142 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Feb. 15 



Cuba; the Bahamas, and even in the Ber- 

 mudas, where it has been introduced, and 

 now is the leading honej'-plant, its only ri- 

 val being a closely related but different 

 plant, Lantana odorata. There is another 

 Lippia I'epfans common in Antigua and 

 some parts of the West Indies, which is 

 equally good as a honey-plant, but has not 

 the same wide distribution as nodiflora, so 

 far as I am aware. The difference between 

 the two, however, is very small These 

 Lippias are also common in South America, 

 possibly extending as far south of the equa- 

 tor as Minnesota is north, so that they cov- 

 er probably 90 degrees of latitude. Such a 

 plant is worthy of more than passing no- 

 tice, for the two are one to a bee-keeper. 

 It is not a weed. Cattle graze it to some 

 extent, and sheep and goats eat it readily — 

 so much so that they might destroy it as a 

 honey-plant. The further north it grows, 

 the closer it hugs the ground, not unlike a 

 creeping vine. Southward it assumes a 

 more erect attitude, and the stems and 

 leaves are coarse. It seems to me Florida 

 bee-keepers should try the proverbial seven 

 times to get carpet-grass established in the 

 vast sandy wastes known as the piney 

 woods of that State. I have an idea it 

 would succeed there. If so, total failures 

 of the Florida honey crop would pass as 

 ancient history, for I can indorse all you 

 say as to its honey-yielding capabilities, 

 and in more than one sense it would prove 

 a decided acquisition. It bears best in the 

 hottest weather, and grows on the thinnest 

 and poorest soils — points that will indicate 

 where it will succeed. In my experience 

 the honey is rather dark, but it is not strong 

 or bitter to the taste; and coming in such 

 profusion I overlooked its color. 



If the Floridians succeed in naturalizing 

 Lippia to their sandy wastes they will ac- 

 complish a lasting good. It would be a 

 pleasure to traverse the aromatic woods 

 with a carpet beneath one's feet, and stop 

 the sliding-back sensation that the visitor 

 experiences in traveling on foot through 

 that State. If the California seed does not 

 take well, perhaps Bahama seed would 

 hold. In any case it is well worth an 

 earnest effort. I have mentioned Florida, 

 but no doubt there are other places where 

 it would be very useful, as it is no ordinary 

 honey- pi ant. 



Formerly Gleanings had a department 

 devoted to the study of honey-bearing flora. 

 Why it was abandoned we have not been 

 told; but it seems to me such a feature 

 should be the most valuable and helpful in 

 a beepaper. Of what use are fine hives, 

 industrious bees, and painstaking apia- 

 rists, if honey-flowers are not provided for 

 the bees to feast over? I am strongly of 

 the belief that manj^ localities now consid- 

 ered almost worthless for apiarists may be 

 made very productive if proper attention 

 were given to the honey or nectar bearing 

 flora. Some poor localities could be read- 

 ily improved by a little attention from an 

 apiarist who has paid close attention to this 



phase of bee-keeping. It a big question 

 full of possibilities. But is not so difficult 

 as we are sometimes led to believe. 



[I felt, at the time I described that car- 

 pet-grass, in our issue for Sept. 15th last, 

 that it was a wonderful acquisition. The 

 fact that it will continue to yield honey of 

 such quantity and quality from the middle 

 of May until frost in the fall, is a great 

 point in its favor. I saw it only in Central 

 California, in the dryest country imagin- 

 able. Indeed, my friends in Sutter County 

 said it would do best when there was but 

 little or no rain. The honey from it in 

 California is of a very fine quality, and I 

 should say it would rank with any alfalfa 

 or clover honey anywhere in the world. 

 But the color of honey, even from the same 

 plant, varies according to the locality. Al- 

 falfa honey in Arizona, for example, is not 

 as light-colored as that produced in Colora- 

 do; and I should imagine that the honey 

 from carpet-grass would vary to the same 

 degree, depending on whether it was grown 

 in a temperate or torrid zone. 



Your suggestion, that an effort be made 

 to propagate this plant in Florida and oth- 

 er places, deserves more than passing no- 

 tice; and Gleanings will offer its columns 

 free to any who will advertise this seed, 

 and agree to furnish it to those who desire 

 to purchase. In the mean time, I suggest 

 that Prof. Benton, if he can with the limit- 

 ed funds at his disposal in the Department 

 of Agriculture at Washington, make an ef- 

 fort to procure the seed and see that the 

 same is tested in various localities in the 

 United States, particularly in Florida, 

 where it would be a veritable God-send to 

 the bee-keepers when other flora fails to 

 yield the usual amount of nectar. 



The Wessing Brothers, of Nicolaus, Cal., 

 have made arrangements, I believe, to fur- 

 nish it in small quantities at a stipulated 

 price. Any one interested should write di- 

 rect to them. In the mean time we should 

 be glad to hear from an}' others who may 

 have seed for sale. As I have stated, their 

 notice will be inserted in these columns 

 free of charge. It is not a good rule to 

 offer free advertising ; but here is some- 

 thing that deserves encouragement, and we 

 should push it all we can. The fact that 

 it will grow under such diverse conditions, 

 in localities so widely separated, is a strong 

 recommendation in its favor. 



Speaking of its mat-like or carpet-like 

 feeling under the foot, if one were wearied 

 from a long tramp he could enjoy the luxury 

 of a genuine spring bed by lying down on 

 a plot of it. If, for example, the sandy 

 wastes in Florida could be covered with 

 such a mass of green verdure, with its tiny 

 little flowers so redolent of precious sweet- 

 ness, what a transformation would be made I 

 Verily the desert would become a garden 

 of Eden; and the happy hum of bees would 

 gladden the hearts of many thousands of 

 bee-keepers. Come, brethren, shall we help 

 to make it come to pass? — Ed.] 



