52 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



Jan. 2A, 



dry they could get nothing. I hoped that we would get rain 

 to bring on the goldeti-rod and asters in September, but it 

 continued getting drier till the tops of the weeds actually 

 dried up. I found there was no other way but to feed, so I 

 began feeding in September and continued, as I wanted to in- 

 crease the number of bees. I fed nothing but sugar syrup — 

 no honey mixed with it — and it was so dry they could get noth- 

 ing of any account, as the other colonies were using up their 

 stores, I found by examination. 



The two colonies fed on sugar syrup began breeding, and 

 so largely, too, that it took quite an amount of syrup to sup- 

 ply the brood. They wintered well on the summer stands 

 and one was the third to swarm in the spring, and both did 

 well — just as well, as far as I see, as if they had been fed on 

 mixed honey and syrup, or even pure honey. 



Monument City, Ind. 



East Teunessee Honey-Resources and People. 



BY H. P. COLEMAN. 



I have carefully read the article written by Mr. Adrian 

 Getaz, on the "Honey-Resources of East Tennessee," as pub- 

 lished in the American Bee Journal of Dec. 6, 1894, and 

 can't say now where we are drifting. As is well known, I was 

 brought up in the mountains of East Tennessee, and have 

 heretofore thought that it is one of the most lovely spots, 

 taken as a whole, that is to be found on the face of the globe ; 

 but now that I have learned that a bee-keeper " who would" 

 come here " must be willing to put up with lack of good 

 society, good means of communication, and other refinements 

 of civilized life" — as Mr. Getaz puts it — I find myself asking 

 these questions : Is it possible that all I have thought and 

 said about East Tennessee is a mistake ? Have I only been 

 dreaming, and is my dream, pleasant as it has been, about to 

 vanish ? 



That "immense quantities of honey could bo obtained" 

 here is no question, for Mr. Getaz says so ; but in this there is 

 no solace. The crazing idea that I have been reared in a 

 country void of good society and the refinements of civilized 

 life is so mortifying that nothing but cowardice, or something 

 else, prevents a suicide in these parts. 



But, after all, there may be some mistake about this mat- 

 ter. Mr. Getaz may be mistaken : he may know absolutely 

 nothing about the society and civilization of the people of the 

 mountains of East Tennessee ; arid, again, he may be cranky 

 — and I believe he does say something about being a crank — 

 or something. And still again, he may think that by his 

 tremendous denunciation of the mountains of East Tennessee 

 he can deter good people who would come here to engage in 

 bee-culture from so doing, and save to himself the little honey 

 market at Kooxville— the place of his residence. So, taking 

 all things together, I reckon I'll not suicide just now. Andrew 

 Johnson, Landon C. Haynes, Bob Taylor, and other tolerably 

 fair men, lived in the mountains of East Tennessee, and if the 

 society and civilization here were good enough for these men, 

 I don't guess I'll suicide because Mr. Getaz says they are not 

 good enough for a bee-keeper ! 



It is true that our means of communication are not all 

 that heart could wish. Our mail facilities are about as fol- 

 lows : At Sneedville — the place I call "home" — we have two 

 daily mails and a number of weekly and tri-weekly mails; 

 and other towns in this section have about the same. But of 

 course these are not enough for bee-keepers! But I'll not 

 suicide for that. 



It is hard for me to think that the society and civilization 

 of this country are such that bee-keepers could not locate in it, 

 but Mr. Getaz has said it of the mountains of East Tennessee, 

 and not only said it, but spread it out before the bee-keepers 

 of the civilized world. I don't believe he knows what he has 

 said, and especially of loliat he has said, and I want to make a 

 wager with him. I want to bet him a fig that there are more 

 than a dozen counties in the mountains of East Tennessee 

 that he was never in in his life, and that he knows nothing 

 about the society and morals of the citizens of these counties. 

 And I'll bet him another fig that there is as much intelligence 

 and refinement to the number of inhabitants in any of the 

 mountain counties in East Tennessee, as in Knox county — the 

 county of his residence. Sneedville, Tenn. 



[Surely, Mr. Getaz has been misunderstood, or he did not 

 say what he intended to say in the article which Mr. Coleman, 

 and Mr. Webb (on another page), undertake to correct. I 

 presume he referred to the society, civilization, etc., one would 

 find in the canyons, such as are occupied by bee-keepers in 

 California and other mountainous States, which are not 



usually favored with the refining influence of true womanhood 

 in the home, and many other requisites of a civilized society. 

 But I'm not going to give Mr. Getaz's explanation — he is of 

 age, let him speak for himself. — Editok.] 



Great Willow-Herb — Wintering Bees. 



BY R. H. BALLINGER. 



I send with this a letter from Mr. Frank Benton, of the 

 Department of Agriculture at Washington, D. C, which is ex- 

 planatory except the idea that I have mistaken this plant for 

 Apocynum caimuhinum, or Indian hemp. The facts are that 

 the Indians from Neah Bay to Alaska have for years made 

 threads and fish-nets from the EpUobium aiujusUfolium. 

 Judge Swan, of this city, sent to the Smithsonian Institute a. 

 fish-net made from this material by the Indians on Queen 

 Charlotte's Island. The fibre is very strong and durable, and 

 as a honey-plant it has few superiors. 



The past season I discovered another valuable honey-plant 

 growing wild in western Washington. (I mail you a few of 

 the seeds.) I believe it is called Spireren, or sweet meadow- 

 herb. It is a superior honey-plant also, yet for fall work I 

 give the blue ribbon to sweet clover. I have it in bloom now 

 11 feet high (Oct. 30), flowers in abundance, and I counted 

 to-day over 100 bees on it from two colonies. 



WINTEKING BEES IN WASHINGTON. 



The better way to winter bees in this climate (we never 

 have ice an inch thick, some winters none at all) is on the 

 summer stands. I usually put a box over to keep away rain 

 and dampness, leaving a small space for front entrance and 

 egress. I have had fair success without any covering, and 

 some losses, too, for want of it. Bees are such sticklers for 

 home — their own " sweet home " — that much care is required 

 and considerable damage occasioned by removals from their 

 homes. When the home instinct is destroyed, the poor bee- 

 wanders from place to place, sometimes chilled, lost or killed 

 by entering the wrong colony. Port Townsend, Wash. 



[The following is the letter referred to in the first para- 

 graph of Mr. Ballinger's article : — Editor.] 



Mr. R. H. Ballingeb, Port Townsend, Wash. 



Dear Sir : — I have your letter, with samples of "Wash- 

 ington flax," and have referred the matter to my chief, Mr. L. 

 0. Howard, who directs me to reply. 



The plant mentioned is familiar to me, as it grows very 

 commonly from North Carolina northward throughout the 

 United States. It is known to hola.n\sts as Epilobluia angus- 

 tifoUum, or Great Willow herb, and is a great honey-produc- 

 ing plant. You will flnd it figured in " Langstroth on the 

 Honey-Bee," page 394, under the name EpUobium spicatum. 

 E. anrjustifolium is the European name, and E. sj^icatum is 

 the American name. The botanist of this department informs 

 me that he is of the opinion that the two plants are identical. 

 You will also find an excellent illustration of it on page 288, 

 Vol. I, of "Bees and Bee-Keeping," by Frank Cheshire. 



I wonder if you have not mistaken this for the plant from 

 which Indians are known to make cord, and which is known 

 as Apocynu-m cannabinum, or Indian hemp. I am very much 

 obliged to you for the specimens, as well as seed. 

 Yours very truly, 



Frank Benton, Assistant Entomologist. 



An Interesting and Profitable Experience. 



RY E. H. STDRTEVANT. 



I don't see how any bee-keeper can get along without the 

 American Bee Journal,"on account of the company it is to 

 him. I have got to so depend upon it that I count each day 

 until Friday comes. I do not think it ever once missed to be 

 on time. The post-master turned up his nose because I made 

 such a fuss about its being once mislaid, and I felt like punch- 

 ing that nose (carefully). Well, that day I had 238 hives 

 full of extracting-combs, all dripping with honey, and the 

 bees trying to get in, and some did, and made bad work tear- 

 ing the combs to pieces. What to do I did not know, for it 

 was getting late in the fall, and it seemed impossible to get 

 them cleaned up. I had so much to do — had extracted 4,500 

 pounds, and taken off 3,000 of section honey, and had 4,000 

 of stores to take care of, with lots of cracks for the bees to- 



