596 



AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL, 



Sept. 21. 1899. 



below the thickly built portion of the city, and along the 

 banks of the Delaware River. It extends on both sides of 

 the same in the States of Pennsylvania, New Jersey and 

 Delaware, until the Bay is reacht, and, possibly, further 

 south. The northern part of Philadelphia has none of this 

 flow. They denied me this change of title, but as I know 

 more about the honey crop of southern Philadelphia, I will 

 confine most of my remarks to that portion. 



Our fall honey is very fine in flavor, brig'ht amber in 

 hue, quite dense, and finds ready sale. It is nearly all ex- 

 tracted, only a little comb honey — very little indeed — being 

 produced, and the bee-keeper soon abandons the use of sec- 

 tions. This honey comes from the meadows and reclaimed 

 ground along the Delaware River. 



As to what flowers the larger part of our crop comes 

 from, we do not agree. We think it is mostly from the 

 heart's-ease (commonly called smart-weed), fall asters, 

 golden-rod, wild cosmos or life-root, queen of meadows, 

 iron-weed. etc. 



We find that our largest crops come when we have a 

 dry fall preceded by a considerable amount of rain in the 

 spring and summer months. 



We then have clear daj-s for the bees, and the rising 

 tides keep the plants in perfect bloom. The rain in the 

 spring and summer helps the growth of the plants on the 

 high ground, and when these conditions are combined, our 

 crops are measured by the quantities of comb we have on 

 hand, to give them for the storing of the honey. 



When I first joined the Philadelphia Bee-Keepers' As- 

 sociation, and told them about our fall flow, I was treated 

 very kindly bj' them, yet distinctly given to understand 

 that they thought I had been drawing very largely upon 

 my imagination. This was the universal opinion of its 

 members, so that it took me two years to get them to hold 

 one of their bee-meetings at my apiary, and then only a 

 few members attended. It was onh- last June that we suc- 

 ceeded in getting our president. Dr. Townsend, at a meet- 

 ing in our neighborhood, but I will say that after coming, 

 and seeing for themselves, they have made ample amends 

 for their want of faith in my statements about our fall flow, 

 and hence this paper. 



. We are compelled, like other bee-keepers, to prepare in 

 advance for our crops, as Mr. Hutchinson says, " The suc- 

 cessful bee-keeper gets his colonies in shape the preceding 

 year," only we are not troubled with swarming and its at- 

 tendant evils. 



Our spring flow is very small, sometimes not enough to 

 keep the colonies during hot weather, and when we have a 

 spring crop it is so dark as to be almost valueless, being 

 composed largely of honey from the poplar. 



I have kept bees for i4 years, and in that time I have 

 known only one season when we were troubled with swarm- 

 ing. As a rule — and a fairly safe one with us — a colonj' in 

 a two-story Simplicity hive will not swarm. I do not wish 

 you to get a false impression from this statement, and think 

 that it is due to small colonies, as we find that such do not 

 pay ; but it is rather due to a lack of surplus in May and 

 June. 



Our fall crop commences about the middle of August, 

 and extends up to heavy frost, altho the surplus is all in by 

 the last of September. Yet I have known the bees to bring 

 in honey as late as November, but in small quantities, 

 probably from plants protected from frost by the river. 



During the fall flow we are unable to get the bees to 

 build comb in supers or frames above the brood-chamber, 

 on account of the cool nights ; this is the reason we all run 

 for extracted honey. We generally trj' to keep the bees 

 building comb in May and June, storing the frames that 

 are not in use in the second, third and even fourth stories. 

 This keeps them free from moth, and allows them air-space 

 during the intense heat of summer. When I find a crop of 

 poplar honey comes in our apiarj', I endeavor to get the 

 bees to convert this into new combs. In my neighborhood, 

 in a circuit of two miles, we can count about 350 colonies, 

 but I do not think that half of them produce fall surplus, 

 simply from the want of proper management. 



Along the banks of our river are vast meadows, mostly 

 reclaimed on the Pennsylvania side with dykes, etc., and it 

 is here our bees find pasture, and I think there is many a 

 river in the States where like pasturage maj- be found that 

 is now visited by very few bees. 



I have secured a few samples of flowers from our mead- 

 ows, some of which we do not know the names, and I think 

 a few are of foreign origin. Every year a large number of 

 vessels arrive in the port of Philadelphia from all parts of 

 the world. Quite a number of the flower-seeds come in 

 ballast, some of which is dumpt in the river on the way up, 



and we think the seeds are brought to our shores in this 

 manner. 



I increase my colonies mainly, or. I might say entirely, 

 by dividing them — that is, by taking three or four frames 

 of brood and giving them either a queen-cell or a j-oung 

 queen, so the}- can bring in honey to winter on. I find it 

 advantageous to keep two points in view — strong colonies 

 and plenty of combs, providing they are free from moth : 

 and when these things have been accomplisht, I am almost 

 sure of a crop. 



One of my neighbors, a Mr. Ludwig, has an apiary of 

 over 100 colonies, and last year he produced 350 gallons of 

 extracted honey. 



I am informed that our brother bee-keepers in points 

 north of Philadelphia are feeding their colonies, when we 

 are having one of our large j'ields, and this before the as- 

 ters on high grounds are in bloom. J. L. KuGi.ER. 



On motion of W. A. Selser (Pa.) it was voted that no 

 person be allowed to speak more than five minutes on any 

 subject under discussion. 



W. A. Selser — We are all favored in one thing, that is, 

 the tide that feeds the rootlets and never fails because the 

 tide never fails, so that those who live south of Philadelphia 

 never fail to get a good flow of honey. 



A. L. Boyden (Ohio) — Very often we get samples of 

 flowers. I presume our friends can do the same. 



Some samples of honey-producing flowers were ex- 

 hibited by Prof. Keebler, among which were — 



Eupatorium purpureum (reddish in color) — Joe-Pye or 

 trumpet-weed, gravel-root, fall or purple boneset, kidney- 

 root, queen of the meadow. 



Eupatorium perfoliatum — boneset. common thorowort, 

 Indian sage. 



Collinsonia Canadensis — horse-balm, rich-weed, stone- 

 root. 



Bidens trichosperma — gall fickseed, sunflower. 



Vernonia noveboracensis — New York iron-weed, flat- 

 tops. 



Sonchus oleraceus — annual sow-tliistle, hare's-lettuce, 

 hare-thistle, milkweed, milky gassel, swiney. 



Prof. Keebler said of course they all belong practically 

 to the composite family. 



Rev. E. T. Abbott — I am an amateur botanist. We 

 have a wild flower in the West, but I have never been able 

 to name it. 



Prof, Keebler — Some express doubts about the name of 

 this flower, but if I come here to-morrow I will look up the 

 name for you. 



After a song came the following paper by Mr. Fred L. 

 Craycraft, of Cuba, entitled. 



Possibilities and Difficulties of Bee-Keeping in Cuba and 



Porto Rico, and ttie Effect of Our New Relations 



Witli these Islands on Our Honey Markets. 



The recent struggle of the Cubans to throw oS' the 

 Spanish yoke, and which finally culminated thru the inter- 

 vention of the United States, is still fresh in the memories 

 of all, and on account of the close commercial relations 

 which exist between these countries, and the possible an- 

 nexation of this island, thus adding another star to our 

 national ensign, has caused people to observe with interest 

 signs of renewing commercial, agricultural and industrial 

 activity, which will in time cause a profound impression on 

 the American people, benefiting many by opening up new 

 markets for American products, while at the same time 

 others will seriously feel the competition caused by the in- 

 troduction of products from these countries into our own 

 markets. 



This question is one of particular interest to the Ameri- 

 can honey-producer, since heretofore the production of 

 honey in this country has been largely in excess of home 

 consumption, and we know that exportations of honey and 

 wax from the island have been very large, altho the almost 

 absolute lack of reliable statistics upon which to base any 

 calculations as to the future exportations of this article make 

 it a very difficult matter to form any approximate estimate 

 of the importance it will bear on our honey markets in the 

 future. 



The honey and wax production of Cuba before the war, 

 which commenced in 1895, was very important in all dis- 

 tricts of the island, especially in the provinces of Puerto 

 Principe and Santiago de Cuba. According to the statis- 

 tics of exportation of Cuba, publisht by the minister if in- 

 sular afl^airs of Spain : during 1894 2.433,969 milograms 



