and 

 has a rank flavor at flrst; this mellow^ 

 as the ripening process advances and i1 

 is eventuall.v fine flavored. 



The multitude of asters which bloon 

 in autiunn also help to prolong th( 

 working season. Tliere is a tail-grow 

 ing plant in pastures and waste places 

 having a dark purple cluster of flowers 

 known popularly as iron weed, Avhicl 

 yields some sweets. By the way, this 

 like almost all the other late bloom 

 ers, belongs to the immense family o1 

 composites, distinguished by having 

 each seeming small flower made up ol 

 numerous tiny florets, sometimes al 

 alike, again the outer ones having 

 long rays, like the daisy and mayweed 

 The ironweed belongs to the first 

 group. 



Among other honey plants of this 

 group may be mentioned the varioui- 

 thistles, even the despised Canada this- 

 tle, one of the most troublesome pest? 

 to the farmer, has a redeeming (luality 

 in that it is food for the bees. This, 

 however, should not be entered as a 

 plea for its preservation. The tall 

 boneset or thoroughwort, an old-time 

 remedy for fever, the common ragweed 

 of the corn field, fireweed, which so 

 quickly fills up places made vacant by 

 the cremation of logs or stumi)s. the 

 gay, yellow coreopsis which brightens 

 the autumn swamps: even the despised 

 Spanish needles, which cling to tlif 



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